A credibly predictable exercise in IP (intellectual property) maintenance and brand management, 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed roughly 13.5x the original budget ($1.36B vs $100M), pleasing executives and shareholders at Universal Studios, Illumination, and Nintendo. Multi-generational ticket buyers, fuelled by deep-seated nostalgia generated by the decades-spanning multimedia Mario franchise, played a central role in the movie’s commercial success. A sequel became inevitable the moment studio executives received the opening-weekend box-office numbers.
Following on from the events of the last film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie finds Brooklyn-born, Italian-American plumbers Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day) have permanently relocated to the Mushroom Kingdom. They’re living, if not a life of leisure, then one of low-risk, high-fun adventuring. One such adventure ends with Yoshi (Donald Glover), a mischievous, monosyllabic, dinosaur-like creature, joining Team Plumbers, much to Luigi’s ongoing frustration.
Located in a corner of a vibrantly coloured, immaculately realized, video game-like world, the Mushroom Kingdom operates not as a parliamentary democracy or constitutional monarchy, but under an unconstrained, if benevolent, sovereign called Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Adopted and collectively raised by the kingdom’s cheerfully demented, short-limbed, mushroom-headed subjects, Princess Peach rules with kindness, generosity, and video-gaming skills without equal.
But to every semi-idyllic equilibrium, however, instability must follow: While Bowser (Jack Black), the first film’s vanquished foe, languishes in a miniature castle, his son, Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), has exceeded his father in practically every way, amassing a vast space-pirate fleet and a state-of-the-future, heavily armed spaceship. Bowser Jr.’s ambitions also outstrip those of his imprisoned father. He doesn’t just want to conquer and rule the Mushroom Kingdom. He wants to rule the galaxy, but only if he can free his father and rule side by side. Shades of Star Wars and Darth Vader’s hopes for his rebellious offspring, Luke Skywalker, are likely intentional on the filmmakers’ part.
Pitched at an exhausting, relentless, incident-dense pace with almost zero downtime for backstory, character development, or world building, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s semi-convoluted plot involves not just Bowser Jr. freeing Bowser Sr. from imprisonment, but also kidnapping Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), the castle-dwelling mother to anthropomorphized, infant stars, and using her magical abilities to power the equivalent of the Mario franchise’s Death Star (i.e., space cannon). Mario and Luigi follow one path, Princess Peach and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), her most loyal assistant/subject, follow another, and Bowser Jr. follows a third. They eventually converge in a chaotically staged third act filled with criss-crossing, cross-cutting action, set-piece piled on top of set-piece, and surface-deep, ultimately unsuccessful attempts to replicate the emotional connection felt by video gamers for the long-running video game series.
Sharing directing duties once again, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans GO! To the Movies) dutifully duplicate the first film’s winning formula, cramming The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with shout-outs, callbacks, and obligatory fan service to the franchise’s vast, decades-long legacy. Given that aforementioned unrelenting, brain-numbing pace, even diehard fans will miss more Easter Eggs than they’ll catch on a first viewing at their local multiplex. Then again, maybe it’s intentional. Repeat viewings, whether in a crowded movie theatre or at home, equate to a greater return on investment. Undoubtedly, executives at Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal will be happy, if not outright ecstatic, with the results.
Anyone expecting more than the usual dopamine hits associated with nostalgia will find themselves underwhelmed by a sequel that regurgitates the first film’s hyperactive, hyper-kinetic, style-over-substance formula with barely a noticeable narrative tweak or visual upgrade. A risk-averse, decision-making-by-committee approach might work as brand management and IP maintenance, but it certainly doesn’t for artistic or aesthetic aspirations.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens theatrically on Wednesday, April 1, via Universal Pictures.
