Movie Review: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, and Pierre Leduc

Mario (Christ Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) do their usual plumbing heroics in the Mushroom Kingdom, soon discovering the cute dinosaur Yoshi (Donald Glover). They are all invited to Princess Peach's (Anya Taylor-Joy) birthday party at her castle. During the party, Peach discovers that her sister Rosalina (Brie Larson) has been kidnapped by Bowser Junior (Benny Safdie), who wants to free his dad (Jack Black) and rule, or maybe destroy, the universe. Bowser is a shrunken prisoner of Mario and Luigi. They take him on the rescue mission where they have many strange adventures on many odd planets in their galaxy.

Even at home on a television, this movie is visually amazing, with a bright color palette and a lot of the details from various Mario games thrown in. The plot is mostly a structure to hang on the visuals and the gags, which do come at a fast pace. I enjoyed it on that level, though I imagine I won't retain much of it a week later. 

Mildly recommended--your knowledge of the Mario games will go a long way in your appreciation of the movie.

Movie Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, and Pierre Leduc

Two plumbers, Mario (voice of Chris Pratt) and Luigi (voice of Charlie Day), start their own business in Brooklyn. After the usual antics on a job (the customer's pet gets out of control as the brothers fix a bathroom sink) and the usual anxiety with family (parents and uncles do not believe they will succeed as independent plumbers and are quite vocal about it), the two see a big opportunity on the news--a massive flood in Brooklyn. They wind up underground where they discover a large green pipe that sucks them into another dimension--a world of kingdoms. Koopa Kingdom is ruled over by Bowser (voice of Jack Black) who is planning to conquer the other kingdoms and marry Princess Peach (voice of Anya Taylor-Joy), the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario winds up in Mushroom Kingdom where he's told the princess can help him find his brother who wound up in a different kingdom. Peach is more interested in making an alliance with the Jungle Kingdom to fight Bowser. But she will let Mario tag along if he can prove himself.

The plot is a bit light but works well to fit in a lot of gags and references to the Mario video game franchise. Plenty of in-jokes fill the film, as do most of the characters from the games. Luigi gets a bit of short shrift--after he's separated from Mario, he is captured and left a prisoner in Bowser's dungeon until the final act of the movie. The actors do a good job being the characters rather than themselves. I didn't even realize Bowser was played by Jack Black until the credits. The animation is cute and consistent with the current Mario games.

Mildly recommended--if you are fan of the franchise, you will get a lot more out of it than an uninformed viewer.

Son Turns Ten

My eldest has turned ten! For his birthday, like last year, he wanted a Nintendo-themed party. The star of this year's part was probably the cake, which was in the shape of an ? Box. These boxes can be found in many Mario games. When a player hits one, a special bonus is revealed--a coin, a power-up, etc. My wife was clever enough to add gold coins inside the cake. First, she baked several layers. Then she cut the middle out of some, leaving a hollow inside the cake. Icing held it all together and kept the secret.

Layers of cake

Gold coins!

Sealing it up

Cutting out decorations

Attaching decorations (see a sample box between the wrists!)

Happy craftsman

The day of the party, we had the guests dress up just like they were making Mii characters on the Nintendo Wii. The boys were very creative.

Sorting through items

Not sure who this is

Birthday boy

Mario/Pac-man hybrid

Minimalist costume

Duh Hand

Mario/Shirley Temple hybrid

The whole gang

We had some indoor activities including a treasure hunt and a bit of actual playing on the Wii. After pizza dinner, we ate the cake, which was delightful to all.

Candles blown out

The final activity was the "boss stage" where the party goers faced off against King Boo. King Boo manifested himself in the form of a piñata hanging in the garage. Revelers lined up for a go at knocking him out.

Ready to strike

The face of Boo

Using glasses doesn't necessarily help

Daughter takes a whack

Birthday boy goes for the knock down

The kids loved the party. My son said it was his best birthday party yet. How will we top it next year?

Birthday Number Nine

Our oldest son is nine years old?!? Where has the time gone?

We had a party with his friends a few days before the actual birth day. We had a Nintendo/Mario theme. The first activity was the classic ice-breaker game where each child wore a headband with a Mario character so they can't see which character it is. The child asks others yes-or-no questions to figure out who is on the headband. They enjoyed it so much, once they guessed, they'd get a new headband from the bag and try again!

We also had an obstacle course, Mario-style. They had to run, jump, and tag coins to complete the track. And fight bubbles!

Going through the dry water hazard

Jumping for a coin

Bubble blizzard

Fighting the bubbles with Goomba balloons!

Inside the house, they did a scavenger hunt with a checklist for little squares hidden throughout the house. Happily, they were more cooperative than competitive. They helped each other find the items, especially one that was so hard to find, even the adult who hid it couldn't find it!

Scavenger Hunt checklist

Can you find the Mummy-me?

We did let them play games for twenty minutes or so before the pizza came. We also let them try out the ultra-light quadcopter Millennium Falcon that my son received by mail early in the week.

Ready to launch the Falcon

One more try for the Death Star

After pizza, we had cupcakes decorated like Mario mushrooms. They were yummy and easy to make.

Red fondant and mini-marshmallows make a good mushroom!

Eating them was even more fun.

Ready to blow out the candle

The final activity was Nintendo trivia with the kids versus the parents. Luckily, the parents had two ringers who had grown up playing the NES, etc., so they odds were much more even.

Consulting on an answer

More consulting

We had a grand time.

On his actual birthday, we had our traditional "presents at breakfast." He was delighted with his Nerf crossbow with extra bolts. Also, he received his favorite snack, Cheetos. At dinnertime, we had a luscious homemade cake. For dessert, of course. We wouldn't eat it for our main meal. At least, we wouldn't admit it!

A fabulous cake

A fabulous boy to match!