Mario Galaxy Movie 1
Image: Nintendo / Illumination

Editor's note: This review is largely spoiler-free, so you won't find any final act reveals or earth-shattering references. However, it does touch on a couple of easter eggs and briefly discusses how characters' relationships have evolved since the first film. If you're sensitive to that information, come back after you've seen it.

"There's a huge universe out there, with a lot of galaxies.”

When this line was spoken by Peach in 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, two thoughts occurred to me.

The first was that it felt like an obvious tease for what would eventually be the direct sequel. The second was that Nintendo and Illumination were effectively giving themselves permission to cram as many easter eggs and cameos into the new film’s 98-minute runtime as humanly possible. And flippin’ ‘eck, do they follow through!

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a lot. Dialling up the action and spectacle significantly from the first adventure, we’re taken on an intergalactic jaunt that never pauses to take a breath. It constantly moves you from one set piece to the next as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and newcomer Yoshi set off to rescue Rosalina from the clutches of Bowser Jr.

Mario Galaxy Movie 2
Image: Nintendo / Illumination

In terms of story, that’s really all there is to it. There are brief flashes of inspiration peppered throughout, but Illumination unfortunately never commits to any of it. Take Bowser, for instance: having spent some time in the Mushroom Kingdom following his capture at the end of the first film, he begins to soften toward Mario and Luigi, the latter of whom takes Bowser to a weekly book club.

For a short while it makes for some interesting friction between him and Bowser Jr. – even if it did remind me of Eggman and Gerald Robotnik from Sonic 3. Sadly, this is cast aside far too quickly for my liking, and the same can be said for multiple plot threads that never seem to go anywhere.

But my goodness, what a good-looking film. Every scene is absolutely bursting with colour, from Star Bits raining down on Mushroom Kingdom to the heroes zooming through space alongside a beautifully-animated Fox McCloud, who enjoys a lot more screen time than I expected.

Mario Galaxy Movie 3
Image: Nintendo / Illumination

To complement this, Bryan Tyler’s soundtrack is a delight, pulling familiar hits from the entire Super Mario series, arguably highlighted by a stunning rendition of the Good Egg Galaxy theme. Mercifully, licensed tracks have also been stripped back considerably, and it’s a huge improvement over the original.

The same creators from the first movie return here, including directors Aaron Hovath and Michael Jelenic, with Matthew Fogel penning the script. The dialogue feels about as fleeting as the rest of the film, with little opportunity for anything even remotely profound, memorable, or even funny. The visuals do the majority of the heavy lifting here, mixing faithful spectacle with plenty of physical comedy.

Back to Fox McCloud, though. His appearance around the halfway point felt so blasé and sudden, I had to think back and doublecheck I hadn’t missed him earlier on. Within the space of about two minutes, we get his entire backstory before he’s roped into the mission and jets off into space with his new companions in tow. Again, there’s just no time to actually appreciate that McCloud, of all characters, is in a Mario movie – it’s just straight on to the next set piece.

I have to admit, I also found his overall presence a little jarring. There’s really no sufficient explanation as to why a character from a completely different series crops up, and as such, it feels like he doesn’t belong. Ultimately, the film would have played out in exactly the same way without him, and the cynic in me is absolutely certain that the only reason he shows up is to set up an eventual spin-off (and, if rumours are to be believed, hype up audiences for a new Star Fox game).

Mario Galaxy Movie 4
Image: Nintendo / Illumination

Actor Glen Powell does a good job at bringing McCloud to life, though, as do all of the main cast members. Enough time has passed that I can put aside the initial whiplash of hearing Chris Pratt as Mario, and although some of the brotherly bond from the first film is lost here, the dynamic between Mario and Luigi is still strong. Brie Larson is sadly kind of wasted as Rosalina, though.

In addition to the main characters, of course, there are a ton of easter eggs and cameos to keep an eye out for. Too many, in fact. The Gateway Galaxy is overstuffed with various species from the game series, including Piantas, Conkdors, Gearmos, and more.

Indeed, Nintendo and Illumination opted to include so much in the sequel that it makes me wonder how else it could dial up the spectacle in the inevitable third entry. At least the Sonic movies showed some restraint.

Mario Galaxy Movie 5
Image: Nintendo / Illumination

Conclusion

Ultimately, despite the film’s problems (one moment so brazenly copied Zootopia's famous sloth scene, I'm surprised it made the cut), I did still have a good time watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The visuals, the music, and at least some of the easter eggs do enough to keep it afloat. It helps that I saw it with my four-year-old daughter who, utterly obsessed with Princess Peach, couldn’t keep her eyes off the screen, giggling with delight every two minutes.

I have to remind myself that she’s the target audience. Nintendo doesn’t need to rope me into its gaming ecosystem — it’s already firmly got me in its grasp — but my daughter is now eager to experience the likes of Mario Galaxy and Mario Odyssey on the Switch.

That’s really the whole point, isn’t it?