The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Review: I finally checked in on the highest grossing movie of 2026, and yes, this definitely is ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’ By no means a bad film, it has such fun, well done animation, silly moments, and was definitely made for a very specific audience (kids with TikTok brain) in the sense, that it’s very much the type of film where so much happens, but also nothing really happens. The story feels like it was very sloppily assembled, like the filmmakers came up with all the moments, jokes, and characters they wanted to include, then figured out how to make a patchwork story using them. I’m a big believer that animated films aren’t just for kids and that kids films can still be well made & well written (like most Pixar films), but this film is not a good inclusion for that argument. I can fully accept I’m not the target audience, which is why my overall score is still positive.
High: Most of the cast was really really solid. The returning voice actors of Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, & Jack Black as Bowser all worked really well. And the new additions of Donald Glover as Yoshi, Glen Powell as Fox McCloud, Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr, and Brie Larson as Rosalina all fit their characters surprisingly well. There is one major exception to the stellar voice cast, and unfortunately it’s glaring due to the movie being named after him…
Low: Chris Pratt really phones it in as Mario. Even in the face of all the jumpy brainrot writing, Pratt’s low effort Mario was the hardest pill to swallow for me. I think this issue was also present in the first film, but it feels ever worse here because everyone else seemed to be trying pretty hard and having fun. Even Glover’s line deliveries of exclusively the word ‘Yoshi’ were more energetic than Pratt’s performance. And I’m not just trying to jump on the dog on Chris Pratt train because I actually am higher on him than most people and think he has carved out a deserved place as a blockbuster movie star. But his performance just needed more. I’m not saying go full Mario impression, because that would be mind numbingly annoying, but just try to sound like not Chris Pratt.
Rating: 6.5/10
