- Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Brie Larson
- April 1st 2026
- 98
- Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
Mario, Luigi, Toad and Yoshi join Princess Peach on an extraterrestrial mission to save Princess Rosalina.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a huge commercial success three years ago, so it was only a matter of time before another Mario movie came along.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, based on the Nintendo video game of the same name, picks up where the first film concluded, with a small, shrunken version of the evil Bowser (voiced by Jack Black) as a prisoner inside Princess Peach’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) castle.
While he’s been locked away, his son, Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), has happily taken over as the villain in the hope of impressing his father with his evil plans, which include taking Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) from her home planet.
Once Peach receives word of Rosalina’s kidnapping, she embarks on an extraterrestrial mission to save her with the help of Mario (Chris Pratt), Luigi (Charlie Day), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) and their new friend Yoshi (Donald Glover).
Fans of the games and/or original movie will enjoy this sequel, even if it doesn’t quite follow the story of the Galaxy game.
The animation is stuffed full of playable and non-playable game characters and Easter eggs to the Galaxy game and wider Mario franchise. It’s clever how the filmmakers manage to incorporate them into the story.
However, it feels like they were more concerned with the references and the fun, nostalgic moments than the overall story. The plot is unfocused, haphazard, chaotic and often goes off on tangents.
But fortunately, there is so much to enjoy in the film that most people – particularly Nintendo fans – will be able to forgive the weak overarching story, especially when you’re watching standout moments like Princess Peach’s casino fight and a fun platform sequence that switches between 3D and 8-bit visuals.
The newcomers are the most noteworthy members of the voice cast. Glover is particularly memorable as the adorable green dinosaur Yoshi (although he doesn’t have a wide vocabulary), Safdie hams it up as the villain-in-training, and Rosalina’s star children, Lumas, are cute and funny. But nobody holds a torch to the comic genius that is Black as Bowser.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has an incredibly flimsy story, but it mostly makes up for that with its colourful, vibrant visuals, its fun sense of humour and sheer nostalgic entertainment value.
In cinemas from Wednesday 1st April
By Hannah Wales
© Cover Media