A movie made for a very specific audience. It is fun, but it is largely “Illumination noise”.

After the defeat of koopa king Bowser, the Mushroom Kingdom is in relative peace. However, when the villain’s son kidnaps another princess, he has the power to not only rescue Bowser, but terrorise the whole galaxy.

The Super Mario Brothers Movie from 2023 was a surprising smash hit. Perhaps from lowered expectations going in. The sequel comes from the same direction, animation, and writing teams. It has a fully returning cast, including Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key, and Charlie Day. But we have some new voices and faces, Glen Powell, Benny Safdie, and Brie Larson.
Now, in 2026, perhaps there was too high expectations for the sequel?? Nintendo is a powerhouse right now, and Illumination Studios definitely make glossy looking animations. Is the sequel just as fun as its predecessor, or is it suffering sequel bloat?

The movie has very little plot. Normally I would expand what the review’s first synopsis is. But really… that’s it. Bowser’s son, known as Bowser Jr (Safdie) has kidnapped Princess Rosalina (Larson) from her space-dwelling conservatory. He quickly ruins Princess Peach’s (Taylor-Joy) kingdom, in an effort to rescue his father. Peach goes on the warpath to rescue Rosalina, while the two hapless Mario brothers are left in the dust. Don’t worry, nothing keeps them down for long.

If you find anything I just said confusing and nonsensical, maybe give this one a skip. In classic Illumination fashion, this movie has zero brakes. “Galaxy” refers to one of the mainline Mario games: Super Mario Galaxy. However, this movie uses Galaxy as the clue for several other Mario games. Including but not limited to: Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Odyssey, and the slightly stranger, vintage, Super Mario Bros 2.
The film is a colourful kaleidoscope of bedlam chaos. One minute we will see castles smashing towards our heroes, the next minute we are in a gravity-defying casino. The film plays out more like rapid-fire vignettes of the strongest nostalgia bait you ever did see. Dropping its story like an afterthought as soon as it emerged. Audiences’ brains are practically heard shifting gears when the plot comes back in the third act.

I am of the target demographic vintage, but even I could, at times, feel myself zoning out. It makes the first film feel positively coherent by comparison. So, this is the negative portion of this review; and it isn’t a small factor. If you don’t know Nintendo intellectual properties, this will be quite meaningless.

But I do know Nintendo intellectual properties.
I have to say… there were a couple of surprise references and cameos that made me stupidly happy. Yes, all objectivity out the window. Although not to say these weren’t faithful references. They were excellent. Probably why they worked their charms so well on me. I will not spoil them (I’m sure other people will)

A lot of the characters maintain their light-as-air humour and happy-go-lucky demeanour from the first film. It is like no time has passed. Bowser (Jack Black) is still the best character. Chris Pratt as Mario is still as uninteresting as before. Pretty sure they got sound bites for some of the dialogue. The film is, by and large, a fun and silly time.
Perhaps the best element, and something I mentioned in the review of the first film, is the music. 2023’s movie was stupidly using licensed music, despite Nintendo having a library of beautiful scores. Luckily, the Galaxy Movie uses Nintendo’s music frequently. It is wonderful. Perhaps a couple of times I was tapping my foot to the music.

So, as a movie it isn’t as strong as the first film. It is too chaotic and doesn’t stop to breathe. Yes, by comparison the 2023 movie did. But it is very colourful and lively, and unlike a lot of Illumination’s own properties, it isn’t too stupid. It does hold the characters reverently (probably because Nintendo would send assassins if they didn’t) and gosh darn it, those were some good cameos.

Additional Marshmallows: The objective scoring would be a 3/5, without the nostalgia bait having such a strong hold over me.