‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ review: Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy and Jack Black return to voice chaotic animated sequel

Dirs: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. Japan/US. 2026. 98mins

Mario and Luigi rocket across the universe in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but the sequel’s storytelling remains disappointingly pedestrian. Although the follow-up to the 2023 original boasts colourful animation, too often this Illumination production mistakes visual and narrative busyness for genuine excitement. As a result the film, based on the venerable Nintendo property, suffers from strained humour and cluttered action sequences — issues that will hardly discourage young audiences from coming out in droves.

Strained humour and cluttered action sequences

Universal releases The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in the UK and US on April 1, with the picture opening in Japan three weeks later. The Super Mario Bros. Movie hit theatres this same weekend in 2023, and grossed $1.4 billion worldwide. The returning starry voice cast, which included Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black, is joined here by franchise newcomers Glen Powell, Brie Larson and Donald Glover. Commercial prospects seem comparably stratospheric.

While protecting the Mushroom Kingdom of Princess Peach (voiced by Taylor-Joy), plumber brothers Mario (Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) encounter a lovable dinosaur named Yoshi (Glover), who quickly becomes their loyal sidekick. Mario nurses a crush on Peach, but he lacks the courage to express his feelings — soon, though, his romantic aspirations must take a back seat to a new threat in the form of Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), the warmongering son of Bowser (Black), whom Mario and Luigi imprisoned at the end of the first film. Bowser Jr. vows revenge, and captures the benevolent and powerful Princess Rosalina (Larson) as part of his nefarious plan.

Stuffed with references to the video game series, which first launched in 1983, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie caters to several generations of gamers who will appreciate the plentiful easter eggs. This sequel adds more beloved characters, but this film series continues to be in short supply of consistently funny one-liners or compelling plotlines. Production designer Guillaume Aretos creates vivid worlds for Mario and Luigi to traverse, although their sibling bond remains frustratingly unexplored. (As opposed to the 2023 film, though, at least the brothers are on screen together more often.) These characters may be iconic, but returning directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and screenwriter Matthew Fogel fail to give them much personality.

The sequel makes a halfhearted stab at introducing an emotional undercurrent, initially forcing the jailed (and shrunken) Bowser to spend time with his sworn enemies Mario and Luigi, learning that they’re actually good-hearted individuals. When Bowser Jr. eventually frees his father, the once-ferocious Koopa leader begins to question his evil ways, but the script has so little depth that Bowser’s supposed soul-searching is negligible. Another plot strand involves the kidnapping of Rosalina, who will be revealed to have a secret connection to the central narrative, although this too falls flat. As for Mario’s adolescent pining for Peach, there’s little sweetness or chemistry between them.

Aiming for family audiences, and especially younger viewers, Horvath and Jelenic inundate the story with slapstick and wisecracks, all of it harmless but none of it memorable or even particularly humorous. The voice performance, too, s are rarely crackling. Pratt and Day convey no sense of camaraderie, while Taylor-Joy is mostly sidelined as Princess Peach. Black’s manic-manchild energy grew tiresome in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and a little of his performance goes a long way here as well. Powell provides a cameo as Fox McCloud, a Han Solo-like pilot from a separate Nintendo game, but the actor’s trademark cockiness is smothered by the overly caffeinated proceedings.

When the film pivots to action set pieces, the directors adhere to the rules of the video games in which Mario and Luigi can occasionally acquire greater powers but also lose them if they get injured. That’s a potentially appealing conceit, but Brian Tyler’s drab score does nothing to elevate derivative suspense sequences. Even worse, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie impishly draws clear parallels between the film’s rambunctious fight scenes and the 1980s video game’s more low-tech equivalents by cutting between them. These comparisons are meant to evoke warm nostalgia, but the old-fashioned game sequences actually prove far more exhilarating and charming than what this leaden blockbuster has to offer.