The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, grossing over $1 billion on a $100 million budget, would naturally justify a sequel, announced one year later and released in 2026. Despite animation studio Illumination’s track record for the inconsistent quality of their output, I still enjoyed The Super Mario Bros. Movie (in spite of its flaws) and felt growing hype as the sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, drew closer, enough that I finally played the original game that it was based on, Super Mario Galaxy. Although some skepticism and negative critic reviews popped up during the lead-in to the film’s release, I felt that I should see first-hand how it shaped up compared to the original. Unfortunately, for every enjoyable element, there is something that holds it back from greatness.

Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), the adoptive mother of the Lumas, is kidnapped by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), who wants to free his father and use her power to fuel his own ambitions. During a failed escape attempt, Rosalina sends a Luma to the Mushroom Kingdom, who receives help from Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key). While Peach is away, she asks Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), who have recently befriended a Yoshi (Donald Glover), to help the Mushroom Kingdom in her absence. As they do, the brothers attempt to rehabilitate a mini-sized Bowser (Jack Black) and find themselves teaming up with him when they believe that Peach is in danger.

As with the previous film, it’s clear that a lot of love and care went into certain aspects of the sequel. All of the game elements, including all enemies and power ups, are lovingly rendered in 3D, with special attention paid to small details that fans will appreciate. Since I had played Super Mario Galaxy, I especially appreciated the detail in rendering Star Bits, the Lumas, Launch Stars and the design of Rosalina, as well as the true majesty and scale of this interpretation of the Comet Observatory. If someone paused the movie, they’re sure to spot a plethora of easter eggs and references as well, although it may feel more difficult in the very busy Gateway Galaxy. Unique to this film, we have a scene of Bowser putting on a puppet show for Bowser Jr. in a flashback, with the hand puppets rendered in a visually pleasing way. No matter what scene you’re watching, however, the film really pops in 3D, which makes this viewing option particularly attractive.

The animation really stands out in 3D.

Brian Tyler once again knocked it out of the park with his score, especially when reinterpreting iconic tracks from the games. Once again, including sound effects lifted straight from the games goes a long way with selling the setting and appealing to existing fans of Super Mario Galaxy. There also aren’t any issues with voice acting, with a special nod to Brie Larson’s take on Rosalina and how Chris Pratt has clearly grown more comfortable voicing this incarnation of Mario.

However, the weakest link is the unfocused and uneven script. On one hand, the film addressed valid criticisms of the original. Where Luigi spent most of the first adventure trapped by Bowser and only really contributed to the fight at the very end, he’s now with Mario for the entire story and has more an impact. Peach now shows more of her caring side, but is still the active, ass-kicking heroine she was in the first film and there are signs of a budding romance between her and Mario. The conflict between Bowser’s commitment to his son and his growing friendship with Mario and Luigi is also an interesting twist to his character that has a lot of potential. It’s also good to see more of Peach’s backstory.

On the other hand, the film doesn’t fully capitalize on its potential. Despite her prominence in the advertising, including a dedicated poster, Rosalina barely has any screentime and spends most of it locked up in the clutches of Bowser Jr. (much like Luigi in the first film). This is a stark contrast to her game counterpart, who came off as far more than a damsel in distress and helped Mario rescue Peach, so the role reversal felt jarring. Bowser’s character development goes by in a flash, with no time to earn itself. This particular point is a symptom of a problem present in the first film but amplified here by the increased number of plot threads and pointless (or nearly pointless) scenes. The Gateway Galaxy has a lengthy scene in a casino that certainly shows off how well Peach and Toad can work together, giving the latter more of an active role in the adventure, but has almost no bearing on the plot. At least that scene had more utility than a later one involving the baby variants of Mario and Luigi that serves as nothing more than padding in an already 98-minute film, since everyone continues as though nothing happened afterwards.

Rosalina (Brie Larson) barely does anything in her own movie.

There’s also the presence of Fox McCloud (Glen Powell), as advertised shortly before the film’s release. The film nails the Star Fox elements, with a well-animated, accurate depiction of Fox’s background, along with his cocky attitude and the use of music from the games. However, despite apparently having less screentime than Rosalina, Fox contributes far more to the plot than her and his presence stretches the definition of a “Mario” movie (alongside a couple other surprise cameos). Though Star Fox fans may feel happy from Nintendo doing more with the property after about a decade, I wish it didn’t come at the expense of the Super Mario Galaxy elements, which already felt more like a backdrop here rather than the main focus. Based on how he’s introduced, I also wish that the marketing hadn’t spoiled Fox’s inclusion, as it took away a lot of the impact his reveal may have had.

As if that wasn’t enough, the humor didn’t land as well as its predecessor. Perhaps due to the breakneck pace, the jokes either didn’t have as much time to land or felt more half-baked to cram in more Nintendo references. It doesn't help that one particular joke, while kind of funny even if rather obvious, felt ripped from Zootopia in its execution. That said, the jokes that did land hit hard, largely those involving Bowser and his interactions with the other characters.

Although I can’t say for certain the exact cause, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie falls short of its predecessor. It’ll certainly entertain the right audience and see enough box office returns to justify a third film that I would admittedly still watch just to see how they capitalize on the twist in the post-credits scene. Based on how this film turned out, I at least hope that a potential third one doesn’t get too complacent with how well the property can print money.