The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The first Super Mario Brothers Movie felt like a missed opportunity. Although it took an absolutely staggering amount of money as you might expect, it failed in opening up a genuinely interesting franchise, aiming squarely at Nintendo fans, and kids instead of pulling new audiences in. There was huge potential for world building, but it was squandered in favour of fan favoured box ticking. When a sequel was inevitably announced, I barely batted an eyelid, knowing that if my daughter wanted to see it I'd probably end up going. By the time we saw it she'd already seen it once, describing it as "sometimes good, sometimes boring" in a review that sums the whole thing up rather well. I could barely remember anything about the first beyond it being a fairly harmless film that has its moments but ultimately failed to deliver on its potential. The exact same flaws could be aimed at The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, only this time they're arguably more irritating.

When Princess Rosalina (Brie Larsson) is kidnapped by Bowser Jr (Benny Safdie), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor Joy) and Mario (Chris Pratt) must rescue her. And that's all there is to it really in terms of straight up plot. The rest of the film is like being attacked by colour and noise, in a similar vein to that of Trolls Band Together (2023) which I described at the time as like inhaling candy floss. Named after the Nintendo Wii game, The Mario Galaxy Movie lurches from one scene stuffed with easter eggs for fans to another. Part of Nintendo's problem here is that some of their characters just look silly on screen. I forgave the toads in the first film but to have them turn up again is an insult, while Luigi (Charlie Day) is just a burk. These characters might work in the video games but on screen their very presence is just inert. The film is stuffed with Nintendo references as you'd expect, but you'd have to be a proper fan to get a hold on all of them and therein lies the problem. This is aimed squarely at young kids, when it should really be aiming for Pixar heights of thrilling adults and children alike. The bar is so low it's pointless trying to kick the film when it's down- and never makes an effort to get up. I did enjoy the appearance of Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) of the Star Fox games, and his introduction inspires the best section of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie by some distance. It's not terrible, it's just awfully perfunctory and feels like everyone involved could have made it in their sleep. If you want to be extra cynical you could accuse it of simply looking like someone has asked AI to make a Super Mario Brothers Movie; although we can be thankful that this still remains a cut above the 1993 live action film starring Bob Hoskins. Ultimately this is one of those films that's probably immune from criticism, because reviews will have no effect whatsoever on its box office takings. Which probably means a third outing for these plumbers and their various friends and galaxies (The Super Mario Sunshine Movie anyone?). Which wouldn't be the end of the world, but also just encourages them to trudge out another soulless exercise in going through a list of Nintendo characters and throwing them in at will, not caring whether they stick or not. 5.9/10