I went into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hoping it would reconnect me with the video game that I loved as a kid…but what I got instead was something far more frustrating in a film that delivers exactly what you expect and nothing more.

When you have a franchise like this and an animation studio like Illumination, this film should have been a sure fire hit beyond box office numbers. So, let’s get into that, and while you’re here, please consider subscribing for more reviews, especially if you enjoy deep dives into story and why movies work or don’t on screen despite what the “Box Office” might tell you.

Read the review below or watch it on YouTube:

The Nostalgia Factor

So, here’s the thing, I grew up on old school video games like Super Mario Brothers, Frogger, Space Invaders, and yes even the granddaddy of them all: Pong! But like a lot of people, I kind of drifted away from gaming as I got older. Lately, I’ve really gotten into animation and I had high hopes for the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie because the trailer did a great job of bringing back those warm and fuzzy gaming memories for me from the sense of nostalgia to that happy little sense of wonder and imagination that made games like Super Mario so special.

What we get with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is one of the most disappointingly average animated films I’ve seen in years. This movie delivers exactly what you expect with zero surprise, zero risk, and zero imagination. There are no moments of wonder, no moments of cleverness, nothing that pushes beyond the baseline of what this story could be as a film for kids or adults. It plays everything safe, and that safety is exactly what makes the story and plot feel so empty.

Dangers of A Flat Story

The biggest problem is the story, which is just flat. Everything plays out in the most predictable way possible following the pattern of “this happens, then this happens, then this happens,” and it keeps chugging along until the end, which feels anti-climactic because it is also exactly what you expect.

Technically that sounds like a good thing, and it’s probably a good thing for a film designed for children under eight who haven’t seen a lot of movies or who haven’t seen anything quite like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. However, when there are no complications that create real obstacles for the characters or moments when we are truly worried that something terrible is going to happen, the story loses its energy.

The film has almost no nuance and it just never pulls you into the world in a meaningful way. It honestly feels like someone went through the script checking boxes to make sure all the right video game elements were there and then gave it a stamp of approval. That’s what frustrated me most because animation is a special medium that gives creators the ability to realize anything on screen that they want to create, and when you pair that with great storytelling, you have the potential to create a truly spectacular story.

No Stakes, No Growth

Instead, what we get is a story where three Mary Sues go up against Bowser’s son who has captured Princess Rosalina in an attempt to free his father. Everything you think would need to be in the film is there. Mario, Luigi, and Peach succeed at everything they do every time and with very little resistance. They don’t struggle and none of them experience any character growth because there is no cost to their failure or success. You are never worried they might lose, which means that you’re also never concerned something might go wrong for Luigi and Mario because they are just good at everything, and that removes any sense of tension from the film.

The only one who really loses is Bowser who had essentially become a good person but then got led back into his villainous ways with no real sorrow for what he lost. His character was the most interesting and he had the highest potential for real character growth, but since he and his son were the villains, they had to experience defeat at the expense of good storytelling. Ironically, his arc is the only one that even hints at something more meaningful, and the film never commits to it.

A Visual Showcase

To be fair the animation in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is astonishing. The world is vibrant and lifelike. It really feels like the video game has been brought to life. Illumination does such a good job with the graphics, the transitions, the coloring, and the shape of the world. If you love Mario as a game, this movie nails aspects of the environment, the mechanics within the spaces, and the visual callbacks that feel like Super Mario.

Without a doubt, this is a gorgeous film. It is a prime example of colored light being used in an artistic display, and that is accentuated in technology rich theaters like a Dolby Digital Cinema or IMAX. It’s beautifully done and it really does feel like you’ve stepped inside the game. There’s no question that the power of this film is in its visual experience within the theater. From the textures of the environments to the way light plays across the surfaces of flower petals, hair, water, and sky, this is where the film truly comes alive.

Animation vs Story

It’s because of that gorgeous animation that this film is so disappointing. We are in an animation renaissance or golden age right now because of what technology now allows studios to do with film. When you look at films like KPop Demon Hunters, Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc, Look Back, and Ne Zha 2 – or even Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution – you see just what interesting and fascinating storytelling can be done with animation. If those films are too adult, just look at the last Super Mario movie and how much better that story was compared to this one, even if it was thin and imperfect.

Instead of improving upon that success by leveling up the story, they seem to have leveled down the story to focus on amazing animation that is simple and fun for little kids. That’s a valid choice for the studio to make, but it will limit the audience overall turning it into what is essentially a Toy Box movie to ultimately be played with once and then forgotten about. It captures the look of the game, but not the spirit of meaningful storytelling that could have elevated it into a cultural hit.

Who Is This For?

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is definitely for very young kids. The woman sitting next to me in the theater literally fell asleep on her child and was snoring loudly enough that her husband had to shake her awake. I totally get that response because the only thing keeping me engaged in the film was the fact that I was taking notes through most of it, and looking back on the trailer that got me excited about the film, I realize that most of the scenes took place in the first half hour of the movie. From there, it was just more of the same, over and over again until they all lived happily ever after, except Bowser and Jr, of course.

Is It Worth It?

So, is this movie ticket worthy? I think if you have kids and you go during a matinee, you’ll likely be happy. If you are paying full price for tickets for your entire family, you are going to feel your wallet get pinched hard for a movie that would be just as good on streaming in most cases. If you are a die-hard Mario fan or you just love watching amazing animation on a big screen, you’ll also be happy with the film, but you’re still likely to be disappointed by a very mid story that just doesn’t deliver much excitement with the amazing visuals.

So while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie really had every opportunity to be great, it just turned out to be ordinary is almost every way.

So, what did you think about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie? Did you see it yet? Are you planning to? What do you think about all of these video game adaptations that are hitting screens lately? Do you have a favorite?

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