Film Review: THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE (2026): New Worlds, New Characters, Funny Scenes and a Lot More of the Same
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic and Pierre Leduc, written by Matthew Fogel and starring Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Glen Powell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Brie Larson, Benny Safdie, Keegan-Michael Key, Charlie Day, Donald Glover, Kevin Michael Richardson, Luis Guzman, Issa Rae and Roxana Ortega.
Sometimes, an animated kids’ movie is just simply for kids despite how hard it tries to please the parents of said children and other adults. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie does the Super Mario video game series proud but doesn’t do much for non-fans of the video game except give them a big headache due to too much going on at the same time. There are at least three directors on board. Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic and Pierre Leduc are the names of most of the filmmakers at the core of this new film. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is certainly pure fun by the time the movie ends, but the viewer won’t remember much about it after it’s all over.
This movie builds a Frozen-type theme into the movie by including a couple of sisters alongside our beloved plumbers, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day). Those sisters are Rosalina (Brie Larson) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). We saw Peach the last time, but Rosalina feels new and gives off Elsa from Frozen vibes in her beautiful blue costuming. There are a lot of good messages about the power of family bonds and friendship in this movie even though they often get lost in the loud shuffle.
This new Mario movie’s plot initially revolves around a crooked monkey stealing Toad’s (Keegan-Michael Key) backpack as Peach and Toad go after what is rightfully theirs and become immersed in the film’s world which feels like it’s lifted straight from the video games that inspired it. Meanwhile, Peach addresses the guy she calls “moustache” (AKA Mario) in a letter regarding her efforts to find Rosalina when Peach realizes her sister may be in dire danger.
Meanwhile, Bowser (Jack Black) has been shrunken and is eventually back to his big size when Bowser’s son (Benny Safdie) comes knocking in order for the Bowsers to rule the world together. Soon, this new movie is all over the place with video game references and funny scenes such as when Mario, Toad and Luigi become babies temporarily and get in trouble with an oversized dinosaur who is eventually shrunken down to a baby itself. Fox McCloud (from Star Fox) shows up with Glen Powell’s voice to fly a ship to try to get Peach reunited with her sister and save “Mario World” from Bowser and his son’s reign.
There are some inspired scenes that echo the video game as our heroes often stomp and bounce on things and get power-ups to give them superpowers temporarily. One hysterical scene has Bowser’s son watching Mario and Peach in video game form that will put a smile on the faces of people who played the old video games from the 1980’s. When Fox McCloud appears, there was applause in the theater I viewed this movie in. Thus, this movie is not without its crowd-pleasing moments, but it’s a lot of familiar stuff masquerading as something new and different. Jack Black humorously revels in playing the King Koopa, Bowser, and Black is clearly having the time of his life reading his line deliveries.
Powell is energetic as the talking heroic fox in need of gold, but the Mario brothers are a bit flat this time out in terms of the way they come to life on-screen. Mario likes Peach and yearns for a romance with her, but the movie never develops the characters of Mario and Peach enough in the way that a really good, animated film should. That being said, the audience may appreciate the relatability of Mario who is afraid Princess Peach won’t like him because he’s a simple plumber by trade. Cute stuff.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie needed a stronger plot to sustain its feature length running time. There are a lot of half-baked ideas here that never really gel such as a casino where things happen and characters gamble, but things never get explained all that much. That lack of explanation of the film’s subplots is pretty much present straight across the board. The movie is funny when it wants to be and introduces the little green dinosaur, Yoshi (Donald Glover), with Notorious B.I.G. music. An inspired choice, to be sure, but it will go right over little kids’ heads. The adults will like the inside jokes but, unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough of them.
I occasionally enjoyed The Super Mario Galaxy Movie even though it’s lacking all the necessary elements of a quality animated picture. Brie Larson’s Rosalina is a nice addition to the mix, and the sisterly love and bond between she and Peach is the best part of the movie. That peculiar series of scenes where Mario and company are shrunken down to babies is just plain odd, but it’s eventually so silly that it will leave a smile plastered on less demanding viewers’ faces. More demanding viewers may want to look elsewhere, though.
Rating: 6/10
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