Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie: an even less inspired sequel (review)

The new blockbuster from Nintendo and Illumination based on the famous video game has all the faults of the first. But the public loves it, so…

After the mega hit of Super Mario Bros., the movie ($1.3 billion in revenue worldwide, more than 7 million admissions in France), the establishment of a franchise around the famous mustachioed plumber was inevitable. So here we are, facing the first stage, a direct sequel where Mario sets off on a new adventure as saturated in colors as in nods to his universe.

As with its predecessor, it is very difficult to judge Super Mario Galaxy, the movie as a cinema object. Between family entertainment and ultra-referenced blockbuster for geeks of all ages fed up with the Nintendo hero (created in 1981 by Shigeru Miyamoto), this second feature film, still co-produced by Illumination and ultra calibrated, makes no effort to exceed its status as a giant promotional spot for the brand.

After Bowser’s defeat, the film opens with the kidnapping of Princess Harmonie by her son, Bowser Jr.. We will hardly see this female character again, although it is central to the video game Super Mario Galaxy, guardian of the universe and mother of the Lumas. Time for the meeting between Mario and Luigi and Yoshi, a big fan favorite. With the help of Peach and Todd, they embark on an intergalactic journey whose outcome we guess without even thinking about it.

The new Super Mario touches on some interesting ideas (the troubled origins of Peach, the duality of Bowser, the Mario-Luigi relationship, the irruption of Fox McCloud), but it never takes the time to explore them. Like in a video game, you move from one board to another without turning around, taking stock of the stakes or attempting a side quest. The priority is to place as many easter eggs as possible, and to tease the following film. Which we have the right to deplore even knowing the terms of the contract.

The problem is also the emptiness of the plot, which struggles to keep the uninitiated viewer involved, and the childish gags too often falling flat. Screenwriter Matthew Fogel, already author of the first film and Minions 2unfolded a conventional story, with archetypal protagonists without much substance. The worst being Mario, who almost becomes an NPC in his own movie, supplanted by pretty much all of his sidekicks.

Far from pushing the envelope, apart from a few exciting and nicely animated sequences, Super Mario Galaxy, The Movie lacks breath, and leaves us with a less good impression than the first part, already not great. Which will not prevent it from filling cinemas, to the delight of its studio and exhibitors. That’s already it…