The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may be all fun and games for the brothers spending their time in a new world, and as the only plumbers in Princess Peach’s realm, they’re helping keep the peace rather than fixing faucets. But none of them are exactly equipped to deal with their ruler’s current existential woes. When Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) admits she doesn’t know where she came from, the story quietly opens a larger mystery, one it only partially resolves.
That thread leads into the absence of Rosalina (Brie Larson), whose kidnapping by Bowser Jr. sets the events in motion. He leans fully into the shadow of his father, eager to prove himself through familiar cruelty. When this sequel is straightforward and paint-by-numbers, there’s not much to be excited over.