The Mario Brothers and friends are back, this time going on a cosmic adventure to save Princess Rosalinda and stop Bowser Junior from rescuing his father and taking over the galaxy.
Right off the bat, I got to give big props to all the animators who worked on this film. One of the most enjoyable things about the Mario world is… the world lol. All the different areas you explore and characters you come across all have a unique and appealing design, and this movie really exemplifies that. My favorite was definitely “Wart’s Casino," where all the different villains from the games come and gamble, and it’s one big square room, but each side of the room has its own gravity, so basically you could walk on the wall of one and then walk down and then walk on the floor, etc., and the way the animators played with color and all the different cameos, not to mention this really cool and inventive fight scene that happens there, was a lot of fun in a unique battle set piece that I really enjoyed.
Speaking of, all the fight sequences I thought not only had really smooth animation but also really well thought-out choreography, and how they kept escalating within the fight was pretty engaging, not to mention some funny strikes that Super Mario fans will probably get a big kick out of.
Speaking of, I am no Mario expert. I’ve played some games here and there over the years, but my knowledge of the character and the world is very basic, and this film originally was released during Easter weekend, which makes a lot of sense because this movie has a ton of Mario Easter eggs throughout, like I kind of wish I went with a Mario expert so they could sporadically throughout the movie turn and go, “OK, that villain right there, that’s for the second game," or “Oh, that costume right there, that’s from this game." Now, it never got to a part where I couldn’t follow what was going on in the story, so I have to give it points for accessibility with people who are experts in the game, but if you are one, I definitely think you’ll get some fun surprises throughout the film.
Ironically, my favorite character in a Mario Brothers movie is the bad guy, Bowser. Jack Black, as per usual, gives a very funny and jovial performance as Bowser tries to get over his anger and “galaxy domination” issues, and not only do I think he has a pretty interesting arc, but I really like his relationship with his son Bowser Junior. Those scenes are pretty sweet and sincere and have some pretty fun, almost dark funny moments as both bond over their dream of conquering the galaxy lol.
Benny Safdie plays Bowser Junior, which is a little ironic, seeing the guy who directs such intense dramas like Uncut Gems and Good Times play this video game character, that would be like getting Werner Herzog to voice Snorlax in a Pokémon movie… Which would actually be pretty awesome lol. But again, I liked his relationship with his father, not to mention he had a cool weapon with this paintbrush that he could make anything with; I thought that was pretty creative and led to some cool action set pieces.
So remember, when I said I liked Bowser‘s arc in the film, well, one of the big standouts of it was that it is the only arc in the film that any character has. Other characters seemingly have arcs set up: Mario wants to ask the princess out on a date, and Peach is feeling lonely because she doesn’t know where she comes from and might have a connection with this other princess, Rosalinda, but neither is given hardly enough time to get any development. The characters are so focused on the plot, and the plot is so focused on getting the characters from one place to another that we don’t get any real time for character development or breathing time, really. I mean, you can sort of say they get resolution, but in the most basic ways that if you blink, you might miss it.
I enjoyed Charlie Day as Luigi; I wish he had more to do, but he had some funny moments.
So as teased in the post-credit scene of the last film, Yoshi is in this film, and you think, being such an iconic and beloved character, he’d have more to do, but he’s just kind of there in the background to look cute and eat stuff; that’s about it. Now in his introduction there is a cool little montage that I thought had a very interesting and distinct visual direction and was a fun little sequence, but that’s about as much Yoshi development you’re going to get; like I said, he’s there to be cute and for the character recognition. Also, Donald Glover voices Yoshi, and honestly, you could not tell; his voice is so high-pitched, and he just says his name over and over, so this must’ve been one easy paycheck for Glover lol.
Speaking of, I don’t know if I want to spoil this, but heck, the marketing already spoiled this (which I don’t know why they did). It would’ve been much cooler and more surprising if they had saved it for the movie; it would’ve been like an "Oh my God, I did not see that coming” moment, but whatever. Fox McCloud from the Star Fox games is in this, and Glenn Powell does a good job voicing him, and I like the character, but this film has way too many characters as is, and while I did enjoy his inclusion and I hope this leads to a spinoff movie, I do think the film would’ve benefited from focusing on only a handful of these characters and really giving them more development instead of cramming them all in because the fans will enjoy seeing them all.
Princess Rosalinda, voiced by Brie Larson, is another example; she feels more like a MacGuffin than an actual character. She lives on a spaceship where she is a mother to a bunch of stars, who are all voiced by kids, and she's pretty cute and funny, but they feel more developed, and they’re more like comedic relief and actual characters, and Rosalinda actually has a pretty significant connection to Princess Peach that could’ve been interesting to explore, but she spends most of the movie locked up, and the film could’ve had more emotional weight if they had done more with her character… Which again is a recurring theme with most of the characters and storylines.
Overall, the movie is fine; it’s enjoyable enough with stunning visuals, fun action, set pieces, and some good jokes here and there, but it’s very much so on a basic level. The film could use a lot more character development and not have so many different characters competing for screen time. Sure, Mario fans will enjoy all the different cameos and references, but the movie itself won’t have as much staying power or substance as it could’ve had. I give the film 2 1/2 stars ⭐️⭐️💫; like, kids and families will enjoy the film, but for something with this much potential and fandom, you wish they had done a little bit more with it to really make it something special.
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