As someone who hated the first Super Mario Bros Movie
I really, really enjoyed Galaxy. My expectations were low after the first movie and I avoided reading any critics and reviews, and I was so happily surprised. I even rewatched the first movie last night before seeing Galaxy today.
Galaxy improved on every single aspect of the first movie. It’s still fast paced, but imo it just works in Galaxy, I never felt like it was too rushed. The movie is a straight up celebration for true, OG Mario fans. Fans who have played every 2D and 3D game. People need to stop comparing it to the stories and plots of the game. Just because it’s called Galaxy doesn’t mean it needs to follow Super Mario Galaxy game 1 to 1. Galaxy in the title just means their cinematic world is larger. It’s its own canon, and the way they blended so many elements from the 40 years of Mario games so seamlessly is so refreshing to me.
I freaking loved it. The action sequences were better, the animations were better, the way they tied in references was better, the music was better. My God, the music. It’s the best part of the movie. The commercial music tie-ins, the thing I hated most about the first movie, are much more infrequent and way more tasteful. So, so many, hyper mini musical queues it’s even hard to keep up with. I couldn’t stop smiling from all the musical queues.
Some of the story beats felt like they were made for people that have been playing Mario since the NES, I damn near teared up with how beautiful of a celebration of being a Mario fan it was to me.
If you’re on the fence about seeing Galaxy, or didn’t like the first one like me, do yourself a favor and go see it. If you’re a true Mario fan, I promise you will enjoy it.