Fair warning: this is a biased review. I am a Mario person in every sense of the word — the collectibles, the Casio Super Mario edition, the shoes, all of it. I have grown up imagining what it would feel like to watch Mario on the big screen. So take this with that context fully acknowledged.
The first Super Mario Brothers film was magical. I have watched it more times than I can count, including on repeat with my three-year-old. The obstacle course scene, Mario and Luigi with the dog in the bathroom, the entire Donkey Kong arc, the kart rides, the fight, all of it. That film had genuine emotional writing underneath all the fun: two stories of sons trying to prove themselves to their fathers, running in parallel. Mario and Luigi trying to make it. Donkey Kong doing the same. That kind of anchoring is what made the first film stick beyond the nostalgia.
Galaxy brings more of everything: more characters, more worlds, more spectacle. Yoshi is absolutely adorable and worth every moment of screen time. Rosalina is a powerful presence. There is more of Princess Peach’s backstory here, which I was genuinely excited about. But this is also where the film struggles. With so many new characters to introduce, the writing does not give any of them enough room to breathe. The emotional threads, the sibling love, the father and son moments, are there. But they are sprinkles rather than set pieces. Nothing quite anchors the way the first film did.
That said, my three-year-old was completely hypnotised. He would not let go of the popcorn tub for a second. That says everything.
If you have kids, go watch it in the theatres. If you are a kid at heart like me, go watch it. It is not the sharpest film in cinemas right now, and yes, it will come to OTT. But for the nostalgia, for the joy of being in that world again, it is worth doing on the big screen.
