2023 brought audiences “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” by far the most successful cinematic adaptation of a video game ever. It was a wonder how appealing the property was with vibrant, colorful animation and respect for both its source material and its audience. I couldn’t bring myself to recommend the film, as the story, action, characters, and humor never really “came together” for me, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

In that film, plumber brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Cox) stumbled upon the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), who they saved from having to marry Bowser (Jack Black), king of the evil Koopas. They also aligned with headstrong ape Donkey Kong, but he’s not in play here. The brothers and Peach were hailed as heroes, while Bowser was ultimately shrunk down and imprisoned in a jar.

This film starts out by introducing some new characters. Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) rules over a planet of childlike stars in another galaxy. She’s abducted by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), who needs to harness her powers to activate a doomsday weapon. But first, there’s the matter of rescuing his father from Peach’s castle in the Mushroom Kingdom. Meanwhile, a plumbing job leads to Mario and Luigi making the acquaintance of loveable dinosaur Yoshi (Donald Glover, apparently, though he mostly communicates in indiscernible squeaks), who is too marketable to not immediately become a lifelong companion of our heroes.

Peach and loyal mushroom-man assistant Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) go off to rescue Rosalina, leaving Mario and Luigi in charge of the Mushroom Kingdom. They barely manage to keep the place running for a day, and really drop the ball when Bowser Jr. attacks. They leave to join the rescue mission (so much for their responsibilities running the kingdom) with the still-miniature Bowser in tow.

The teams’ adventures take them to a casino galaxy, a honeybee galaxy, a dinosaur galaxy, and a hub that connects all the galaxies, where they enlist the help of stranded pilot Fox McCloud (Glen Powell). The climax takes place on a much-heralded planet that Bowser Jr. has built for his father to rule. Aside from the worlds where the characters actually live, there’s no reason for them to visit other galaxies, but this is a movie that insists on variety for the sake of variety.

And that’s the biggest problem with the film: it’s very cluttered. Fans of the video games might get a kick out of the various settings and brief character appearances and other Easter eggs (appropriate, I suppose, for the recent Easter weekend), but I don’t see a point in including all these goodies if the film can’t do anything interesting with them. It can barely do anything interesting with its main characters, let alone the obscure ones.

Sorry, but the movie is a mess from a storytelling and character development perspective. For example, Bowser laments that he wasn’t always there for Bowser Jr. as a father. But we don’t get a single scene of Bowser Jr. addressing how little his father had been there for him. Nor do we get any scenes where Mario and Luigi talk about missing their home and family in Brooklyn. Peach learns about major aspects of her identity, but I never got the sense that it was really “hitting” her. It all feels sloppy and rushed, as if the writers knew they needed to incorporate various story beats “somehow,” and “somehow” turned out to be the bare minimum.

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” once again gets the visual aspect right, which admittedly is a big part of this franchise’s success. But the story is nonsensical, the characters are cardboard, and there’s a noticeable lack of chemistry between the voice actors, probably owing to them not recording together. It’s a minor step back for the property after “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” took such a major step forward.

Grade: C

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is rated PG for action, mild violence, and rude humor. Its running time is 98 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.