The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Reviews: What Critics Said

Editorial note: This is a roundup of published criticism of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Celluloid has not screened the film for this piece, and it carries no Celluloid rating. The critics are named and linked under Sources.

Is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie worth watching?

Most critics say it is worth it mainly for young children and dedicated Nintendo fans: the film is colourful and crammed with game references, but its story is so thin that many found it tiresome. A minority enjoyed it as a light, affectionate romp with a well-chosen voice cast. The recurring complaint is that it strings together scenes and characters from the games without giving anyone much to do.

What is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie about?

Having foiled Bowser’s plan to marry Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi face a new threat in Bowser Jr., who is determined to free his father from captivity and restore the family name. With old and new companions, the brothers travel across the galaxy to stop him.

Chris Pratt voices Mario and Charlie Day voices Luigi, with Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. Newcomers include Brie Larson as Rosalina, Glen Powell as Fox McCloud and Donald Glover as Yoshi. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic direct from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel. Released in 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie runs 98 minutes.

What critics praised

The warmest review came from Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out, who found the film largely delightful, made with evident love and full of breezily silly humour. He enjoyed Glover’s puppyish Yoshi and Black’s Bowser, now apparently in therapy, and admired the 3D versions of villains who began life as flat 2D sprites, singling out a scene in a bar full of creatures. He accepted that the story barely matters, arguing that vivid worlds, memorable characters and daft laughs are enough.

Ross Bonaime of Collider called it a genuine love letter to Nintendo rather than an advert, praising a script that balances references for long-time players with jokes that work without any knowledge of the games. He thought the film impeccably cast, with Glover’s understated Yoshi and Powell’s Fox McCloud as highlights, and found it charming and often very funny.

Even sceptics admired the look. In The A.V. Club, Jesse Hassenger praised long passages of real visual splendour, including a casino tilted at right angles and an inventive Yoshi sequence, enjoyed Black’s Bowser trying to better himself, and expected children to have a good time.

What critics disliked

Bonaime’s enthusiasm came with a significant reservation: he felt the sequel tries to go bigger in ways that do not always help, leaving Rosalina as little more than a plot device, Yoshi tagging along and Fox with little impact, while the storyline stays thin. Hassenger was blunter, arguing that the film has no patience for character-based conflict, that almost everyone settles into bland amiability, and that the result is less a movie than a colourful catalogue of references. He contrasted it unfavourably with the directors’ Teen Titans Go!

Helen O’Hara of Empire was among the harshest. She described a loud, bright and strangely boring barrage in which moments lifted from many different games follow one another without consequence or purpose. She felt the talented cast has almost nothing to work with, found barely a laugh in it, and concluded that it works only for the very youngest viewers.

William Bibbiani of TheWrap agreed that the film is pretty and respectful of its source but argued that it has a set-up rather than a plot, with no stakes and characters who neither change nor want anything. He singled out Powell’s Fox, denied any of the character’s cockiness, and Yoshi, whom he felt barely belongs to the story. Children, he argued, deserve better than filler simply because they will put up with it.

Who is it for?

On the critics’ evidence, this is best suited to young children and to Nintendo fans happy to spot references from decades of games. Adults hoping for the comic energy of the best family animation are likely to side with O’Hara and Bibbiani. It is rated PG in both the US and the UK. Fans of video-game adaptations might compare it with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and there is more on the family shelf.

The critical verdict

Critics broadly agreed that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is bright and busy, with plenty for Nintendo fans to recognise. Most also found it narratively empty, with a large cast of characters who have little to do and a plot that is barely there. A minority, led by Time Out, enjoyed it as a breezy treat, but the prevailing view is that it will satisfy small children far more than anyone else.