{"id":33267,"date":"2026-03-31T22:51:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33267"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:51:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:51:05","slug":"the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-is-less-than-stellar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33267","title":{"rendered":"THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE is Less-Than-Stellar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 98 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Universal Pictures opens exclusively at\ntheaters and on IMAX screens on April 1st<\/sup>, 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was just a small child in 1981 when the arcade game Donkey\nKong<\/em> became something of a cultural phenomenon (along with Pac-Man),<\/em>\ninspiring a Saturday morning cartoon series and, if memory serves, even a\nbreakfast cereal. As popular as it was back then, I never would have imagined\nthat it would span an even more successful spin-off game in 1985 called Super\nMario Brothers<\/em> for the Nintendo Entertainment System, a whole new line of\nfollow-ups, and a media empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, an animated feature film arrived in 2023\nbased on these characters, grossing well over a billion dollars at the box\noffice. So, it should be no shock that a sequel has now arrived. But like many\nfilm franchises, it\u2019s easy to rush out a follow-up without taking the proper\ncare to ensure a quality product. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em> isn\u2019t as\nlikely to enrapture audiences like the previous installment did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The narrative introduces audiences to Princess Rosalina\n(Brie Larson), a figure living on another planet who bears a striking\nresemblance to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), leader of the Mushroom\nKingdom. Villainous Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) arrives on Rosalina\u2019s world and\nkidnaps the noblewoman. He is plotting to use her magical powers to help him\ncreate his own sphere, where he will eventually take control of the galaxy.\nWhen Princess Peach hears the terrible news about the princess, she heads out into\nspace, leaving the Mushroom Kingdom in the hands of Mario (Chris Pratt) and\nLuigi (Charlie Day), who are also watching over the imprisoned Bowser (Jack\nBlack). When Bowser Jr. unexpectedly arrives to free his father, the pair are\nalso transported into the galaxy. Along with their dinosaur pal Yoshi (Donald\nGlover), the plumbers attempt to find Princess Peach and stop the villains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the previous feature had its issues, it did a decent\njob of setting up the world of Mario and Luigi, as well as the Mushroom\nKingdom, and the imminent danger the protagonists were in. The story of this\nfollow-up has many problems and often leaves the uninitiated scratching their\nheads. For one, it assumes that viewers already know by heart all of the\nunusual characters from this media franchise. Even the opening scene is\nconfusing for anyone unfamiliar with Princess Rosalina (including myself, who\ninitially assumed it was Princess Peach).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the film involves the protagonists visiting\ndifferent planets. These environments are well-animated but not particularly\ncreative (one world just looks like a casino).  Admittedly, some of those\non these strange worlds may be familiar to gamers or little kids, but they\notherwise don\u2019t have much to do with the main plot. And speaking of the story,\nwhen the central villain Bowser Jr. relays some of his nefarious plans, it\u2019s\nvague. So much so that while the characters are moving across the galaxy in a panic,\nnothing about the adventure feels urgent or exciting for the viewer. The\nspecific threat, referred to as a \u201cboomstick\u201d, doesn\u2019t come to the forefront\nuntil the final act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, this is a kid\u2019s movie, so the jokes are geared to\nthe young and won\u2019t impress adults. The popular Yoshi dinosaur is a new\naddition to this film series, but most gags involve the creature eating figures\nand then expelling them while laying eggs. It isn\u2019t particularly funny to\nwatch, but at least the character manages to make an impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the voice recording on this film is\nsurprisingly lackluster. A few of the higher-energy performances, including\nthat of Jack Black and Glen Powell (as Fox McCloud aka Star Fax) manage to eke\nout a chuckle or two, but there\u2019s a general listlessness and flatness to the\nline delivery of several characters. It deflates the vitality of several scenes\nand mutes any comedic potential of these bits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the visuals are impressive at times, there\u2019s little\nabout the story in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em> that captures the\nimagination, thrills or even brings a smile to one\u2019s face. This follow-up feels\nsurprisingly muted, with a muddled story that makes one wonder if this project\nmay have been rushed together too quickly. Whatever may have occurred, this is\na leaky sequel that is unlikely to wow older family members and may leave them\nwishing they were at the arcade playing Donkey Kong<\/em> instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 98 minutes This feature from Universal Pictures opens exclusively at theaters and on IMAX screens on April 1st, 2026. I was just a small child in 1981 when the arcade game Donkey Kong became something of a cultural phenomenon (along with Pac-Man), inspiring a Saturday morning cartoon series and, if memory serves, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[217,1455,1634,2567,4136,4322,7283,8379,10085,18035,19344,22342,22343,22344,22345,23571,23774],"class_list":["post-33267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-217","tag-animated","tag-anya-taylor-joy","tag-benny-safdie","tag-charlie-day","tag-chris-pratty","tag-family","tag-glen-powell","tag-jack-black","tag-sequel","tag-super-mario-brothers","tag-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie","tag-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-film-review","tag-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-movie-review","tag-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-review","tag-universal-pictures","tag-video-game"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}