It’s hard to have high expectations for yet another Super Mario movie given the notorious failure of the 1993 live-action film and 2023’s mind-numbingly mediocre The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While the Super Mario Galaxy might inspire some hope in die-hard millennial and Gen Z Mario fans, they will sadly be let down by Illumination Entertainment’s latest offering. Once again, a legacy of beloved video games is dumbed down to references to be pointed out by fans of the games, instead of anything more.
Adapting Super Mario Galaxy could have been promising. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie could have raided the game’s immense world to formulate a story for the screen. Sadly, not much of the story gets carried over, beyond the series’ trademark damsel-in-distress hook. In one of many baffling deviations from the game, the damsel in distress isn’t Princess Peach, but Rosalina (Brie Larson). The Mario brothers and Princess Peach are called to action once more, traveling through different galaxies on a quest to stop Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) from conquering the world. This time, they are joined by Yoshi (Donald Glover).
It says a lot about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie that the best thing about the film is a character who did not originate from a Mario game. Right before the film’s release, Universal revealed via social media that Glen Powell would appear as Fox McCloud from the Star Fox video games. While his appearance is baffling, Glen Powell is having the time of his life voicing Fox McCloud as if he were reprising the character of Hangman from Top Gun: Maverick. It’s fun to hear him bring the appropriate level of energy to the part, because he quickly steals the show.
With Rosalina’s role being reduced to the damsel-in-distress, the brilliant decision to cast Brie Larson in the role is a wasted opportunity. She’s not really given much to do, owing to how much of her screen time is spent in Bowser Jr.’s captivity. The film never really knows what to do with her, even with a major emotional hook in the video game being her backstory. Even with a new narrative tie to Princess Peach, who bafflingly spends far less time with Mario in this entry. Strangely, Jack Black’s Bowser is offered the most interiority, as he desires to be a better father to his son. Benny Safdie’s vocal performance as Bowser Jr. is a fun counterpart to Jack Black’s Bowser in the closest thing the film finds to an emotional arc.
Story was hardly the strong suit of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but the team at Illumination Entertainment doubled down on the Easter Eggs for Nintendo fans. The film is designed around references to the Mario games, as well as other Nintendo properties such as R.O.B. and Pikmin. When the film isn’t focusing squarely on easy references, it plays baffling needle drops. These include “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. and “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin as if it has no faith that its adult viewers will enjoy the film on its own terms (and, in fairness, maybe they won’t).
The highest praise I can give The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is that I chuckled more watching this than I did watching its predecessor. But frankly, as someone who’s loved these video games for most of my life, I don’t think it’s unfair to expect a better movie than this. There’s a certain euphoria that I get from reliving my childhood memories from playing the video game once again. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t provide that. With its interminable parade of callbacks to the games, the film seems to have little faith in working on its own terms. It’s certainly much shinier than the first one, and the voice cast are doing the best they can. Yet you can’t shake off that feeling of cynicism behind its creative process, as if audiences don’t deserve or want anything more than callbacks to the Honeyhive Galaxy.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Universal Pictures.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic
Screenplay by Matthew Fogel, from the video game series published by Nintendo
Produced by Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto
Starring Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Benny Safdie, Donald Glover, Brie Larson, Glen Powell
Premiere Date: March 28, 2026
Running Time: 98 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
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