The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Is An Amusing Sequel (And an Improvement) [Review]

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The 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie was famously disliked upon release. While it featured well-known characters, it took a strange and unusual approach to the source material. It hasn’t necessarily become good over time, but it’s gained a dedicated cult following. Critics originally panned the film for being so different, arguing it lost the simple appeal of the original 8-bit game – which had a basic plot of rescuing someone from being kidnapped – and became something else entirely.

Now, with the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, we have a sequel that takes a completely different approach than the first film, which was a massive success. The 2023 movie heavily relied on established story details, hidden references, and appearances from other Nintendo characters and franchises. This proved that a film could be vastly different from the 1993 movie in terms of respecting the source material, yet still fall short. While The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t drastically change course from the first one, it does seem to learn from its predecessor’s mistakes—though it makes some new ones of its own.

Rating: 3 out of 5

PROS CONS
Visually stunning Fractured story
Great music Distracting cast & cameos
Uses game aesthetics for animation

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Improves on the First Film

There are three key reasons why The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more captivating than its predecessor, and even improves upon it. First, the visuals are stunning. Like the first film, it has Illumination’s signature animated style, but the galactic setting – where the Koopas kidnap a princess, naturally – creates a constant stream of exciting new worlds and planets to explore, making it visually engaging throughout. The same can’t be said for the audio, however.

One way The Super Mario Galaxy Movie improves on the first film is simply that it’s much funnier. While the original had a few amusing moments, most of its humor felt basic – things like Mario tripping, Toad being overly loud, or jokes that weren’t very clever. The new movie still includes some of those simple gags, but it also features genuinely funny moments. For example, the appearance of the classic Nintendo robot R.O.B. is a highlight, and Rosalina’s Lumas deliver some of the film’s best lines.

One of the movie’s strengths is that it doesn’t try to recreate the viral success of Bowser’s song, “Peaches,” from the first film. The filmmakers smartly avoided the temptation to one-up that moment, which would have likely been a mistake. “Peaches” was a highlight, and trying to top it would have felt forced and pulled viewers out of the experience. By resisting that urge, the movie actually improves upon its predecessor.

As someone who loves seeing stories adapted for the big screen, I found that the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie suffered from over-explaining things – it felt like it was constantly stopping to tell you what everything was. The sequel is definitely better in that respect; it just goes and trusts you already understand the characters, powers, and worlds. It doesn’t feel the need to constantly explain itself. Plus, the filmmakers really mixed things up visually, with some animation styles clearly inspired by classic Mario games like Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, which was a really fun surprise.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Never Quite Feels Whole

One of the biggest complaints about the first movie was the decision to replace Charles Martinet, who had voiced Mario for years, with actor Chris Pratt. It’s become increasingly common for films to cast celebrities for voice roles, hoping they’ll help promote the movie. While this strategy boosted ticket sales, it was distracting – every time Mario spoke, it reminded viewers that they were hearing the voice of Star-Lord instead.

I have to admit, when I first heard Benny Safdie was cast as Bowser Jr., it felt like a move specifically to get film buffs excited before the movie even came out. But honestly, his performance was surprisingly charming and sweet! The scenes with Jack Black, who is just phenomenal as Bowser, were definitely some of my favorites. And Brie Larson as Rosalina was lovely – she brought such a gentle and caring energy to the role that really added to the movie’s warmth.

Despite the star-studded voice cast, it’s hard to ignore the famous voices, and it’s actually quite distracting. Ironically, this distraction is somewhat overshadowed by the film’s disjointed story. The movie jumps between the perspectives of many characters – Mario and Luigi, Peach and Toad helping Rosalina, Bowser and his son, and even Yoshi – and this constant shifting reveals just how little dialogue most characters actually have. Chris Pratt’s Mario, in particular, barely speaks, leaving you wondering why a famous voice was needed at all, and what he was paid for what could have been a very quick recording session.

While The Super Mario Galaxy Movie does follow a basic story structure, the way it’s put together creates a different issue. Each scene flows into the next, but the movie feels more like a collection of separate, self-contained segments—almost like they were specifically created to be shared as individual clips on YouTube. This means no single part drags on too long, but it also prevents the film from feeling like a unified, cohesive story. It’s filled with fun, easily digestible moments that are perfect for short attention spans and, conveniently, for posting online without copyright issues.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is generally fun and moves at a good pace in its concise 90-minute runtime, with some surprisingly strong performances. However, it doesn’t really offer anything new to the Mario universe – it’s all been done before. The movie also feels the need to include characters from other Nintendo games just to get a reaction from dedicated fans, rather than serving the story. Ultimately, these issues probably won’t matter, as the film is expected to launch a series of successful sequels and encourage fans to buy more Nintendo games.

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2026-03-31 22:15