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 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
PG for action, mild violence and rude humor.

Starring
Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Jack Black

Director
Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic

Producer
Christopher Meledandri, Shiger

Genres
Animation   Adventure   Family

Released by Universal Pictures on 4/1/2026 Nationwide
Trailer

Review

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to Universal's massively successful 2023 release, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, received its U.S. theatrical release on April 1, 2026, and I have to say that the joke is on us. If the first movie was a 90-minute nostalgia overdose contained within a brain-dead narrative, the sequel seems content with a "more of the same" approach. The film's aesthetic is identical - lots of bright colors and day-glo glittery stuff. The story is inane, but I guess that is par for the course for a video game adaptation that wants to maintain familiarity for those who played it some 19 years ago and still remember it. (Mario games and complex plots should not be mentioned in the same sentence.) However, the Easter eggs have lost much of their appeal, Donkey Kong is off doing something else, Daisy continues to be M.I.A., and the whole endeavor feels significantly less fun than its predecessor.

When the first movie was released, I lamented the fact that more creative and visionary directors like Lord & Miller had not been recruited to leaven the blandness. That absence of imagination is even more evident in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which has the returning director duo of Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic trying oh-so-hard not to alienate the fan base of millennial gamers and their young offspring. I am perhaps less openly hostile toward this franchise than Transformers, but the same dumbed-down qualities are in evidence.

The second installment in what will surely be a long-running franchise takes the characters away from the Mushroom Kingdom and into outer space. That is where Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) spends his days and nights plotting the return of his currently miniaturized father, Bowser (Jack Black). To that end, he intends to steal the powers of Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), who is the guardian of a gaggle of (literal) stars who appear to have wandered over while on their way to auditions for Disney's Wish. Once Rosalina has been captured, it is up to Mario (Chris Pratt), Luigi (Charlie Day), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), and newcomer Yoshi (Donald Glover) to mount a rescue. They leave Donkey Kong behind—allegedly because he is getting ready for his own spin-off—which effectively eliminates fifty percent of the fun.

The shift to a galactic setting allows for some physics-defying set pieces that look like they were designed by a kaleidoscope on an acid trip. While the games used spherical gravity to reinvent the platforming genre, the film uses it primarily to ensure the audience develops a mild case of vertigo. We are treated to a sequence where Mario and Yoshi navigate a series of planetoids, which basically serves as a three-minute commercial for a theme park ride that has not even been built yet. The movie turns up the kinetic dial to an 11, probably in an effort to convince those who pay for the 3D "upgrade" that they are getting their money's worth. But this is all busy action, designed primarily to keep kids hyped up on concession stand candy and soda sitting in their seats. It is probably a good fit for my six-and-a-half-year-old daughter, but not so much for her much older father. I felt like someone had tied me down and forced me to watch 90 minutes of Saturday morning cartoons.

To be fair, there are a few clever parts. Toad's (Keegan-Michael Key) Adventures in Babysitting side-story was cute. I was amused at the side-scrolling tactical readout employed by Bowser Jr. And I'm sure it was intentional that Star Fox (Glen Powell) channels a slightly less abrasive version of Rocket Raccoon. But that's about it.

Here's the bottom line: If the idea of spending 90 minutes in a movie theater seeing gorgeously rendered versions of a hugely popular gaming world and its characters going through the motions appeals to you, then The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will scratch the itch. The Mario franchise is such that it does not have to worry about "expanding the tent" or any such nonsense. It is what it is. It does not need "fixing." Most Mario fans will likely feel that this delivers on expectations. I suppose I would even agree with them, but my expectations were pretty low to begin with. Sad to say, not much in this film exceeded them, and I am left wondering if I am just too old for this particular brand of joy, or if this movie is just too corporate to have a soul.

© 2026 James Berardinelli

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Cinemas About Town