Although “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is an entertaining, action-packed film filled with exciting references and easter eggs, it has a lot of missed potential storytelling-wise.
This follow-up to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023) released on April 1 is a collaborative effort between Nintendo, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures.
The film has been breaking records in the box office, with the biggest opening weekend of 2026 and achieving a five-day gross of $372.5 million, according to an April 5 Screen Rant article.
The plot is straightforward: Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) is kidnapped by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) to create a magical “Bowser World,” and to rescue his father Bowser (Jack Black) who is trapped in Princess Peach’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) castle.
This comes after Bowser is defeated and captured by Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) in the first movie.
Chris Pratt as Mario once again did not stand out, and I’m still confused as to why he was cast or even auditioned for that role in the first place.
However, actors such as Charlie Day and Jack Black stood out with their portrayal of Luigi and Bowser amongst others.
They were as enjoyable to watch as in the first movie and carried the film with comedy and likability.
Peach’s characterization was also very enjoyable throughout the movie, making a separate journey to save Rosalina. I’m also just a sucker for Anya Taylor-Joy.
Despite the film’s straightforward plotline, it slowly overwhelmed me with the introduction of many characters and multiple worlds.
Worlds from Mario games like “Super Mario Odyssey” (2017) and references to some of Nintendo’s extensive catalog of characters and games were spread throughout the movie.
One instance is of the character Birdo, who was given a very brief appearance. It’s not inaccurate to say the movie relies heavily on quick easter eggs and references.
It was exciting to see new characters on the big screen, but the constant references got overwhelming after a while.
The animation was visually pleasing and perfectly captured the magical and whimsical atmosphere of the Mario universe.
Animators made clear improvements to some characters’ designs, with elements like Peach’s dress having more intricate details.
The film introduced Rosalina as not just a princess but an adoptive maternal figure of Lumas, little star children in the Mario universe, which left me bubbling with excitement since I loved her character growing up.
Despite her inclusion in the new movie, her screen time and portrayal could’ve been better.
In fact, Star Fox (Glen Powell), a character who isn’t even in the Mario universe, had more screentime than her.
As someone who loved Rosalina growing up, I couldn’t help but feel like the movie missed so much with her character, such as her backstory from the “Super Mario Galaxy” (2007) storybook included in-game.
The storybook tells players that Rosalina lost her mother and was abandoned in an unknown universe, then becoming the ruler of a kingdom at a young age.
While the plot is your average princess-rescuing adventure, the movie diverges from the plot so often that the timeline of events becomes confusing.
It seems like the sequel prioritizes fitting so many references in 98 minutes that they forget the main point of the movie midway through.
Another character they added is Yoshi (Donald Glover).
I loved Yoshi in the movie. He was cute and funny, which is what I wanted from his character.
In an April 1 interview with Screen Rant, Glover said he actively campaigned to be cast as Yoshi. It’s like the saying, “Closed mouths don’t get fed.”
Other likable aspects of the movie includes Bowser and Bowser Jr.’s father-son dynamic. I’d like to see the introduction of the other kooplings in later movies.
Bowser’s inability to choose between siding with Luigi and Mario versus taking over the universe with his son was an interesting plotline. It was annoying, but in an endearing way.
This plotline immersed me in the story as someone who grew up playing Mario games, because seeing Bowser and Mario get along would shock my childhood self.
Character additions aside, the lack of “Super Mario Galaxy” elements, despite the movie title, surprised me.
Although Rosalina and Lumas are in the sequel, there is no hopping between worlds as you do in the Galaxy games, including the worldbuilding of said games.
In fact, there were more references to “Super Mario Odyssey” (2017) and the “Super Smash Bros.” franchise.
Despite its hiccups, the film embraced its unseriousness, which is what I wanted going in. I wanted a movie that could make me laugh and keep me entertained throughout its run and it did just that.
This is hopefully only one of many Mario movies to come, and inevitably, the universe will be expanded on and hopefully done justice.
