Kyoto dressed up this Saturday to host the world premiere of ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’, the new installment of Nintendo and Illumination, which expands the world of the most famous plumber in video games with a “bigger, faster and more action-packed” adventure, actor Chris Pratt told EFE as he walked the red carpet.
“It’s an extraordinary cinematic experience,” stated Pratt, who voices the iconic character.
From early afternoon, Kyoto’s Minamiza Theater was filled with stars to welcome a sequel set among galaxies with the responsibility of succeeding the 2023 phenomenon, which grossed more than $1.3 billion and ranked as the second highest-grossing film of that year – second only to ‘Barbie’ – and the 18th highest-grossing film in history.
Under the watchful eye of Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Super Mario saga and producer of the film, actors such as Pratt and Charlie Day, who voices Mario’s brother Luigi, were on parade.
“What makes him special is that he does incredible things that if it were up to himself he wouldn’t do, but the love he has for his brother pushes him to do it,” Day explained about the evolution of his character, who in this new installment will overcome all his fears.
Super Mario Galaxy: the movie is a real adventure
Inspired by the universe of the ‘Super Mario Galaxy‘ video game, released in 2007, the film moves away from the cliché of the damsel in distress to delve into the adventures and travels of Princess Peach in a quest for her origins.
Actress Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Peach in the film, captured all the spotlight with a dress inspired by the Japanese cherry tree, which these days paints the streets of Kyoto pink.
Meanwhile, his partner Jack Black, who plays the villain Bowser, displayed his usual charisma humming iconic tunes from the saga.
“Bowser is a mystery, even he doesn’t understand himself,” the actor commented, before joking, “Who are his parents? I suspect it’s Godzilla, but I don’t know.”
The big novelty in this installment is the appearance of the villain’s son, Bowser Jr. voiced by Benny Safdie, whose relationship with his father becomes one of the pivots of the story.
“He wants to make his father proud. You mix that with conquering the universe and you create a huge ball of crazy,” Safdie told EFE.
In addition to their appearance, new characters such as Rosalina and Yoshi appear, which expand the saga’s imaginary and reinforce its choral character.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Grammy winner Donald Glover, who gets into the mind of Yoshi to give him voice and character. A new and charismatic dragon that will become inseparable from the two brothers.
Colophon to the 40th anniversary
The release of the new movie, which will hit theaters in most parts of the world starting Wednesday, April 1, caps off a year of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the birth of Super Mario, for whom the midlife crisis seems to have been a great fit.
“We experimented a lot when we started the film to see which worlds we were most interested in,” the film’s screenwriter, Matthew Fogel, told EFE about the challenge of capturing the immense universe of the popular saga on screen.
According to Agencia EFE, the film aims to be a natural evolution of the characters, combining the spectacle of careful animation, humor and emotion in a formula to once again become the most successful video game adaptation in the history of cinema, as its predecessor did.
Here is the trailer for ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’.
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