The Super Mario Galaxy Movie serves as more proof that, according to the Hollywood machine, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In 2023, when The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed over 1 billion dollars worldwide in spite of mostly negative critical reactions, the folks at Universal, Illumination, and Nintendo decided not to look inward and seek to find the beating hearts of its titular plumber-heroes. Rather, its sequel gives fans more of the same empty calories they so desperately crave.

Thankfully The Super Mario Galaxy Movie feels like it’s made by genuine fans of the world, its endlessly goofy roster of characters, and what makes them both so enduringly popular. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return, as does screenwriter Matthew Fogel. For better or worse, those creatives, and their executive overlords, know precisely which buttons to push that will ignite the pleasure centers in the audience’s collective brains. Unfortunately, once the nostalgia/serotonin wears off, you aren’t left with many enduring emotions beyond wanting to play more Super Mario games, although I’m beginning to suspect that’s precisely the point of these adaptations. That criticism wouldn’t feel so damning as an indication of the Hollywood studio mindset if Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) had even an inkling of a character arc within the film.

At least the first film dealt with him as a fish-out-of-water accepting his role as a hero. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie sees him, along with brother Luigi (Charlie Day), now as protectors of the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Oh, and now they’ve befriended Yoshi (inexplicably voiced by Donald Glover) the dinosaur teased in the end-credits scene of the previous film. Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away, the superpowered Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) has been kidnapped by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) as ransom for the release of his father Bowser (Jack Black). If The Super Mario Galaxy Movie belongs to anyone, it’s Bowser and Bowser Jr., as they seek to reunite, and rebel against the notions that they’re the villains of the film. Safdie and Black may actually have more dialogue overall than Pratt or Day, but at least they seem to be having the most fun in their voice roles, even when their characters aren’t terribly interesting.

Most of the journey sees Mario and the gang journey from one world to another in order to find Rosalina. Again, you won’t find any character growth within Mario or Luigi, and Peach’s feels perfunctory at best. The first film hinted at her trying to find her family after being abandoned as a baby, and the film sometimes remembers to pick up that thread in-between extravagant set pieces. Horvath and Jelenic make those sequences fun, with some genuinely creative and colorful animation, but one almost wishes to see the same movie directed by someone with more experience in the action realm. 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, much like the first film, exists as a series of unmotivated character decisions that feel designed to remind audiences of moments from the games. Consider the opening of the film, when Mario gifts Peach a parasol for her birthday. Why does he give her a parasol? Because she has a parasol in the games. Of course, I doubt my kids – the real target audience of the franchise, let’s be honest – surely won’t mind, and there’s a part of me that will always love seeing their faces light up when they recognize someone or something familiar. But children’s and family films have proven to be capable of so much more throughout cinema history, and I hope that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie isn’t the harbinger of the future of the genre that it could easily become.

Universal will release The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in theaters nationwide on April 1.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• The Super Mario Bros. Movie couldn’t crack the Best Animated Feature, despite raking in a ton of money, so I don’t expect the sequel to fare any better, unless it’s a particularly bad year for animation.