The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Is a Soulless Corporate Product I realized something was genuinely wrong about 30 minutes into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. I had not laughed even once. The audience of around 15 people was dead silent. A Nintendo fan behind me, decked out in Mario gear, fell asleep. As a Nintendo devotee who watches tons of childrens films, I find even the Despicable Me films more entertaining. There is a pretense of a plot. Koopa Jr. and Princess Peach are on parallel tracks to reconnect with a sense of family. But the movie leaps from scene to scene joylessly. It has no sense of storytelling or characterization. It is glued together by empty corporate nostalgia, the oh I remember that guy feeling. It feels even less like a movie than the previous Chris Pratt-led popcorn flick. Take the discovery of Yoshi early in the film. Mario and Luigi just find him in a cave. He immediately becomes part of the crew with no questions asked. There is a brief creative sequence where Yoshi wreaks havoc in the real world, but it is far too short. Yoshi has plot duties to fulfill. He is the perfect sidekick with no desires of his own and the bare minimum of characterization, oddly helped by Donald Glovers voice work. I argued the first Mario film felt too safe, but it had moments to shine. There was an early side-scrolling sequence and Jack Blacks endearingly musical take on Bowser. The only truly inventive sequence in this new movie involves Star Foxs Fox McCloud. He is voiced with attitude by Glen Powell. He briefly recounts his story in anime form and does a barrel roll or two. It does not make much sense why Fox is actually in the film. Some half-hearted fight sequences suggest Nintendo is setting up an eventual Avengers-style Super Smash Bros. movie. What better way to cram in even more characters and references. Is that not what franchise filmmaking is all about now. I want to believe Nintendo and its collaborators can do better. This is a company known for thoughtful game design and quirky, inventive player experiences. None of that applies to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. There is little creativity. It barely respects the audiences time. It is, in every sense, following the More, Louder, Busier playbook for unfocused franchise sequels. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is so soulless it makes me worry about the upcoming Legend of Zelda film, which at least has a more respectable creative team. It is hard to expect genuine cinema from a Mario film. But we live in an era of great kids movies. Pixars Hoppers was a hoot wrapped in an environmentalist message. The Lego Movie and its sequels delivered both laughs and heart. Kids deserve better than an empty sequel moneygrab.
