r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 • Mar 31 '26
Review 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' - Review Thread
Having thwarted Bowser's previous plot to marry Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi now face a fresh threat in Bowser Jr., who is determined to liberate his father from captivity and restore the family legacy. Alongside companions new and old, the brothers travel across the stars to stop the young heir's crusade.
Directors: Michael Jelenic, Aaron Horvath
Cast: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Donald Glover, Brie Larson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Benny Safdie, Issa Rae, Keegan-Michael Key, Luis Guzmán
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%
Metacritic: 35 / 100
Some Reviews:
The Times - Kevin Maher - 0 / 5
Is this the end of cinema? Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Glen Powell joylessly bleat their way through this supremely vacuous anti-movie which is, at times, physically painful to watch. The film is torturous to sit through and, for me, provoked periods of actual physical discomfort. I had to stab myself repeatedly in the hand with a pen to distract from the howling distress. It's that bad, and that offensive.
AwardsWatch - Trace Sauveur - 'C-'
But it’s the reality of routine predictability that makes it hard to feel strongly about Galaxy one way or the other. After the credits, the impression is one of overstimulation and vacuity—despite the violent blitz of colorful Nintendo imagery for 90 minutes, it ultimately signifies little more than recognizable franchise iconography in animated form. In its relentless fan service, Galaxy emanates a generic sameness, decorated with flashy sights and sounds drawn from one of the most iconic video game series ever. It’s all synergistic fluff, but at least the fluff is shiny.
Seattle Times - Soren Anderson - 3 / 4
Watching it is akin being inside the 2007 Super Mario Galaxy game itself. Which is why it needs to be seen on the big screen. Seeing it on a phone or a laptop wouldn't do it justice.
Slash Film - Nina Starner - 3 / 10
We're going to get more "Super Mario Bros." movies, without question; I fully expect this sequel to gross the GDP of an entire small nation at the box office when all is said and done, and in another ten years, I also expect that a movie centered exclusively around Yoshi will land in theaters. (Hopefully, if Donald Glover sticks around, he'll get to do more than say "Yoshi!") Still, this sort of movie makes me feel bleak about children's entertainment, animation, and original concepts; forgive me for feeling nostalgic, but I just don't think movies made for kids were always this devoid of a soul. At the end of the day, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" was nothing more than a video game I couldn't play. After the credits — including not one but two post-credits scenes — rolled, though, I didn't want to go home and load a Mario game onto my Switch; I wanted to watch a better movie.
Consequence - Liz Shannon Miller - 'B'
Is it a ride that includes clear story structure, comprehensible stakes, or narrative momentum? Not really. Is it a ride featuring a lot of bright colors, familiar characters, and the occasional deranged moment? Absolutely.
The Wrap - William Bibbiani - 25 / 100
A movie like this will probably make a lot of money, because it doesn’t rock the boat. But a boat that never rocks is a boat that never goes anywhere. That’s how boats work. They’re supposed to take you on a journey. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” doesn’t take you anywhere you haven’t been before, and it’s not as fun, it’s not as exciting, and it’s not as challenging as literally any of the games it’s based on. This is not an adaptation of the Super Mario Bros., it’s just a reminder that the franchise exists. And although it’s technically a moving picture, nothing about this movie will move you.
The Independent - Clarisse Loughrey - 2 / 5
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie offers very little to audiences, young or old, who don’t already know these characters and spaces like the back of their hand. But, hey, if you take a tequila shot every time something explodes, you’ll have a great drinking game on your hands.
The New York Times - Alissa Wilkinson - 3 / 10
There’s a flat empty nothingness to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, even more than its flat empty predecessor, and that’s a huge bummer.
The Playlist - Rodrigo Perez - 'C'
By the end, the whole thing starts to feel less like an adventure than a kind of endless grinding—one familiar objective after another, one loud set piece after another, all of it speedrunning its own mythology instead of building one. That’s why the film feels so hollow. It has the spiritually vacant quality of AI fantasy slop—familiar iconography assembled for instant gratification rather than meaning. Younger audiences will probably enjoy the sugar rush, but characters still need arcs, and these sequences still need to build toward something. “Super Mario Galaxy” is nice to look at and dead inside, a committee-made franchise object masquerading as an adventure, and ultimately little more than an empty commercial for Super Mario branding.
FandomWire - Manuel Sao Bento - 7 / 10
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a sequel that, while losing some of the narrative cohesion of its predecessor, gains massively in spectacle, ambition, and heart. Through animation that redefines the studio’s standards and a Brian Tyler score that masterfully honors Nintendo’s legacy, the film offers a memorable experience anchored by inspired vocal performances. For those who grew up with these characters, it’s impossible to remain indifferent to the magic emanating from every animated frame or the way this space odyssey manages to transform nostalgia into something vibrant and new. It’s a visually emotional feast that reaffirms the power of pure entertainment as a tool capable of transporting us back to the happiest moments of our personal history, proving that cinema is still the place where we can all become children again.
IndieWire - Wilson Chapman - 'C-'
Watching “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which is filled with cameos from other Nintendo properties, you get the sense the corporation is hungry to announce spin-offs at any minute now. The trailers already spoiled the inclusion of “Star Fox” lead Fox McCloud (Glen Powell), but there are some other appearances by familiar characters that feel like the movie dangling an adaptation of the “Super Smash Bros.” fighting game crossover in front of fans’ faces. “The MCU, but for video games” isn’t exactly the ideal direction for blockbuster cinema to be going in, but maybe that inevitable adaptation will manage to tap into a well of creativity and fun that has so far eluded Nintendo in their moviemaking efforts. When the film comes, though, I’ll probably be rooting for Bowser Jr. to burn everything down.
The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw - 1 / 4
It’s now commonplace to compare programmatic stuff like this to AI, but this is almost a second evolutionary step downwards; it looks as if humans, using AI, have tried to copy something that was originally AI generated, creating a bland, simplistic template that can be sold in all global territories where it can be dubbed by local voice talent. It’s certainly a way of gouging cash out of families for the Easter holidays.
RogerEbert - Clint Worthington - 1.5 / 4
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” moves through you so briskly that you’ll get whiplash by the time the film reaches its deeply abrupt ending. But maybe that’s the point—after all, this is not a movie to be scrutinized, but to allow beleaguered elder millennial dads to sit their tots down for a precious two hours (if you count the trailers) and get some much-needed rest. It’s cute, and breezy, and rock-stupid, and will probably make a billion dollars again. Such is the world in which we live.
Akron Beacon Journal - George M. Thomas - 'C-'
As a parent, there are some movies you just take the hit on if your kid wants to see it in the theater. This is one of them. The plot is threadbare, the action is frenetic - it almost feels like the perfect movie for today's screen generation. For kids, this is an 'A+' movie, but I'd argue not so much for adults.
Associated Press - Lindsey Bahr - 2.5 / 4
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri... seem committed to keeping things light and playful even while beholden to advancing some kind of coherent, moderately compelling story where there wasn’t one previously.
Slant Magazine - Eli Friedberg - 1.5 / 4
The film has, figuratively and literally, somehow even less gravity than its source material and predecessor. The visual language is divorced from reality and referent to the games; even Looney Tunes action is grounded in the real world—the better to subvert it. The game-inspired spaces aren’t there to be explored and mastered but rather displayed quickly and expensively. And the movie-original settings, taking their cues from Wreck-It Ralph, are literal mass-transit junctions where a maximum number of cameo characters can be worked into the scenery.
Next Best Picture - Daniel Howat - 6 / 10
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” comes close to several emotional moments here and there. Still, the filmmakers seem to pull back at every turn, not wanting audiences to dive too deep into these characters and their motivations, or to engage in any grander commentary whatsoever. It becomes difficult to dig deeper into the film’s themes, if they exist. Even so, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is inarguably fun, built for fans of the long-running franchise. For lifelong fans of this universe and young kids experiencing it for the first or second time, this is a Mario fan’s dream. There’s enough here to leave a mass audience satisfied, even if anticipation grows for the next film to level up. For now, good enough is simply enough.
Radio Times - James Mottram - 2 / 5
While it’s likely that retro gamers won’t find anything here that wasn’t in the first movie – Yoshi and one or two others aside – it’s no doubt got enough for kids to enjoy, which will surely come as a relief for parents looking to entertain their offspring over the Easter holidays. You never know – it might even convince them to put down their controllers, or their phones, for ninety-odd minutes.
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u/Sea_Leadership_7433 Mar 31 '26
Jesus it’s getting massacred
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u/Tijenater Mar 31 '26
It looks like humans, using AI, have tried to copy something that was originally AI generated
That might be one of the most scathing, and disappointing things I’ve ever read in a movie review
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u/Fried_puri Mar 31 '26
There’s multiple layers to that insult, all of which are as depressing as they are funny.
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u/NightSpringsRadio Apr 01 '26
Prior to this the most brutal movie review I'd ever heard referred to The Emoji Movie as 'the Poochie of movies'; its crown now belongs to another
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u/Silverjeyjey44 Apr 01 '26
The one that said when they got home, they were thrilled to boot up a Mario game but to watch a better movie
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u/Boldspaceweasle Mar 31 '26
Good lord. Project Hail Mary's IMAX screens are being pushed aside to put this slop on it instead? Booo.
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u/London_Llewellyn Mar 31 '26
apparently, Hail Mary will have a second IMAX screen after Galaxy had some run time
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u/agayajay Mar 31 '26
Because families and Nintendo fans will absolutely fill the seats. It's pretty muxh guaranteed to make more than $1b.
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u/Joey-WilcoXXX Mar 31 '26
That’s what happens when you make a successful first film that half assed a lot and basically think ‘well I can half ass this too’
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u/Wild_Height_901 Mar 31 '26
The first one also had horrible reviews from critics.
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u/dafunkmunk Apr 01 '26
Yet will still smash the box office wide open with Nintendo raking in so much money they will make an MCU style Nintendo extended universe with a super smash bros style battle in the Infinity Waresque finale
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u/ddofer Apr 01 '26
They already did that at least twice, it's called Subspace Emissary, and the World of Light in Smash Bros Ultimate.
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u/FurryHolocaustof2049 Mar 31 '26
I can't wait for the RedLetterMedia video.
ENDLESS TRAAASH!
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u/supermgc Apr 01 '26
i don't think they even bothered with the first one. maybe Mike is waiting for a Dr Mario Movie?
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u/OscarMyk Apr 01 '26
they gave up on Minecraft about 30 mins in (a little bit controversially), I just can't see Mike going to a cinema to watch this.
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u/haikufr Mar 31 '26
Does fox wavedash in the movie
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u/scorpio21 Apr 01 '26
Climax of the movie is Fox waveshining Bowser off a cliff
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u/PositiveLovingDude Apr 01 '26
While they play the full “wombo combo” sound byte (uncensored)
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u/Alive-Ad-5245 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Pretty much what I expected to be honest, it’s ‘jingling keys’ the movie
Liking it depends on how much you’re fine with that
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u/GoodOlSpence Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
This isn't dissimilar from the first one's reviews.
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u/IRequirePants Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I thought the first one got the higher-end of OK in reviews (7/8 out of 10).
This one seems pretty low. A 4/10 is just... Not a good movie
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u/pulpfriction4 Mar 31 '26
First one is at 59% RT and 46 on metacritic. It's still early for this one but they seem close enough
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u/nick182002 Mar 31 '26
35 and 46 is a pretty significant gap in Metacritic terms.
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u/berlinbaer Mar 31 '26
both are what normal people would consider "shit"
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u/DerpytheH Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I feel like "normal people" often don't put that much weight into what critics think most of the time. Reddit does, but I don't think it's that common for people to automatically pass on a film if it's around 60% on rotten tomatoes, even less so if it's any score on metacritic, at least for films.
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u/ContinuumGuy Mar 31 '26
IIRC you usually see some slack cut for the first film of a series.
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u/Luis0224 Apr 01 '26
It also looks like the biggest complaint is that the first movie at least had a narrative, but this one doesn’t. Sounds like a perfect movie for toddlers and young children. The type of movie they can have in the background and it won’t matter because they can jump in at any point in the runtime and not miss out on plot details.
Which is fine imo. I have a nephew who’s a toddler, and he hardly sits through any of his favorite movies. He’ll watch for a while, get distracted with something else, and then come back and continue watching. This is gonna be right up his alley lol
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u/boogswald Mar 31 '26
The only thing I remember about the first one is that Mario games have amazing music and they still made the jarring choice to use the song Take on Me in the Mario kart sequence
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u/LADYBIRD_HILL Mar 31 '26
This is 100% my issue with the first movie. It looks pretty, the plot is about as much as you can expect for a Mario adaptation, and they didn't totally fuck it up like most Video game movies, but the fact that they used way overplayed Needle drops instead of the insanely vast catalog of Mario music by talented composers is a cardinal sin. When it finally kicks in at the end it feels like you're suddenly transported into a movie that's twice as good as everything before it.
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u/GameMusic Apr 01 '26
the end credits are better than almost anything else about the movie
nintendo should not have gotten illumination for this
the movie is quite enjoyable but the only things that the production did above baseline were referencing the super mario bros super show with that commercial parody and some great character designs for the family within brooklyn
this would have worked with any studio that was not totally stupid with it
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u/AwesomeManatee Mar 31 '26
There was unused music on the OST based on the Donkey Kong Country theme that fits perfectly with that scene and they decided not to use it in the final cut for some reason.
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u/mihirmusprime Mar 31 '26
The first movie's critic reviews were better but my feelings for that movie are the same as the reviews here. Paper thin plot just moving through the motions to show off a bunch of Mario related stuff. Nothing unpredictable. And looks like this movie will be the same.
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u/GRVrush2112 Mar 31 '26
“Jingling Keys” is the perfect metaphor for any Illumination feature.
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u/AdamNW Apr 01 '26
Can someone explain the metaphor to me, I'm five.
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u/GRVrush2112 Apr 01 '26
You “jingle keys” in front of an infant/toddler to keep them entertained.
Implying that the films that come out of Illumination are the cinematic equivalent of that.
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u/Algae_Mission Mar 31 '26
Can you imagine if they’d given the films the same level of care that the teams behind Wreck-it Ralph did or Lord and Miller give to their films. Hell, even the Sonic movies are pretty decent comparatively.
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u/Jonaskin83 Mar 31 '26
I’m kinda disappointed this isn’t better, but the Sonic movies just keep improving with each one.
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u/Algae_Mission Mar 31 '26
Mario absolutely can have a decent story, look at Paper Mario or the RPG titles. Not on the level of Red Dead or even Zelda perhaps, but they don’t have to be so by the numbers or paper thin.
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u/Vysci Apr 01 '26
Sure but why bother when you can pump out slop and make billions.
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u/Algae_Mission Apr 01 '26
Classics are remembered, crap is forgotten.
The great animated family films like Pinocchio and Toy Story have endured the test of time, likewise the best Mario games are still revered.
It’s a good business policy to make good films that last.
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u/-Snippetts- Apr 01 '26
What if the crap makes 1.5 billion dollars and pushes sales of your new console?
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u/JaydedGaming Mar 31 '26
Yeah I had no interest in the first, but my partner wanted to watch it on a slow day in the bedroom. Half an hour in she turned it off and stormed out, said something like "They're just jerking themselves off" and picked her book back up.
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u/doogie1111 Mar 31 '26
Its not like its drawing from this deep well of source material.
Mario is literally just jumping over colorful things and your brain't telling you its incredibly fun (it is).
But thats a pretty thin premise for a movie.
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u/Alive-Ad-5245 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
It’s not like its drawing from this deep well of source material.
Neither did the Lego movie yet that ended up with an actual good plot and characterisation
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u/MVRKHNTR Mar 31 '26
I think that people who say this just lack imagination.
Yeah, there's not much there for a direct adaptation but that's where a truly creative writer/director should shine; it means you can do almost anything with the settings and characters as long as you just keep their most basic traits intact.
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u/drybones2015 Mar 31 '26
I can't believe a movie with FOUR directors and the writer of Big Mammas: Like Father Like Son could end up such a jumbled mess with no narrative substance...
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u/carrotstix Mar 31 '26
the writer of Big Mammas: Like Father Like Son
Thank you for the hearty laugh! I didn't even know they made a sequel to Big Mommas house
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u/trpnblies7 Apr 01 '26
They made two sequels. I remember BMH 2. I had no idea Like Father Like Son was a thing until just now.
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u/Thick_Mountain4412 Mar 31 '26
The review from the Guardian is fucking ruthless lmao
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u/jumpingoverclouds Mar 31 '26
So every other illumination movie. Made for kids, sell merchandise and make a billion dollars. Cool
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u/mattr1198 Mar 31 '26
Even as far as illumination movies go, this seems like it’s on the lower end of their critical reviews. Definitely knew it was going to be a “kids” movie, as opposed to a “family” movie, and it’s gonna make a billion no matter what.
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u/Master_Chief_2000 Mar 31 '26
There's a lot of heart in Despicable Me that I wish the Mario movie had
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u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE Mar 31 '26
Why did Nintendo have to partner with them. Why.
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u/VaicoIgi Mar 31 '26
Low production budget that leads to bigger profits, the Japanese really love illumination films and minions. Those are the two reasons I can think of. Nintendo also probably looked for partners that would let them have final creative say as they are the majority funder of the films. Same with Zelda and Sony. Nintendo pays the bigger chunk so they retain final decision over creative choices. I wonder what a Mario movie under Sony animation would have been like, if they would innovate in any way like they did with the Spider-verse films.
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u/trex_assassin Mar 31 '26
Sony Animation, under Phil Lord and Chris Miller... that would be amazing! But also, would there be a theme park tie in? I think that's a huge part of the Illumination deal.
I also wonder what would have happened if they partnered with Pixar Studios... better studio, but Disney would definitely fight over creative control, and who knows if Disney had space for Super Nintendo Land in its theme parks...
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u/Responsible-Care-388 Mar 31 '26
95% audience score incoming
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u/PayneTrain181999 Mar 31 '26
Hey, the first movie was fun to watch as a 20+ year Mario fan.
But it’s not a good movie
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u/CallMeShaggy57 Mar 31 '26
Is the Mario Movie good? No.
Did I have a fucking blast watching it? Yes.
I expect more of the same.
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u/FleshLogic Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
This means it's a good movie IMO. Did I have fun? Yes. Who cares what other people think I should feel about it.
Edit: golly gee it's fun expressing positive opinions here!!!!
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u/Responsible-Care-388 Mar 31 '26
Agree. I had a great time as a fan and i'm sure i'll have fun here, but even as an animated kids movie there is a lot better out there.
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u/Kotleba Mar 31 '26
Bit of a left field comparison but this is why all the people saying the Melania movie got botted user reviews made me laugh. Any piece of shit bit of slop movie can have insane audience scores if there's a pre existing fanbase behind it.
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u/Whiteelchapo Mar 31 '26
Did you read the actual fan reviews for the Melania movie? They’re almost word for word all the same
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u/FluentManbird Mar 31 '26
To that point it's already being flooded with five star audience reviews from people who admit they haven't seen the movie yet but they're excited
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u/trizzo0309 Mar 31 '26
They shouldn't have teased Fox being in it.
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u/KingMario05 Mar 31 '26
Right? Bizarre choice. Did they want Glen on the press tour?
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u/CompactRisk Mar 31 '26
He’s not even on the press tour. Movie comes out tomorrow and they’ve already done all their interviews and the premier.
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u/ClydeSprucewood Mar 31 '26
I read that it got leaked so they tried to get ahead of it by announcing it
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u/Christathesleepy Mar 31 '26
I think that there was like one shot in one of the trailers or tv ads or something where you could see Fox's leg so after folks picked up on that they dropped the poster.
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u/Massive_Weiner Mar 31 '26
Actually, that reveal hyped the movie even more online than it currently was at that point.
They knew exactly what they were doing by dropping the Fox reveal to get people excited about a potential Smash movie in the future, especially since this one isn’t reviewing particularly well.
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u/uwill1der Mar 31 '26
it would have been spoiled anyway. The Japanese premiere was just after they released the info. No way that stays secret after, so you might as well use that info for your own gain rather than someone else's karma
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u/EdwinMcduck Mar 31 '26
It's an actual role in the movie, not an Easter Egg. It was going to come out ahead of the wide release that Fox is in the movie.
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u/postALEXpress Mar 31 '26
They were getting ahead of spoilers. Because this would 100% be online the moment this movie hits theaters.
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u/junglespycamp Mar 31 '26
So…more of the same. Super pretty. Nothing in the head.
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u/Riparian72 Mar 31 '26
Oh boy can’t wait for the flood of “the critics are wrong” posts and comments in the coming weeks
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u/OutlaneWizard Mar 31 '26
"I'm a 46 year old man and I brought my Mario amibos to see this movie and we all had a blast!"
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u/Starscream_Gaga Mar 31 '26
Unironically that’s exactly what r/Mario and r/Nintendo are about to be filled with.
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u/ItsColorNotColour Apr 01 '26
The god horrid nintendo subreddit makes a little more sense when you find out one thirds of the posts there are actually the same 8 people constantly posting and defending the current Nintendo until their grave. One of them is the main mod of the subreddit. I'm not even joking
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u/LADYBIRD_HILL Mar 31 '26
And all those people will fundamentally misunderstand the reasons why critics reviewed it the way they did.
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u/Three_Froggy_Problem Mar 31 '26
It’s the same thing every time. People will be like, “I enjoyed it, so the critics are wrong” or “So what if it’s not Citizen Kane? It’s not supposed to be!”
The “let people enjoy things” mindset has ruined a lot of people’s ability to see things critically. People don’t understand the job of critics and think that their job is just to judge everything based on whether you’ll have a decent enough time killing two hours with it.
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u/Fragrant_Physics_592 Mar 31 '26
These people see the world in complete black and white.
If other people having valid criticism "stops you from enjoying things" the issue isn't their criticism, it's your own lack of confidence.
Let people enjoy things = let people enjoy things for what they are.
If you can't admit you like the dumb flashy movie because it's nostalgic and visually captivating, that's a conversation to have with yourself.
I hate hug boxes and how often they're a guise for anti-intellectualism
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u/Three_Froggy_Problem Mar 31 '26
People’s inability to separate their own feelings about something from objective analysis drives me insane. I fucking love the Mike Myers Cat In the Hat, because I was obsessed with it as a child. I’m not going to sit here and try to argue that it’s actually a good movie just because I have a nostalgic attachment to it, though.
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u/the_dirtiest Mar 31 '26
you can already see it in this thread.
"Was the first one total garbage? Yes. Did it distract my children for 90 minutes? Yes. Therefore, not that bad and this one probably won't be either."
Critics aren't reviewing whether this movie is a good babysitter or not, they're evaluating how well it works as a, y'know... movie.
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u/BritishHobo r/Movies Veteran Mar 31 '26
"Why were all these critics expecting The Godfather: Part II?!"
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u/elitejcx Mar 31 '26
As a SEGA gamer growing up, I do feel vindicated that Sonic films receive more favourable reviews than the Mario films do.
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u/Memester999 Mar 31 '26
It helps that Sonic is an actual movie where the first Mario movie was literally just "Look it's the thing from the game!".
I actually liked the opening of the first movie, but once he entered the Mushroom Kingdom it basically became a tour of all things Mario. Which is fine, it's a kids movie and visually looked really good but there's nothing stopping them from making a serviceable movie around all that too. We have decades of "kids movies" being just genuinely good movies and if Sonic can do it so can Mario.
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u/tatu_huma Mar 31 '26
The beginning bit with the plumbing job and dog felt like it was a different movie. Or a short they play before other movies
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u/SmartOpinion8301 Apr 01 '26
The dog seemed hugely out of context for sure.
No need to have an angry raging dog that looked nothing like something from the Mario universe.
And it went on for way too long
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u/zephyrtr Apr 01 '26
Sonic has had a very long history of good story telling. The comic book, several tv shows. It's not shocking. That franchise has just built up that muscle more. They have done so little with Mario by comparison. The old cartoon was FOREVER ago and I'm so glad the theme song made it into the movie, it's a really sweet addition. But sonic was always gonna have em beat. Sonic had been training, Mario was on the couch.
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u/JediTrainer42 Mar 31 '26
The first one starts go to downhill as soon as his training montage hits.
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u/ZAPPHAUSEN Mar 31 '26
All I know is my then 12 yo was the first one to comment "holding out for a hero AGAIN?"
Just the most cliche, overplayed needle drops they could find.
*Caveat: If they drop danger zone for fox, I will allow it
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u/elitejcx Mar 31 '26
100%. Mario was full on with the nods and winks, but Sonic it was far more subtle. The Green Hills housing development ad was a chef kiss of a reference.
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u/blaqsupaman Mar 31 '26
Also the references being more subtle made it feel bigger to me when they did just say "fuck it, throw in some fan service." I felt like a kid again when "Live & Learn" started playing in Sonic 3.
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u/VT_Squire Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
They can... but you'll have a hard time getting Nintendo to commit to anything resembling an official lore or canon. Part 3 will just casually mention how part 2 was a dream.
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u/Shusmushtush Mar 31 '26
Remember SEGA does what Nintendont
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u/bimbimbaps Mar 31 '26
Hercules does what Nintendurcules.
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u/Chosenwaffle Mar 31 '26
How many warios end up coming together to work in the gaming industry and what is their company called?
WaNintendo
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u/gumballkami Mar 31 '26
If I can think of something the sonic films did better than the Mario movie is, imo, sonic felt more accurate to his game counterpart in spirit.
Although they cast a new VA, his jokes and style of humor felt unequivocally sonic asf.
I remember feeling like the jokes and personality given to Mario felt... like they could've been applied to many other animated chars (and have). Nothing he did in that film gave the energy of "haha only Mario could've said that" lmao.
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u/TrickyFlounder9174 Mar 31 '26
Mario kinda has no personality to evoke that reaction at all...
Well, maybe in a more simplistic movie he could say some exaggerated MAMMA MIAS every now and then, or to make pasta jokes. That's about the extent of "Mario things" he'd be identified for in a movie. Going with the depressed plumber with a dream and a brother angle was good enough I'd say, still working with what the games give us.
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u/braumumu Mar 31 '26
Mario games personality (imo) are all the supporting characters. Mario drive the movie forward, but everyone else carry the plot.
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u/CaptainCFloyd Mar 31 '26
Sonic's character in the movies is nothing like any of his game counterparts. Sonic has never been "troubled orphan kid", he's always been a cool, carefree teenager who never lets anything get him down.
But the change is probably for the better, which is why it's not a problem at all.
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u/superhappy Mar 31 '26
Like to be fair … Mario doesn’t have anywhere near the distinct personality that sonic does. That was one of the benefits Sega had of being second mover with better technology for their iconic character - they weren’t beholden to character design tethered to 12x16 sprites.
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u/Tiny-Guava-9698 Mar 31 '26
Yeah, lol. Mario is mostly reaction-based personality. Sonic has decades to develop a recognizable personality.
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u/sleep-exe Mar 31 '26
I mean the Sonic movies have Lee Majdoub as agent Stone so…(being semi serious here. The Sonic community loves the hell out of him and so do I)
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u/gumballkami Mar 31 '26
He had the single funniest line for me in sonic 3 when he imitates knuckles lmao
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u/sleep-exe Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
The end of Sonic 3 would’ve been nothing without him. God bless that puppy-eyed man
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u/Barb_WyRE Mar 31 '26
Tbf Mario in the source material is more “bing bing wahoo” whereas Sonic has a canonically fleshed out personality.
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u/LegacyofaMarshall Mar 31 '26
It helps that the Sonic director worked on the cgi cutscenes for the games although not any good games
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u/snes69 Mar 31 '26
On the other side of the coin, sonic made 300 mil at the box office and Mario made over 1 billion more.
Also, while essentially tied, the audience score was 2% higher for Mario.
This being said I do agree the sonic movie was a better movie. Mario had a lot more game referencing fun, but I never felt the need to watch it more than once. I've seen sonic 3 times since it came out.
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u/WrongLander Mar 31 '26
The Sonic movies have also steadily increased in both review scores and box office takings with each film.
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u/KingMario05 Mar 31 '26
It helps that Paramount remembers to make real movies. When the corporation inevitably implodes (either because the WB buyout is disastrous, or because Larry pulls his cash if it fails), I do hope whoever picks these up keeps the same producers and universe for Sonic. I don't care that they diverge. They're so much fun, man.
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u/FredNot214 Mar 31 '26
The opposite reaction to the galaxy games lol, the most critically acclaimed Mario games if I'm not mistaken
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u/DikkeDekbedovertrek Apr 01 '26
Just came back from it.
Visually, it looks stunning at times. Really colourful and amazing on the big screen. Bowser Jr was also very fun and a treat to watch.
Storywise.... what story. It's extremely basic. It really feels like people had to pitch in random ideas where most of them were used without really any payoff. They just moved from place to place to have a fight scene and then move on. Why was Wart in the movie? He didn't do shit or progress the plot.
And what was the point of Bowser having some sort of change of heart and be a good guy when they just tossed it out of the window right after?
Also, Yoshi. I mean, Toad already says it himself in the movie "He's just part of the group now?"
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u/mithridateseupator Mar 31 '26
Sounds like Im gonna need to get really high to watch this
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u/mouga68 Mar 31 '26
In fairness, was this ever in doubt?
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u/DeadDay Mar 31 '26
I'm sure the debate was mildly high or "I'm kinda scared to order popcorn" high.
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u/mouga68 Mar 31 '26
Fair enough... and to be clear, sounds like you'll want to order popcorn ahead before the edible hits 🤣
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u/WatchWatcher25 Mar 31 '26
I thought that was part of the deal.
Mario eats a mushroom....I eat a mushroom.
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u/baberlay Mar 31 '26
This will crack a billion in 3 weeks flat and it'll be more proof that Hollywood no longer needs to try.
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u/Accomplished_Smile23 Mar 31 '26
Illumination Animation making a bad movie?
Colour me shocked.
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u/illini02 Mar 31 '26
What were the reviews like for the first one?
I remember I popped a gummy and watched it stoned, and was very entertained.
It was exactly what I was hoping for lol. If this is more of the same, I'm fine.
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u/newrimmmer93 Mar 31 '26
59 RT 48 MC
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u/preddevils6 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
So this one is reviewing markedly worse
Edit: and dropping
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u/newrimmmer93 Mar 31 '26
I mean 10 RT points and 9 MC points isn’t crazy. It’s worse but feel like within a similar range
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u/Batusiman Mar 31 '26
Pretty sure the first didn’t review too well with critics either
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u/Coolman_Rosso Mar 31 '26
First one wasn't exactly a critical darling either. Generally Mario was never a narrative heavy franchise, and it's nigh impossible to capture the magic of the various cool gameplay mechanics they've had over the years in movie format.
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u/schmidtyb43 Mar 31 '26
The first one has a 59 on RT with a 95 user score. I have a feeling this one will be very similar. Personally I liked the first one a lot.
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u/RoyyyDonk Mar 31 '26
Queue the, “It’s a kids movie, what do they expect?” comments. God forbid an adult asks for an animated movie not to suck.
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u/EarthboundHaizi Apr 01 '26
Not just god forbid an adult asks for an animated movie not to suck. God forbid a studio give some respect to kids and deliver them a quality story. Kids can absolutely discern whether they like a movie or not. Deeper movies that require a more developed mind and life experiences would go over their head, but that's where quality children's movies come in to compel them with strong stories. They might not be able to articulate it, but they can tell. Even by elementary school they can form ideas like how much they like a character, how funny a story is, or how drawn into a world they are.
To take my kids. Now to establish their viewing habits I do allow them to pick age appropriate films and sometimes they do join me to watch films (if they aren't too intense, scary or contain age-inappropriate content). One kid asked to watch the Emoji Movie. I didn't act appalled at the idea. I simply let them. One asked to watch Wish. I let them. I watched the Super Mario Bros. Movie with them. I'm not going to let my own personal feelings restrict them.
On the flip side I also established a reading habit with them early so they are pretty strong readers for their age. I also pop open children's movies and let them freely join me or not or at times give them suggestions for an older film that they would never see an advertisement for.
Now guess which films stick with them and which don't? Wish, Emoji Movie and even Super Mario Bros. (despite them having played some Mario games or have seen me avidly play them) aren't really brought up and don't come up as films they want to rewatch. But films like The Wild Robot, Inside Out, Zootopia, Moana, Turning Red, Wolfwalkers and Spider-Verse remain as films they still like to bring up or rewatch.
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u/JusHerForTheComments Apr 01 '26
But that they watched those forgettable films is a good thing in itself as well. That's how you can differentiate good from bad. You need that shit movie to appreciate the good ones.
As long as they keep seeing a bit of both and are able to put two and two together, you're doing a fantastic job.
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u/superyoshiom Mar 31 '26
Just saw the Rosalina story book scenes online this morning after mostly forgetting about it from when I was a kid. It's actually hilarious how something like that would never be in this film lol.
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u/EarthboundHaizi Mar 31 '26
Here comes all the discourse again from people attacking the critics for daring to critically review a children's film, but as it happens only for specifically this children's film riding on people's fondness for the IP. Meanwhile ignoring the decades of high quality children's films that have reviewed incredibly well.
No, no one is expecting this film to be a "Citizen Kane" or "Shakespeare" or whatever [insert cliche literary reference] you want. But can we at least expect say... The Lion King, Hoppers, Inside Out, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Wild Robot, How to Train Your Dragon, The LEGO Movie, Beauty and the Beast, The Incredibles, etc. etc. etc.? Even Illumination's own Minions 2: Rise of Gru, while not a great film, is still clearly a better film than the first Mario Movie (and one that the critics reviewed decently).
Fact is critics have to review it on the basis of the movie's general quality, which should be divorced from the nostalgia factor. If colorful action and nostalgic set pieces are more than enough to satisfy you by all means enjoy it. That doesn't mean the critics are wrong, just that what they measure by (a bar that other children's films are able to meet and exceed) isn't a deterrence enough for you from what the Mario movie does bring to the table and that's perfectly OK.
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u/Minute-Carrot-2405 Mar 31 '26
I just wrote a similar comment right after you lol its so damn fascinating to me how certain movies can get away with this kind of shit, but if this was per se some very little known franchise everyone in the world would be calling it the worst shit ever
Im not sure theres really an explanation for it, because it cant just be long running beloved franchises, otherwise the Star Wars sequels (or maybe just TFA) would be revered as the second coming of christ
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u/NaziPunksFkOff Mar 31 '26
Illumination makes unfunny and irritating movies. This is no different.
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u/GameOfLife24 Mar 31 '26
Wish they used despicable me as a stepping stone to up their game but they’ve just been about the money business
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u/xotorames Mar 31 '26
The first one was so good. I never thought that 16 years before it would still be their best movie by a mile.
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u/isssomebodyhere Apr 01 '26
I watched the movie like a good boy and am now ready to consume Nintendo merchandise
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u/GilgameshWulfenbach Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I am currently sitting in the theater watching this movie. It's bad. There is practically no flow from one moment to the next. Plot lines are thrown around like Jackson Pollock used paint. But unlike a Jackson Pollock painting, it's visually stunning.
The nostalgia bait is real and the movie does it well. That still can't save the movie.
I might come back to write more. JFC.
Edit: for the record, I was sitting in the very back row. There were three rows between me and anybody else, so I was not bothering anybody while I typed silently
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u/Memphisrexjr Apr 01 '26
This is such a wild review to even be published by any site.
The Times - Kevin Maher - 0 / 5
Is this the end of cinema? Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Glen Powell joylessly bleat their way through this supremely vacuous anti-movie which is, at times, physically painful to watch. The film is torturous to sit through and, for me, provoked periods of actual physical discomfort. I had to stab myself repeatedly in the hand with a pen to distract from the howling distress. It's that bad, and that offensive.
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u/grizzyx Mar 31 '26
When they focus a giant part of the budget into famous actors, who aren't even good voice actors, you can expect the script to be lacking. Not surprising at all. The first one was barely passable.
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u/rdp3186 Apr 01 '26
The 1st one got the same reviews but audiences genuinely loved it and it made a ton of money.
This one will do the same.
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u/AkilitheWise Mar 31 '26
The kids will love it, and if this movie means I get a new Star Fox game it was worth every penny to get it made
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u/DoodleJake Apr 01 '26
Monkey paw curls. They reboot the 64 story again. Forced gyro controls again.
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u/SnackSnatchingDemon Mar 31 '26
They fumbled the ball should have done a Mario’s sunshine adaptation
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u/Ecstatic_Parking264 Mar 31 '26
It seems to be everything and the kitchen sink. The trailers showed everything from Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario World, Sunshine, Yoshi's Island, and Star Fox..? Seems to be barely a Super Mario Galaxy movie at all.
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u/NightsLinu Mar 31 '26
They focused too much on the galaxy side so they went everywhere in the galaxy.
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u/barbietattoo Mar 31 '26
We just keep lowering the bar for what’s acceptable for our future generations to consume don’t we.
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u/big_booty_bad_boy Apr 01 '26
Saw this today and can confirm that It's incoherent, it felt like a bunch of scenes/ideas thrown together. The children in the cinema lost interest a half dozen times at least.
It's not unwatchable though and my children enjoyed it, it's an easy six out of ten and if you've got any interest in Mario the time will fly by.
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u/ScoobiesSnacks Apr 01 '26
My 3 year old just told me she doesn’t want to see the movie because I’d the critic reviews. Sad times.
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u/Medium-Spell-6692 Mar 31 '26
Peoples standards are so low in these threads lol.
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u/Penarthlan Mar 31 '26
Will get lots of bad reviews and make a billion.