Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie follows the Mario brothers on a brand new adventure! Having thwarted Bowser’s (Jack Black) previous plot to marry Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) now face a fresh threat with Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), who is determined to liberate his father from captivity and restore the family legacy by destroying the entire universe with a powerful galactic weapon. Alongside companions new and old, the brothers travel across the stars to stop the young heir’s crusade.
The first theatrical animated adaptation based on the beloved video game franchise may have been mixed with critics but it ended up being a monstrous hit with audiences, becoming one of the most successful video game adaptations of all time. Personally, I actually enjoyed the first film as I felt it was way better than it had any right to be, and it definitely got me excited to see more of this world be brought to life theatrically through animation, given the limitless amount of source material. In this 2026 sequel, we have jumped out from adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom to an adventure soaring across space that pulls a lot of inspiration from the Super Mario Galaxy games. With new worlds and characters to explore, does this sequel manage to be just as satisfying as its predecessor? For the most part it actually does succeed in doing so.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is both a majorly fun continuation of the story and a cosmic love letter to fans that fully embraces the weird and wild elements of the Mario games. While there are some things about the sequel that hold it back from being a completely better film compared to its predecessor, I was still thoroughly entertained with everything about it all the way through, feeling so much joy with what I was watching as well as amazed by all the various improvements and surprises this film had in store. It is definitely one of those films that will make you feel like a kid again in the best ways possible while delivering a visual feast for the eyes that looks phenomenal on the big screen.
The voice cast is a mix of old and new faces, but collectively they all do a fantastic job with their respective characters. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day return to deliver solid performances as Mario and Luigi, playing mostly more confident and seasoned heroes this time around compared to the first film. The brothers have now become more well-versed in the Mushroom Kingdom and the lands surrounding it that they aren’t afraid of taking on anything as long as they are together. It was honestly great to see them together and share great chemistry after being mostly separated in the previous film, and it was also great to see them not regress in development as some sequels tend to with lead characters.
Anya Taylor-Joy reprises Princess Peach and fully maintains her status as a badass character in this adaptation, staying far away from her damsel in distress origins, which is honestly one of the best decisions ever made for this character. In this film we do get to learn more about her origin that was only teased in the first film, making it a large part of what drives her to make a daring journey across the stars, facing powerful foes at every turn, and not letting anything get in her way to help those in need. Anya Taylor-Joy does an amazing job with her voice performance in this film, serving as one of the major standouts among the cast for the sequel.
Keegan-Michael Key is once again great as Toad, still managing to deliver funny moments of his own when given the opportunity.
And then of course we have Jack Black return as Bowser who is just as hilarious and awesome as he was in the first film as he goes on an unexpected journey of his own that sees the once merciless villain develop a heart when he reunites with his long lost son. Due to major story spoilers I can’t discuss much about what happens with Bowser in this film but I can discuss a bit about his son, Bowser Jr., who is voiced surprisingly well by Benny Safdie.
Benny Safdie has certainly proven himself as both a good director and a good actor but when I initially heard he was cast as Bowser Jr. I wasn’t sure how he would turn out, and yet he ended up doing an amazing job voicing the devilish spawn of Bowser. Bowser Jr. is usually known in the games to be this annoying brat that was always a thorn in Mario’s side but in this film they made him a truly powerful and maniacal menace, much like his father, who wields incredible power and doesn’t hesitate to want to kill anyone who gets in the way of his goals. He’s a damn fun villain that sets up really great stakes for the characters and the story.
With a new threat comes new heroes and we end up getting three of them in this film, with the first among them being Yoshi, who oddly enough is voiced by Donald Glover. Yoshi has always been one of my favorite characters in the entirety of the Mario franchise so seeing him get his big screen debut, after being teased in the post-credits of the first film, was such an enormous joy for me and his portrayal in the film was absolutely awesome. Not only is he incredibly adorable but he’s also a very helpful individual to the others as he goes out of his way to help them every chance he gets, despite the great danger, proving to be a true hero that belongs on the team. Yoshi has no actual dialogue, only making the noises and sounds that Yoshi makes in the games, but they are all done incredibly well by Donald Glover, who’s pretty much unrecognizable in the role voice wise. Glover may be playing a Groot like role in this film but he fully commits to it and you can’t help but love him for that.
Joining the group a bit later on in the film in what would have been a surprising reveal had Illumination not spoiled it early is the legendary Fox McCloud from Star Fox, voiced by none other than rising superstar Glen Powell. Fox McCloud is an absolute badass character from the iconic Star Fox games and he ends up being a very fun addition to this film that oozes with endless charm and coolness that is mostly provided by Glen Powell’s fantastic voice performance. While I firmly believe Illumination should have kept his involvement secret until at least one week after the film’s release, I was still very happy with his involvement and would love to see a film made for him.
The third and final addition is the magnificent Princess Rosalina, a princess from outer space and the adoptive mother of the Lumas, voiced by Nintendo super fan Brie Larson. Brie Larson does an amazing job voicing Rosalina, capturing the character’s purity while also capturing her very protective nature of the Lumas through her voice performance. The only problem is that Rosalina ended up being extremely underutilized throughout the whole film. She has some great moments, especially in the opening, and she does play a major role in the story but her screen time was very minimal. With how much effort Brie Larson has put forth to market this film compared to everyone else, she deserved a lot more screen time than she did in this film and I do hope we can potentially see more of her down the line in future films because she was honestly great when she was on screen.
The story of this film adapts several storylines and elements from various Mario games, Galaxy being the most obvious, creating one wacky adventure that is far bigger in scale than its predecessor but simple enough to follow along and maintains the fun for all ages tone. Did this film need to have Citizen Kane level of writing to be good as some critics seemingly wanted it to be? No, absolutely not. Like I mentioned a few years back in my review for the first film, the Mario games were never known for having deep or layered narratives like some other IPs in recent years. The Mario games have always had very simple and straightforward plots that were mainly designed to entertain younger audiences. Both the first film and this film aimed to do the same thing with their simple plots that provide plenty of fun and entertainment while adding a little depth and development to certain characters to make them more investing for everyone to follow.
That being said, it doesn’t make this film completely immune to criticism even though I was mostly satisfied with it as a whole. This film’s narrative didn’t feel as properly structured compared to first film with its multiple threads and it always felt like it was constantly on the go to get through the story at almost breakneck speed. The first film did move things at a quick pace too but I did feel that it at least took brief breaks between the action and entertainment to expand upon the characters and make audiences connect more with them. This film didn’t have many of those moments, except for a few, and I was definitely wanting a lot more of those moments especially when it comes to characters like Mario, Luigi, Peach and Rosalina. The first film also had a simple theme about never giving up, which is a great message for younger audiences, while this sequel didn’t really have any themes that I could pick up on and felt more focused on the adventure aspects that I don’t personally have a huge issue with but I can see why some others may problems with it. What it may lack in some places it makes up hugely in the entertainment factor, major surprises and its extremely clever usage of major references to games that are woven into the story in ways that make sense. The way they handled references in this film is honestly way better compared to the first film in terms of how they are executed in inventive ways without throwing the entire story off course unlike some other films that fail to do that. This film’s narrative definitely feels like a love letter to not just to Mario fans but Nintendo fans in general and people are certainly going to have a lot of fun analyzing this film from top to bottom to catch any hidden references in the background. And it’s made abundantly clear by the end that there is plenty more adventures to be had with Mario & friends especially with the two post credit scenes that tease both the start of a new franchise spun off from this film and a new storyline from what will be the inevitable third film.
When it comes to the animation of this film, it is absolutely beautiful and gorgeously stunning in every single frame. The animation of the first film looked spectacular marking the first Illumination film I ever loved visually but this film’s animation takes things to another level with how it looks and feels especially with the detailed characters, epic worlds and phenomenal action sequences. With the Mario Galaxy games being the most visually striking of the franchise it made sense that this film really had to up the quality of animation to match the source material and it certainly succeeds in doing so especially with it’s amazing adaptations of worlds like Gateway Galaxy. The action also embraces elements of the games featuring various new obstacles, new enemies and new power ups that are all animated and shot with fluid precision and adrenaline pumping thrills. The character fight scenes especially felt majorly improved from the first with my favorite sequences being the Peach fight in the casino and the final battle on Planet Bowser. Additionally there are new styles of animation briefly used throughout film for certain sequences from retro 8 bit to gorgeous 2D anime style that all look amazing on the big screen.
And then there is, of course, the music, with the score done by returning composer Brian Tyler, who does a spectacular job elevating this film’s craziest sequences to epic proportions and delivering phenomenal orchestral takes on classic themes from various Mario games. There are far fewer licensed songs used in this film than there were in the last one, which allowed the score to play more of a role in the film.
This film may not be for the critics but it is certainly for the fans, the general audience, and the kids who are more than likely going to love everything about this film like I did, even with its faults. If you enjoyed the first film, then chances are you will enjoy this film just as much or even more so, depending on what you are wanting from it. I can’t wait to see the future of this series going forward and whatever crazy ideas they have in store. I’m going to give The Super Mario Galaxy Movie A- = 93.
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