Super Mario Bros.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review

Brighton Nelson

07 Apr 2026 — 6 min read

With worse reviews and worse Internet discourse than the last film, it's going to be even more polarizing to talk about this one. Great, exactly what I needed today. That aside, I was pretty dang hyped for this movie... Even though the first was only like a 7 out of 10 film in my book. So, did this film improve on the first as I expected, or was it a case of diminishing returns, as my fellow critics have said? That's what I'll be delving into in today's Reel Ranker review. I hope you enjoy this article, and thank you so much for joining me today.

Unfortunately, the posters and other promos for this movie felt like a pretty sizable step down from the first film's.

As usual, I will discuss the film's negatives first, then move to the positives. Like the first film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's biggest flaw is the weak narrative. In almost every regard, this film's story is a step down from the already-weak one in the previous film. While Super Mario Galaxy has a mediocre video game story in and of itself, it's better than the more generic Super Mario Bros template. The film borrows the aesthetic and charm of Galaxy, as we'll get into later, but it takes very little of the game's story. The film, unfortunately, feels even more strung along by cameos and its desire to cram in tons of great moments. As such, there's not much time to spend with the beloved characters to develop them meaningfully. The film attempts to give Bowser an arc, yet it falls flat. The best Mario games, like the RPGs, give the characters a lot more depth, personality, and backstory. Here, it's just surface-level cool moments happening over and over. The film medium relies on storytelling, which means Mario must adapt.

The first film had a lot more story to grasp onto, particularly the pre-Mushroom Kingdom elements and a lot of the brotherly moments. Here, the character cast is just too big. Even the sisterly moments the film drops here and there are significantly weaker due to the severely limited screentime for Rosalina. In this film, I left the theater feeling unsatisfied and like "that was it?"

Like the first film, some of the casting isn't my favorite. However, all the new casting here is great. Benny Safdie is a wonderful surprise, especially since his line in the trailer is probably his weakest line in the entire film. Glover's Yoshi is fantastic, Larson as Rosalina is great, and Glen Powell is perfect for Star Fox. While I will always prefer voice actors over traditional actors in animated films, and I don't like Illumination's obsession with casting celebrities, I do appreciate that they picked people who really talk about how much they love the games.

This film may have felt narratively hollow and weak, but let's dive into its positives, particularly the elements that improve on the original. The cameos and set pieces, in my opinion, are far more satisfying than the first film. While the first film features Mario's hometown, Rainbow Road, and DK's kingdom (and all the characters involved), as well as a strong foundation for the fantastic Mushroom Kingdom, Galaxy offers so many fun surprises. Featuring Rosalina, Star Fox, R.O.B., King K. Rool, Yoshi, and others... And locations like The Observatory, Planet Bowser, Yoshi's Island, the Sand Kingdom, the Sunshine-esque casino area... The locations and characters are just so fun here!

Another element done far better in this film is its music. While we rather bafflingly don't get another piano Bowser ballad—which is a war crime and perhaps the worst part of this film—the soundtrack is overall far better. I'm glad they realized pop songs don't need to be stuffed into this film!

I didn't think the Mario movie would literally have levels in it, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

The animation here is one of the best offerings in the 3D animated space. The film does so much more with the animation than the first! We get awesome sequences that intercut 3D animation with 2D platforming visuals, an amazing montage featuring a 2D Mario world map, and a literal anime sequence introducing Star Fox that needs to become the art style for a Star Fox spin-off... All that on top of what was already one of the best-crafted 3D art formulas in modern animation. This is far and away the most inventive and uniquely animated Illumination movie and, if they find ways to infuse even more unique animation into their future films, these Mario movies will stand with Sony Animation as the best 3D animation of our times.

The action is also fantastic here, and easily trumps the original's. Everything is grander, more epic, more involved, and all the power-ups are far more interesting. While I far prefer the original's final battle for its much higher emotional stakes, every other action sequence in Galaxy is better than its OG counterpart.

While I still find the first film better for its much tighter narrative and higher emotional stakes, I definitely had a better theater experience with this one. Lined up at my little cousin Paxton's birthday with his whole family, some cousins, and his good friend, we took up almost a whole row! My little cousins and aunt and uncle are some of my favorite people in the whole world, so that was really fun.

As an elementary school teacher, I became very emotional as I entered the theater and saw so many kids so excited to see this film. it's so good as an experience, where you feel truly united as fans. In a world with so much depression, anxiety, and all sorts of other crap, just seeing a packed theater of excited, happy people can really do something. Maybe it's just because I go to matinée showings where it's usually just me and some old man, but this was truly the movie's greatest strength: a beautiful event that brings joy. It may be a flawed film, it may not be a phenomenal film, but it's certainly a special one.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 70%
Letter Score: B+
Star Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

While The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may not impress narratively or emotionally, even compared to its predecessor, the animation, character roster, cool cameos, and spectacle are cranked up enough to provide a very fun, recommendable experience for the whole family that unites generations in this often sad world.

Interested in my reviews for other animated films? Check them out below! I'll be updating this a lot as I get to reviewing older films I've watched!