Cinema Dispatch: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

May 25, 2026May 24, 2026 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and all the images you see in this review are owned by Universal Pictures

Directed by Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic

I can’t say that I was a fan of the first movie, but I did appreciate what it accomplished for the audience it was aiming for. A sequel was inevitable given its billion dollar box office, but it did manage to catch my interest with its promise of a space-faring adventure with Rosalina from the Galaxy series of games. Still, this is Illumination we’re talking about, whose work can be charitably described as passable, and trying to encompass the cosmic side of the Mario universe is no small feat even for a studio with some artistic panache; let alone one whose greatest contribution was ripping off the Rabbids. Can the Mario brothers drag a great movie out of this middle-of-the-road studio, or will this be yet another average outing for the venerable Nintendo franchise? Let’s find out!!

The Mushroom Kingdom has stayed relatively peaceful since the Mario Brothers (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) toppled the big bad King Bowser (Jack Black); leaving Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) to rule unabated with an iron fist and an army of toads! The duo even has a new sidekick named Yoshi (Donald Glover) who is as friendly as he is adorable, but while things may be looking up for this little corner of the universe, terrible things are brewing in the furthest reaches of space. The Princess of the Cosmos Rosalina (Brie Larson) is kidnapped by Bowser Jr (Benny Safdie) and one of her children, a Luma much like the one we saw in the first film, manages to escape and get a message to Princess Peach. With such a powerful princess in trouble, she wastes no time in heading off to the stars, leaving our plumbers and a somewhat reformed, and also tiny, Bowser to follow far behind while dodging the nefarious machinations of Bowser’s son. What is Bowser Jr planning to do with Rosalina’s power, and does his father have a role to play in either stopping or supporting his son? Will the Mario Brothers catch up to Peach in time to help her save the day, and does she have a greater role to play in all this than even she realizes? What does it mean that the universe is full of interconnected worlds that we can easily reach from star portals!? Just imagine the implications! And the possibilities for cameos and references!

“What did I tell you, Mario? The pyramids were built by alien mushroom people! Just like I said!” “Will you shut up? I’m not watching Ancient Aliens with you!”

Continue reading →

Cinema Dispatch: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

The Super Mario Bros. Movie and all the images you see in this review are owned by Universal Pictures

Directed by Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic

I’m not sure how clear I’ve been about this in the past, but this is kind of a big deal for me because I’ve been a Mario fan for as long as I’ve known that video games existed. To this day I lean towards Nintendo consoles, and while I haven’t finished Odyssey quite yet, I’ve at least finished all the primary 3D console games of which this adaptation is taking a lot of its inspiration. Needless to say that I will have far more thoughts on this than I should have, and in order to express them all I’m going back to my classic overlong format just in case you were all getting far too used to my newer snappier style. Given the decades of hype and speculation around the idea of a proper Mario movie, is there any hope of Illumination rising to the challenge and delivering the best video game movie ever made, or do we need to lower our expectations to something a little more reasonable given the studio’s particular brand of middle-of-the-road family entertainment? Let’s find out!!

Mario and Luigi (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) are two Brooklyn plumbers who have just started their own business and are ready to make it big! Sadly the duo doesn’t have much luck as shenanigans abound, and a flood in the city leads them to some magical green pipes that transport them to the fantastical Mushroom Kingdom. Well, at least Mario gets sent there while Luigi gets sent to The Dark Lands and winds up as a prisoner of King Bowser (Jack Black) who is the big bad around here and is looking to take over the kingdom by dethroning Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). With Mario looking to save his brother and Peach needing some muscle for her upcoming war with Bowser, the two strike a bargain to help each other as they head to the Jungle Kingdom to enlist the help of the Kongs. Will Peach and Mario be able to save the kingdom and Luigi from Bowser’s terrifying machinations? Can Mario learn the ins and outs of this world and become its greatest champion like John Carter and Flash Gordon before him? What’s really driving this Koopa tyrant in his quest to take over the world, and does he sing a song about it?

How appropriate would it be to reference a Tenacious D song here? Yes, that one.

Continue reading →

Cinema Dispatch: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

July 28, 2018September 8, 2020 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

TTGTTMCD0

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies and all the images you see in this review are owned by Warner Bros Pictures

Directed by Peter Rida Michail and Aaron Horvath

I’ll admit that I, like many fans of the first show (i.e. OLD PEOPLE), tended to be rather dismissive of Go for amping up the comedy and more or less abandoning the action and drama in doing so; but that said I also didn’t outright hate it or ever have the urge to complain loudly and publicly about it. Still, now that the Titans trailer has given me a bit of perspective, I feel kind of bad about not really giving it the time of day and plan on rectifying that soon. Before that though, we’ve got a movie to see which couldn’t be further in terms of tone and style than its TV-MA counterpart and frankly that’s about all I need to more or less give this movie a pass. Hopefully it’s good movie as well, but considering I didn’t see Robin snapping necks and covered in blood in the trailers for this, I think it clearly has the upper hand. Will the jump to from television to feature films silence the haters once and for all who complained that this interpretation of the characters wasn’t just like the one they had when THEY were kids, or is this yet another show that didn’t need the big screen treatment and will be yet another cudgel to be wielded by rather obnoxious fanboys? Let’s find out!!

The movie begins with the Teen Titans, made up of Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy (Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong, and Greg Cipes), putting bad guys on the run and not stopping until the job gets done… at least until they find an excuse to dance at which point the Justice League has to come in and clean up after them. Well that’s not TOO bad! They got a few hits in before getting distracted by their own theme song, and it means they get a chance to chat it up with Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and even Superman (Lil Yachty, Ashley “Halsey” Frangipane, and Nicolas Cage)! Not Batman though (Jimmy Kimmel) as he’s attending the premier of his latest movie which is NOT directed by Matt Reeves; rather by an up and coming star director named Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell). Wait a minute, movie premiere!? Why didn’t anyone tell the Teen Titans!? Furthermore, why haven’t THEY gotten their own movie!? These are questions that Robin in particular doesn’t like being raised, and so he vows to get his own movie by any means necessary! Up to and including finding an arch villain for the Teen Titans to face which will surely get Jade Wilson’s attention and convince her to give them a shot at the silver screen! Good thing it just so happens that a villain known simply as SLADE (Will Arnett) who is most assuredly NOT Deathstroke (that name is FAR too scary!) is cooking up some scheme and can only be stopped by this group of teenagers with attitude! Can the Titans find a way to stop Slade AND get their own movie in the process? Just how far will Robin go to get his chance, and will his friends be the ones to suffer in the process? Can I just say that SLADE is a better bad guy name than Deathstroke? SLADE!! SLLAAAAAADDDDEEE!!

Continue reading “Cinema Dispatch: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” →