Here’s my take on the Mario Galaxy movie

Hello! So, I saw the Mario Galaxy movie on Friday, and… well, the reviews are generally on the money I’d say.

As you may likely expect, it didn’t really have as much impact as the first 2023 film, mainly because it was lacking that initial novelty wow many of us had in seeing Mario and pals up on the big screen.

Like that first effort, Galaxy has a pretty shallow story, but, is on the whole an amusing, fast, and exciting popcorn movie with nostalgic nods aplenty. It’s visually stronger, and the same is true of the score too (with no 80s pop music this time), but the pacing is notably worse. This film tries to cram in so very much into its short sub-100 minute runtime that it really feels like a rushed collection of loosely connected bits, rather than a strong cohesive whole.

Make no mistake, I’m glad I went to see it. It got a grin out of me on more than one occasion, but broadly speaking I’d say this isn’t as focused. There’s just way too much going on here, and the first movie comes out stronger as a result — that’s not particularly high praise. It’s good, not great.

When thinking about how to approach sharing my thoughts on this flick, I often pause and question whether to just pass it off as a dumb kids movie that doesn’t require much scrutiny — but we all know films can, and often do, pack a real punch and end up speaking to a much wider audience. This ain’t it — instead it’s a silly, colourful, breakneck rollercoaster through the Mario Galaxy, laser focused at fans, and it doesn’t stop for a second. My son had fun, and I got to share it with him — and that’s ultimately why I go to the cinema, but boy I’d have liked for Galaxy to build on any of its more interesting beats for more than a second — it’s sadly devoid of any real emotional weight. Oh, and Mario is the least interesting character in the whole thing.

Any Nintendo fan will no doubt enjoy it, but it ultimately fails at offering something of real substance or lasting merit. Sure, my expectations weren’t high, and although fun throughout, it didn’t come close to reaching the top of the flagpole of what could have been.

I’d love to know whay you made of it. Feel free to hit reply to this email, or, if you’re a Club member, hop on the members Discord and share.

Anyway, there’s over 20 games coming to the eShop next week, including Pokemon Champions.

Alrighty, that’s a wrap from me. Catch you next week!