Nintendo just dropped the first teaser trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to the recent Super Mario Brothers Movie. Teaming again with Illumination, the new movie is based on the two Super Mario Galaxy games, introducing Rosalina and Bowser Junior to the movieverse cast.
The video I went with comes from the Nintendo Direct announcement, as it features the trailer and announcements about the additional cast, hosted by Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination’s Chris Meledandri, plus an appearance by Jack Black. It’s only slightly longer than the actual trailer. Note that outside of the games its based on we still don’t know the full extent of the story, though the highlights should be easy to figure out from what’s in the trailer.
Full disclosure: I have only played the first game at one of those video game section kiosks and not for very long. That’s the limit of my exposure to the game. I also have yet to see the first movie as I’m still poor and it’s still behind a paywall. After seeing the trailer…I’m actually disappointed. Not because I think it will be terrible. It looks like it could be really good, much like the first one. I have no critical complaints. No, my problem is still totally personal bias because regardless of how good the movie is, it’s still not the one I want to see. Watch the Nintendo Direct with trailer and clips with Rosalina and Bowser Junior and I’ll explain.
Like I said, the movie itself looks really good. Fan response to the first movie was overwhelmingly positive and I do want to check both movies out. I suspect I’ll enjoy both. It’s just not the movie I want to see. First, you have the continued use of “regular” actors over voice actors. Charles Martinet moved on, but new voice actor Kevin Afghani, who started in 2023’s Super Mario Wonder is also not playing either of the Mario brothers like he does of the games. Again, the actual voice actors have been shunned in favor of celebrities who will get to promote the movie on talk shows, as if those still matter in 2025 or when the movie comes out in 2026. Hollywood regulars tend to look down on voice acting, only doing it for their kids/nieces and nephews or for the paycheck. Most of them have no respect for the craft or the people who do it, even though voice actors have done more movies, shows, games, and audio dramas in a year than most Hollywood actors. The story should be the star here. No pun intended given all of the star people in these movies and the games…moving on.
Judging Brie Larson and Benny Safdie by the clips is hard. Safdie seems okay and I don’t know either of their voices that well anyway. All I know is he’s not Caety Sagoian, the actual voice in the games, and I’ve never heard of Safdie. Brie Larson I have sadly heard of, and Mercedes Rose would have been even more welcome because of it. She was okay in the clip. Larson may be obnoxious in person and interviews but she’s not writing or directing the movie. depending on what her falling star power (pun still not intended) allowed her to force in. I’ll judge her performance by the actual performance, not how annoying she is.
My biggest disappointment is that it’s still not a Super Mario BROTHERS movie. At least being Galaxy, where it looks like Luigi being held prisoner is a norm in the games, the first movie should have been about both of them since “Brothers” was in the title, so I want a movie where both brothers play an important role. I gave a summary of what I would do after hearing about the plot of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and I still want something along those lines. Luigi is one of my favorite characters, but it looks like I’ll have to wait for them to a The Luigi’s Mansion Movie before I get to see him in action…and with my luck it will be some lower budget direct to streaming movie on a service I’m not paying for so I still won’t get to see it. I still want a movie with both brothers growing together as characters, heroes, and siblings. It seems he’s only in this one to be the one trying to encourage Bowser’s reform while Mario decides to be a jerk to him. Could that be tied to Mario’s character arc in this movie?
Again, it’s all personal wishes rather than anything against the movie. I’ll let the more die hard Mario Bros fans who kept up with the games and the first movie decide if it’s too early to jump into adapting Super Mario Galaxy, but it’s not like they went back to the NES games for the first movie. That’s something else I would have done if I was coming in from scratch, but that’s all on me. I still want to see the first movie, and if I like it I’ll check out the sequel. At least they aren’t trying to do live-action again and seem to be paying attention to the games. That’s more than we usually get from Hollywood’s adaptations these days.
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