Almost every mainline Super Mario game has been a critical and commercial success. Still, when Super Mario Galaxy was released for the top-selling Nintendo Wii in 2007, it was instantly regarded as a masterpiece of modern gaming. Galaxy took the fundamentals of 3D Mario and elevated them to new heights with its innovative gravity-based mechanics, iconic orchestral score, and grand sense of scale. The game is widely considered one of the very best from the Mario franchise to this day. So, when it was announced that the sequel to the 2023 billion-dollar smash hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie would be titled The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it immediately grabbed the attention of fans and generated massive hype.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was an exciting attempt for Nintendo (a company that is notoriously overprotective of its brand) to explore a new medium in collaboration with animation studio Illumination. While entertaining, it kept things relatively safe and told a simple but effective story. The choice to adapt Super Mario Galaxy signaled the promise of a sequel that would delve even deeper into the Mario universe, with a narrative suited to the cosmic setting and aesthetics. If the goal of a video game adaptation is to capture the feeling of playing its source material, then unfortunately, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie fails to live up to its name. The red plumber’s second outing is full of missed potential.
An Overstuffed Yet Barren Adventure
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie catches up with the lovable duo Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), who have now settled in as the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. That peace is soon disrupted when the son of their arch-nemesis, Bowser Jr. (writer-director Benny Safdie), arrives to reunite with his father, Bowser (Jack Black), and take over the galaxy. When Rosalina (Brie Larson), the guardian of the cosmos, fails to stop Bowser Jr.’s conquest, her Lumas call upon the help of Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). With their new friend Yoshi (Donald Glover) at their side, it’s up to the Mario gang to venture to new worlds and save the day.
It’s an accomplishment for a film to be as overstuffed as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is, yet still have so little actual plot and so few genuine characters. The first Mario outing was also critiqued for a lack of substance. However, it can be argued that it at least had a basic understanding of structure to drive the narrative at breakneck speed and ease audiences into Mario’s world. Galaxy’s script is shockingly thinner. Illumination’s sequel is similarly jam-packed with colorful set pieces and fan service, but has little to no connective tissue holding its events together.
A Total Disinterest in Adapting One of Nintendo’s Most Beloved Games
In response to criticisms of the first movie, many fans have argued that the Mario franchise has always been light in plot. Therefore, expecting the films to do anything deep with the source material is irrational. This has always been a particularly flawed argument, but it’s especially shallow when considering that the game The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is based on is packed with iconic moments that would translate beautifully to film. Super Mario Galaxy is as fun as it is because of its immaculate vibes. Its boss fights are colossal, its tone is dynamic, and it makes full use of the space setting in its design and aesthetics.
If there was any intention on Illumination’s part to improve the story quality for a sequel, then Super Mario Galaxy would be the ideal game to pull from. Even if it’s subtle and subdued, the game has great emotional beats that fans adore, like Rosalina’s storybook (which reveals her tragic origin) and the grand finale, where the galaxy is reborn. By using the Galaxy name, directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic had a strong base to build upon. Instead, the Galaxy theme feels like an afterthought. Rosalina herself, the ethereal driving force of the video game, is barely a noteworthy character in this movie — a shame given Brie Larson’s enthusiasm.
Beautiful Animation and Music, But Vacant Voice Performances
Just like the first film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie looks stunning and flaunts some of the best animation Illumination has produced to date. The sequel multiplies the number of settings, power-ups, and references to the games and renders them with so much love. Brian Tyler’s score is once again a highlight, compiling the franchise’s best tracks and turning them into full-bodied orchestral pieces. Thankfully, this sequel mostly ditches the unnecessary licensed needle drops that plagued the first film’s vibes. It looks and sounds like a celebration of Mario’s entire history. While that has its own charms, the lack of focus compared to Galaxy’s specific melancholic and adventurous tone is also a weakness.
One of the more surprising downgrades in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the quality of the voice performances. Even though Chris Pratt’s casting as Mario has become a meme-worthy moment, it’s generally agreed that his portrayal of the hero in the first film was an inspired take on the character. Here, Mario is strangely silent and one-note throughout the runtime. When he does speak, Pratt sounds genuinely bored and not at all like the peppy plumber he’s supposed to be. Actually, the majority of characters suspiciously have little to say this time around, as if the cast only had one session to record their lines. It gives the film an unfinished feeling and keeps the energy low.
Hardcore Mario Fans Might Walk Away Frustrated
New additions to the voice cast prove to be a saving grace, breathing a little life back into the movie. Particularly, Benny Safdie’s Bowser Jr. plays really well next to Bowser, which is impressive given Jack Black’s natural talent as a voice actor. Donald Glover’s take on Yoshi sounds adorable, despite him being mainly off to the side. Hotshot actor Glen Powell is perfect for Fox McCloud, and his Han Solo-esque introduction is a huge highlight. As stated, Rosalina has a criminally small role to play, but you can at least hear Brie Larson’s passion for the source material in her performance.
Beyond the film’s quality, hardcore Mario fans might surprisingly have issues with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Simply put, Illumination does not have a grasp on what the fans want to see from these characters and this world. Some frustrating plot contrivances separate the Mario gang for the first half of the movie, characters that should be really important undignifyingly come and go, and major changes are made to their backstories. When the first film changed Mario and Luigi’s origin, it felt additive rather than subtractive. It doesn’t seem like the filmmakers here understood why people are compelled by the source material at all, other than getting to point at things they recognize on screen.
Wasted Potential and a Lack of Nintendo’s Signature Charm
I sincerely do think the first Super Mario Bros. Movie, although simple, at least makes an effort to tell a story of two underdog brothers who find their belonging. It plainly used the iconography of the games to supplement that narrative. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is much closer to the key-jingling fest that people accused the first film of being. During the climactic action sequences, the movie constantly cuts away to show the action in a 2D 8-bit aesthetic — a novelty that is cute the first couple of times but grows old very fast. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is less of a real film with emotional stakes and more of a series of events compiled together.
Perhaps it’s an issue of branding. After all, the first Mario movie is not based on any particular game. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, on the other hand, is named after one of the most treasured games in Nintendo’s history, evoking specific memories and an air of prestige that the film simply lacks. A Wii game from 2007 shouldn’t feel far more cinematic, epic, emotional, and sophisticated than a 100-million-dollar animated movie, a medium that should inherently value storytelling as a higher priority. Its branding as a Galaxy adaptation is pure afterthought. Nonetheless, when viewed strictly as a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it’s hard not to be disappointed by the wasted potential and lack of charm.
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters on April 1!
Release Date: April 1, 2026.
Directed by Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic.
Written by Matthew Fogel.
Based on Mario by Nintendo.
Produced by Chris Meledandri & Shigeru Miyamoto.
Executive Producers: Yusuke Beppu, Brett Hoffman, & Bill Ryan.
Main Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Benny Safdie, Donald Glover, Brie Larson, Issa Rae, Luis Guzmán, Kevin Michael Richardson, & Glen Powell.
Composer: Brian Tyler.
Production Companies: Illumination & Nintendo.
Distributor: Universal Pictures.
Runtime: 98 minutes.
Rated PG.
