I’d heard a lot of negative takes on this movie, and there was a lot that bugged me about the first one. Whoever wrote the dialogue and the character arcs had a compulsive aversion to touching emotional intelligence with a ten foot pole, and Galaxy has the same problem. That said, I went in with my expectations set six feet underground, prepared to hate it, and was pleasantly surprised. While the story is still a weak point, the audiovisual experience and the deep cuts are top tier. I’d readily accept an argument that the style is the substance.

Musically: while they make frequent use of classic leitmotifs on the surface to push a nostalgia button, there are a lot of hidden ones in the score as well, which I had a great time listening for and doing the Leondardo Di Caprio point meme.

Watched: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie 🍿