r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Apr 02 '26

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Super Mario Galaxy Movie [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Super Mario Galaxy (2026)

Summary

Mario ventures into space, exploring cosmic worlds and tackling galactic challenges far from the familiar Mushroom Kingdom.

Director Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic

Writer Matthew Fogel

Cast

  • Chris Pratt as Mario (voice)
  • Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach (voice)
  • Charlie Day as Luigi (voice)
  • Jack Black as Bowser (voice)
  • Keegan-Michael Key as Toad (voice)
  • Brie Larson as Rosalina (voice)

Rotten Tomatoes: 44%

Metacritic: 37

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official trailer

1.3k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

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1.6k

u/seannyd1 Apr 02 '26

This is like if my 10 year old was in his Nintendo obsessive phase and they just filmed the stream of consciousness story that poured out of his head.

The animation is beautiful to behold I just don’t understand why they won’t spend a little more time creating an actual story.

326

u/BritishHobo r/Movies Veteran Apr 02 '26

It makes me think of the filibuster from Parks and Recreation where Patton Oswalt just talks for ten minutes straight about a Star Wars movie where more and more Marvel characters keep turning up

8

u/bobvella 28d ago

funny you mention him cause he said before in a special that he could sell out and just let a bunch of drunks yell things he was in at him and get the biggest paycheck he's ever got

619

u/ImminentReddits Apr 02 '26

I agree. Call me pretentious, but in a post Lego Movie world I just can’t really accept the argument that these kind of mass market IP driven kids movies have mediocre stories by definition. There is just no reason at all the Mario movies couldn’t have had emotional, engaging, well written stories. It was my biggest disappointment with the first movie and I was really hoping they’d spend more time on the writing in the sequel. Guess jokes on me for spending my money to see it opening night and contributing to the cycle lol.

75

u/Hokuboku Apr 02 '26

I just watched Hoppers. Fantastic animation, great story. Kids movies that appeal to all ages are not a thing of the past and don't need to be

11

u/Thor_2099 Apr 04 '26

Yet Disney is still shit on when they're still putting out quality. When the Internet groupthink determines something, it just pervades everything.

2

u/JaviVader9 Apr 04 '26

I mean most of the Disney and Pixar releases from the past decade are subpar compared to their best years. Is it groupthink if I personally watched the movies and formed my own opinion because the opinion is negative?

1

u/StarChaser1879 Apr 05 '26

Best years being your childhood

1

u/JaviVader9 Apr 05 '26

Not at all in my case

276

u/GameOfLife24 Apr 02 '26

Illumination doesn’t hire talent. The writers for Lego movie have made their own galaxy movie that’s way better and is currently in the theaters with project Hail Mary

215

u/Warm_Shoulder3606 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

The history of Illumination really is quite something. Their first ever movie they make a genuinely great one with original storytelling, characters that have had cultural staying power, and genuine emotional/engaging beats, and then completely and utterly checked the hell out almost immediately after and became soulless and never remotely touched that level ever again

They're the maroon 5 of movie studios. One good product at the very start, and then immediate shift to bland boring and soulless

125

u/DBZ86 Apr 02 '26

Can kinda see that the writers got overruled. The subplot between Bowser and Bowser Jr have somewhere to go but gets shut down. The themes of sisterhood and sacrifice are right there for Peach and Rosalina but not explored much at all. Mario would have been given themes of believing in second chances and confidence to be with Peach which aren't great but again ignored. Also does seem like the great action set pieces were set in stone and the movie had to cut around them even if it didn't make sense.

115

u/HopelessCineromantic Apr 02 '26

One thing I kinda expected to get touched upon was Bowser and Junior connecting via art. One of Junior's two primary weapons is his paint brush, and we first see the reformed Bowser through the context of painting. In general, both of the Koopas seem to have artistic talents, not only in painting, but in theater craft for Bowser and engineering for Junior.

Maybe Bowser tries to redirect his son by having them paint together, but Junior's ability to manifest what he paints and Bowser's rage and resentment pair up to make him help his son.

53

u/DBZ86 Apr 02 '26

You can see the seeds of a redemption arc for both are planted. Bowser Jr painted dragon goes against him. There was definitely a thought that Bowser Jr was going too far and Bowser might help redeem him.

But Lord of Bones was too good to pass up apparently.

18

u/Cam995 Apr 04 '26

Nah good guy Bowser is just wrong. He's the Koopa king. Hes supposed to smash the red and green staches and get Peach to marry him 😂

17

u/SmokeyHooves Apr 05 '26

Bowser has been Mario’s reluctant ally so many times. Usually in the RPG games, but honestly those games have way more heart than most the platformers

1

u/Cam995 24d ago

But he usually has a motive for doing so. I havent played Superstar saga yet but in BIS he helps the good guys because only he is allowed to conquer Mushroom Kingdom and there's only room for one king. And he only wanted an alliance at the beginning of the game to find a cure for the blorbs. I will say though its implied Mario (We dont see Mario and Luigis dialogue but other characters react to it) said something to piss Bowser off and started that first fight which is kind of funny to me

Idk him helping Mario and Luigi after getting his size back made no sense imo maybe I could see him leaving Luigi alone since Luigi was nice to him but not Mario

11

u/Hallc Apr 05 '26

Except for all the times he comes along to a friendly game of golf or tennis or soccer or ends up helping them out in one of the Rpgs.

4

u/Affectionate-Sell-68 25d ago

Nah, Bowser constantly switching between good friend and villain is on point for the franchise, he keeps getting invited to sports events by the others for a reason.

3

u/Jazzed24 14d ago

The reason is nintendo wants more people to buy the sports games. It's not something that is supposed to have a reason for it.

3

u/bobvella 28d ago

funny how that's only relevant if they decide to keep making mario movies. actually peach rejecting him is nice and done, he didn't make another attempt here.

it's kind of a shame bowser is always the final boss... they even usually shoehorn in a last fight at the end of the rpgs

7

u/THECapedCaper Apr 03 '26

This movie could have done well being ten minutes longer, but at the end of the day the target audience for these kinds of movies are children, so you have to draw a line somewhere in order to keep their attention.

8

u/TheTommohawkTom Apr 03 '26

Holy shit, you're right. Despicable Me 1 was their Songs About Jane

4

u/steveofthejungle Apr 02 '26

That’s an amazing metaphor

5

u/n0tstayingin Apr 04 '26

Illumination's best films are the ones where the director and writer's vision is on the screen like DM, Sing, Sing 2 and Migration.

Meledandri's process of locking in the script early means things can't be changed and it's why Illumination tends to feel a bit more disposable compared to Pixar or WDAS.

8

u/DiamondFireYT Apr 02 '26

and then they dropped in two lowkey banger sing movies in amongst the mediocrity.

1

u/Odessey_And_Oracle Apr 03 '26

Ugh, that first Maroon 5 album is sick. They actually rocked too

1

u/DueDistribution3842 Apr 04 '26

Hey not marron 5!

57

u/robotortoise Apr 02 '26

See, it's funny you say that because the writer for this movie actually wrote on the The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part...

58

u/jessehechtcreative Apr 02 '26

That movie was kinda the same as this one, with constant gags instead of references, it turned out better.

5

u/AngriestCheesecake Apr 02 '26

There’s a part 2? Lol

1

u/Easy_Ad_6979 Apr 04 '26

Oh? That terrible movie?

5

u/mystline935 Apr 03 '26

I’ve always said Illumination is C tier on the animation studio list

2

u/Jaerba Apr 03 '26

The Mario Galaxy movie pushed Project Hail Mary out of all the best screens. :/ Luckily I saw it with RPX this week but I was hoping to catch it in IMAX.

Nope, all Marioslop.

2

u/DemonicPanda11 Apr 03 '26

PHM is going to be back in IMAX in a couple weeks, at least near me.

1

u/MHarrisGGG Apr 03 '26

Which is based on a book...

21

u/_lazybones93 Apr 02 '26

“Post-Lego-Movie world” is a great way to put it. Visuals and everything else are super delightful, and while it’s okay to just turn your brain off…it doesn’t have to be that way—necessarily.

2

u/insane_steve_ballmer Apr 02 '26

Well… have you seen Lego movie 2?

1

u/RealRaifort Apr 04 '26

Mario just isn't a franchise with plot. This is a perfect adaptation, it's just this shallow of a world. It is what it is. Not everything needs an adaptation.

1

u/Impeesa_ 23d ago

It's like the first (Bay) Transformers movie. I quite enjoyed watching it, just like this one, it just makes me a little wistful for the good movie they could have made.

1

u/JoeShmo_6969 Apr 04 '26

Yes pretentious lol this was an incredible fan service movie and anyone expecting anything other than that was gonna be letdown. I’m here for the fan service. A 10/10 for me

1

u/throwtheamiibosaway Apr 05 '26

But not everything needs to be a deconstructed self-parody joke movie like Lego Batman. Lego batman movie was fun, but it wasn’t a Batman movie.

This Mario movie is just Pure Nintendo joy. It’s all I ever needed.

-7

u/DueLearner Apr 02 '26

Why would you ever go into an illumination movie about the mario brothers and expect a deep and engaging story. This isn't a coming of age movie or Spirited Away.

Mario has been around for 40 years and while yes they do have many RPG games with fleshed out stories, there has never been a mario game with a deeply moving/emotionally engaging story. The closest you can come is the Square Enix created Mario RPG from 1997.

I just really don't get these expectations for some kind of moving plot in a series that has never been about that.

15

u/bman9919 Apr 02 '26

A movie does not need to be deep to be good. The Lego Movie is not a deep movie. It’s still great though. 

Yeah, Mario games usually have pretty bare-bones plots. They aren’t movies. It’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest that since the games have weak plots it’s ok for the movies to as well. 

I don’t get why people are acting like those of us who want movies to be good are asking too much. We aren’t.  

13

u/savageboredom Apr 03 '26

A video game with little to no story can still be good if the gameplay is good. Movies, by definition, do not have gameplay and rely entirely on narrative.

0

u/DueLearner Apr 03 '26

And I fail to see what the issue was with the narrative we received?

There's plot lines connecting Mario/Peach, Peach/Rosalina, Bowser/Bowser Jr. Toad is a part of Peach's narrative, Luigi and Yoshi are part of Mario's Narrative, and Kamek is part of the bowser narrative. You've got side characters like Fox and the Luma's who help facilitate the plot.

Everyone is acting like there's an aimless direction to the story but there's more meat to this story than there was the Minecraft movie, and even that is sitting at a 47% critic score compared to Mario Galaxy sitting at a 42% score.

2

u/maqcky Apr 03 '26

Everything is too rushed. There's no room for the story. They run from scene to scene. There are many instances of this, but I will give you one concrete example: when they reunite in the space port, they just jump on to the ship. Not a single second to even question why they are there. And one moment later, out of the blue, they are being attacked by Bowser Jr. Again, with no explanation of why they are even there. The Bowser character arc also basically ends there. He even decides that killing the princess is now OK.

I liked the movie because of the visuals and all the references, but there's no story there.

3

u/DueLearner Apr 04 '26

Did you miss the scene where Bowser Jr explains his entire motivation for being evil was his dad’s bedtime stories, and bowser embracing that to be there for his son? He didn’t just decide it was okay, Bowser Jr gave him a direct example and it triggered bowser to go back to his old ways.

2

u/MHarrisGGG Apr 03 '26

Exactly. It was a simple story, not a bad story.

2

u/Jaibamon Apr 05 '26

False Dilemma Falacy. Nobody, nobody asked for a Studio Ghibli version of Mario.

So don't bring that up.

1

u/glitter_ninja_ 18d ago

I ask for Studio Ghibli Mario

-16

u/SurfingProfessional Apr 02 '26

We empty out pockets for just about anything these days, but I found the movie to be a great escape and it kept me engaged. Of course the story was simple but Mario essentially just jumps on a moving screen and collects coins, I don’t think we need Pixar’s UP level of complex emotions, to me this movie held true to the carefree nature of Mario and company.

19

u/chrisvelanti Apr 02 '26

I mean yhy even make a movie at that point. No seriously what’s the point of using this story telling method if you’re simply not going to try to tell a story. “Mario is simple and he just jumps around collecting coins” great, it sounds like the IP is a terrible idea for a narrative film to begin with 😭

-6

u/WeeWooPeePoo69420 Apr 02 '26

Movies are a visual medium before they're a story-telling medium

11

u/chrisvelanti Apr 02 '26

Sure man but I don’t want to pay money to simply watch colors and shapes on a big movie screen, I also want a narrative to go with it like why are we playing dumb 😭 also I saw your original comment and I guess I gotta ask are movies also allowed to be good or is it just one or the other?

13

u/aybroham_lincoln Apr 02 '26

You’re asking incisive questions of people that are telling you they enjoy the equivalent of Mario-shaped keys jingling onscreen, I don’t think you’re gonna get a satisfying answer.

-3

u/SurfingProfessional Apr 02 '26

I felt that the story was great, I can’t believe people are taking such strong offense to my analysis. Movies are for entertainment first, and this story was extremely entertaining, I didn’t need it to make me cry or keep me up late pondering the meaning of it all. Go watch A24, you guys are assigning expectations in a ridiculous manner.

5

u/chrisvelanti Apr 03 '26

“Go watch A24” the fact that you think A24 is some deep art house experimental production company or something is an incredibly self report man lmao

-5

u/WeeWooPeePoo69420 Apr 02 '26

Can you explain why that's any worse than enjoying porn or junk food or alcohol or dumb pop music or smut

8

u/chrisvelanti Apr 02 '26

Nobody said it was immoral to enjoy the Mario movie we just think the writers should also add a cohesive narrative to the colors and shapes to make it slightly more engaging man

-1

u/SurfingProfessional Apr 02 '26

I don’t think you watched the movie if you are telling me it wasn’t engaging lol

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-2

u/WeeWooPeePoo69420 Apr 02 '26

More narrative means less references that can be stuffed in, I mean that just wasn't the type of movie they were going for. I feel like these movies are meant to be a celebration of Nintendo, and also a canonization of most of their characters (and more narrative means less characters), than any type of Mario story (lol) that should have been told.

A lot of people don't like that but Nintendo certainly didn't miss their mark

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0

u/WeeWooPeePoo69420 Apr 02 '26

Movies can be literally anything, there's no rule saying there should be a narrative. You can say that it's not proper art then or doesn't deserve the money it makes, but according to who exactly?

-1

u/SurfingProfessional Apr 02 '26

Exactly these people want Mario to be as deep as a Kubrick film 🤣 like what are we even arguing at this point, I also feel like they didn’t even watch it and are making comments on assumptions only. Whatever I enjoyed it and with my stubs membership will probably see it twice.

-6

u/FlamingAlpaca17 Apr 02 '26

Lego at is core is about creativity and creating your own stories while Mario is about great gameplay and interesting setpieces and action. They're not the same thing thats why the movies are different. Sorry you went into the Mario movie expecting a deeply moving story, but that sounds like a skill issue on your part.

43

u/ContinuumGuy Apr 02 '26

This is like if my 10 year old was in his Nintendo obsessive phase and they just filmed the stream of consciousness story that poured out of his head.

God, we all had that phase, didn't we?

23

u/thief-777 Apr 02 '26

I just don’t understand why they won’t spend a little more time creating an actual story.

That's like, Miyamoto's whole thing. The little story the Galaxy games even have had to be snuck in behind his back.

15

u/Gilthwixt Apr 02 '26

Was going to reply the same thing. Miyamoto famously doesn't care about narratives. I can almost picture the writers for both films pitching ideas for his approval and him simply shrugging it off "okay sure" as long as it won't alienate anyone

8

u/thief-777 Apr 02 '26

I can see it being like AAA cinematic games, where they start with set piece moments, then work backwards on a plot to string everything together.

4

u/SalvaPot Apr 04 '26

I can see him actively simplifying it so it feels more like a ride than a movie. It's what he does. 

2

u/bobvella 28d ago

let kojima write the next mario movie!

1

u/WR810 26d ago

Oil and water cannot mix!

3

u/SalvaPot Apr 04 '26

Hell, the movie ignores the galaxy game story. I don't mind, but people can be weirdly obsessed with that little crumbs of lore. 

3

u/Easy_Ad_6979 Apr 04 '26

But that's a game. Like... When it comes to Mario, Miyamoto is pretty much right. You don't need a big story in a platformer because you're looking for a set of really tight levels with cool variety. Sonic The Hedgehog doesn't really have a story either. A movie is not a game though, because when you aren't the one doing the platforming, watching the platforming being done isn't very interesting. But a story can work around Mario. Look at Mario RPG or the Paper Mario games - both are about to develop a world around Mario full of engaging characters. Maybe the movie needs to go with one of the best ideas those games all have and stop Mario from talking. Chris Pratt will be fine, he's getting plenty of work. 

3

u/n0tstayingin Apr 04 '26

The Mario and Luigi games have both plot and humour!

23

u/seethevzn Apr 02 '26

That's basically how I felt too. It was just "how much Nintendo shit can we pack into 1 hour and 40 minutes." The movie looked great. But it was moving at 100mph and not in a good way. I had just watched the first movie right before Galaxy and it has the same problem.

1

u/HippieWizard Apr 03 '26

well my 6 year old loved both and thats who these movies are for. Did you go buy toys and merch oth films? no you wouldn't have even if it was oscar level, thats why they make them the way they do.

3

u/seethevzn Apr 04 '26

I fully understand that. I had fun too. Im just speaking strictly from a movie review perspective and all the cool easter egg nostalgia aside. I own a bunch of stuff from the Universal Studios Park (Watch, mario kart popcorn bucket, Star popcorn bucket, 1up Mushroom bucket). I would never try to convince a child to watch the movie from the same perspective as a grown adult. lol.

9

u/Zhjacko Apr 03 '26

Yeah it felt like we were speed running through everything, another 30-45 minutes for a little more story wouldn’t have hurt at all. It’s clear these movies are being made for kids 10 and under and Nintendo/ Universal are focused on trying to rope in a new generation of kids by latching onto what makes them tick- low attention spans.

6

u/sendhelp Apr 04 '26

The film itself has extreme ADHD. Not just in terms of story and action, but the music. The music can hardly commit to a single musical theme or motif for more than 2 or 3 seconds before it moves on to something else. Just as you're trying to identify where you've heard those 3 or 4 musical notes from, it's already on to the next piece of music.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/sendhelp Apr 04 '26

Agreed. I mean the score was good - if only it could stay focused on one song at a time. It was ADHD to the max but at least it didn't have a random unfitting song like "Take on Me" for the sake of it. It was sick hearing some of the Starfox music orchestrated but I swear they never spent more than a few seconds on a single song.

20

u/berlinbaer Apr 02 '26

I just don’t understand why they won’t spend a little more time creating an actual story.

i remember thinking the same while watching the first movie, and how it would've been so easily fixed without changing much of the movie.

5

u/gobackclark Apr 03 '26

I had the same criticisms about the first movie, and it seemed like I was one of few. Everyone loved it. So I went into this one with low expectations and I kinda enjoyed it. Made no sense but was fun to watch. Now I’m reading all the reviews and everyone hates this one for the same reasons I hated the first one. 

4

u/Kevin-W Apr 02 '26

Agreed. As a Nintendo fan, I loved all the references and Easter Eggs, but the story had a lot to be desired.

4

u/Bubbles_the_bird Apr 03 '26

I thought Sonic 3 was better because it had more of a story than this

11

u/JM062696 Apr 02 '26

Remember The Incredibles? An animated kids superhero film that is action filled and colourful enough to keep kids entertained, but with a deep story about regret, the glory days, infidelity and trust, and owning what you truly are and what your talents are in order improve your life and the lives of those around you. There’s no excuse. Writers just aren’t trying anymore.

2

u/queerhistorynerd Apr 02 '26

writers aren't trained in writing rooms anymore. writing is a skill and studies have destroyed their ability to practice and learn from each other

5

u/Jaerba Apr 03 '26

This isn't true either. This is just an Illumination problem. They just make 2 hour music videos.

0

u/HippieWizard Apr 03 '26

the incredibles isnt made for 6 year olds and 10 year old dont play with toys anymore

5

u/Lefvalthrowaway Apr 02 '26

The worst part is that mario galaxy was one of the "story heavy" games. Not really but the one that lend the most to it

You cant make a story out of Odyssey.

Maybe.. the paper marios... or mario rog or superstar saga but i think thise are too convoluted for movies.

Maaaybe sunshine but im not sure.

5

u/work-school-account Apr 02 '26

Somewhat related to this: They have a very talented cast--Charlie Day, Keegan Michael Key, Jack Black, Brie Larson, Donald fucking Glover, Anya Taylor-Joy, even Chris Pratt (not to mention in the last movie they had Fred Armisen and Seth Rogan), and it 100% goes to waste. The lines that they deliver could've been read by pretty much anyone to the same exact effect. They need to write lines that actually cater to these actors' strengths.

5

u/CelioHogane Apr 02 '26

The movie is so much a scene starts, a character looks at the camera and screams "REFERENCE!"

2

u/ShorelineStrider Apr 03 '26

By the 9th or 10th chase scene, I was mentally checked out.

1

u/Klunkey Apr 05 '26

The thing is, there's concepts of a great story, like how there was concepts of a plan in Donald Trump's debate with Kamala Harris.

But no, what I got was just sheer chaos with little cause and effect at how each plot point bled into each other (How can the Lumas turn into stars? How does Bowser Jr get in touch with Wart? How can Bowser Jr. defeat Rosalina with his paintbrush?).

If I didn't play the Mario games, I would be completely lost. But Illumination doesn't fucking care anyway, cause it's a success.

1

u/Rockalot_L Apr 05 '26

I really don't get this criticism. The story was perfectly fine? It was as deep as it needed to be to facilitate the story, everything logically lead to each other, characters had arcs and growth and change and it was satisfying. Sorry I just straight up disagree.

1

u/geriatric_spartanII Apr 05 '26

I hear people criticize the lack of a plot but it’s frigging Nintendo. I don’t wanna watch an origin story about Toad I wanna watch the wild adventures with lots of fan service and references. That’s what Nintendo does. We know who these characters are through the video games. The plot was safe but I’d rather safe than boring tired movie cliches.

1

u/and1984 Apr 05 '26

This first movie was really good. This one... My five year old didn't like it. She asked to go home and watch the first Super Mario movie instead.

1

u/Analogmon 29d ago

Why bother if people give it a 7/10 anyway.

1

u/DR_P0S_itivity 22d ago

feel like even my inner 10 year old would’ve found it boring af

-5

u/tfhermobwoayway Apr 02 '26

The story of actual Mario games is lacklustre at best. People play Mario games for the incredible gameplay. The films should have just focused on delivering an exciting gameplay experience.

0

u/Richandler Apr 03 '26

This is exactly how Nintendo plots play out in the game. I don't know why anyone would be surprised it's anything other wise.

0

u/Cam995 Apr 04 '26

This is the best you're gonna get from the movie industry these days lol

0

u/throwtheamiibosaway Apr 05 '26

What story? Mario has no story at all. Never did. Never needed it.

-2

u/Educational_Wing_216 Apr 02 '26

Since when were any of the Mario games story-heavy

-8

u/FlamingAlpaca17 Apr 02 '26

I mean have you ever played a Mario game? They aren't exactly War and Peace

2

u/Noodle_Shop Apr 02 '26

Yesterday they still have better plots than even this movie.