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A gorgeous looking film that promises epic adventure but ultimately falls flat due to pacing issues and a bland story. The Mario games aren’t really known for their storylines, with there being a handful of exceptions: “Super Mario Sunshine,” and the game the film is mostly based on, “Super Mario Galaxy.” While “Sunshine” has a decent plot that drives the game, this film only uses the big bad from that game and a few other superficial odds and ends. Both the game and film versions of “Galaxy” start off in a similar way, however the game is a fairly epic jaunt through the universe while the film briefly stops in a few places that look so much like each other at times it feels like everything happens on the same planet. That essentially leaves two story arcs that meander around a bit before coming together, and neither one of them ends up feeling that important due to the way they just kind of wrap up at the same time. The returning characters are still enjoyable, but the biggest new characters, Bowser Jr. and Yoshi are actually a bit bland. The animation is top notch, and almost every inch of the screen is filled with easter eggs. Ultimately Mario fans, especially “Mario Galaxy” fans, will be get some enjoyment out of the film but casual fans will probably be bored and maybe get a chuckle or two from the attempts at humor.

** out of *****