The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review
Three years ago, we saw Nintendo and Illuminations manage to do the impossible and bring the Super Mario Bros to the big screen…and it didn’t stink. In fact, despite the critics having a lukewarm reaction to it, audiences loved The Super Mario Bros Movie. It was funny, it was incredibly well-animated, and the sheer amount of Nintendo references made any gamer worth their salt squee. I should know; I was one of those people who loved it! I was calling it the birth of the Nintendo Cinematic Universe, since we all knew that there was going to be a sequel. Fast-forward to April Fools Day, 2026, and I went to the theater dressed as Mario, mustache and all, to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Once again, the critics had mixed things to say about the film, but were they right to bash it?
Again, the answer is still no…but I say this a little more hesitantly than I did the first time. And not without good reason; The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is very chaotic!
What a Bloated Mess!
It’s been a while since Mario and Luigi saved the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser’s reign of terror, and the two are now well-respected heroes and seasoned adventurers. They even get a new companion in the form of a certain green dinosaur! But on the night of Peach’s birthday party, the Princess finds an injured Luma (star creature) who says her mom, Princess Rosalina, has been kidnapped. She and Toad head off to rescue the Princess while Mario and Luigi look after the kingdom, and the still tiny Bowser. Except everything goes south when Bowser Jr. shows up, abducts the castle, and tries to take his dad back by force.
Like I said, this film is juggling a lot of things at once, and not for the better, I might add! It’s trying to combine multiple Mario Bros games into a single story, the most notable being Super Mario Galaxy. Given how the Galaxy games are some of the best in the franchise, it’s obvious why Nintendo and Illumination would want to use them for the basic premise. The problem with this film is that it’s trying to do too many things in a ninety minute timeframe. It’s trying to touch on Bowser’s fears that he’s not a good father for his son. It’s touching on the ongoing ship between Mario and Peach (which is doomed to fail, since Miyamoto says their relationship is platonic) while also delving into Peach’s origins. It even has a subplot about Bowser considering giving up his evil ways for good, only for his son to encourage him to keep being evil. The end result is that, much like in the first film, all of the characters get hints of having more depth to them, but not enough time to properly flesh them out. And it doesn’t help that a good part of this film puts focus on the newer characters, like Yoshi and Fox.
We all knew that we were going to see Yoshi in this sequel, what with it being teased in the post-credits for the first. And to be fair, Yoshi proves to be a very entertaining character who manages to seamlessly integrate himself into the group. Unfortunately, it’s a little too seamless at times, with any drama brought about by his addition being non-existent. An even bigger surprise, though, was the addition of Fox McCloud from Star Fox. I love the Star Fox games, and I think that having Fox get stuck in their universe was an awesome way to include him. At the same time, though, I feel like Illumination was trying to use this to set us up for Fox getting his own film, and we don’t even know if that will happen! If it does, that’s awesome. If not, then the cameo feels pointless!
That was everything that I had a problem with regarding The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. But what did I actually like about it? Basically everything else.
At Least the Animation and Music Were Awesome!
I said in my review of the first film that I knew not to expect that deep of a plot for a Mario movie, and I meant it. Mario is a franchise that is built on fun gameplay rather than deep lore. And much like that first film, this one was made with the fans in mind, as it is full of references from start to finish. I’m actually considering going back and seeing the movie again just so I can count all the references I missed, there are so many! And while some people see that as detracting from the plot of the film, I loved them. I can’t help it; I just love seeing references to things I like in movies!
Then there is the animation. Say what you want about Illumination, but when it comes to animation, they know what they’re doing. Everything is so smooth and expressive! And with this film featuring even more action than the first one, Illumination really gets a chance to show off how good it can do action sequences. But if I have to pick one thing that the movie does absolutley better than the original, it has to be the music. The first film had a notable amount of licensed songs instead of original music. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie consists almost entirely of original music, or at least remixes of songs from the games.
Smash Bros Movie, Anyone?
So, is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie any good? I’ll be honest: I think I liked the first movie more. However, we all know that it’s going to do well at the box office. So the real question is, where do we go from here? I think the answer is pretty obvious: Smash Bros.
The first movie gave us the potential for Donkey Kong and Luigi’s Mansion spin-off flicks. This film gave us a potential avenue for a Star Fox film. Not to mention how we got cameos from ROB and the Pikmin. Much like what Marvel did in 2010s, I think Illumination and Nintendo are slowly building up to the crossover fighting movie: a Super Smash Bros movie. And I’m genuinely hoping to see something like that happen. Until then, though, I’m content to keep enjoying Mario and Luigi’s adventures.
