Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The (4K UHD Review)
Director
Aaron Horvath, Michael JelenicRelease Date(s)
2026 (June 16, 2026)Studio(s)
Nintendo/Illumination (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C-
Review
2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a monster hit upon release, topping the box office and raking in nearly $1.4 billion dollars worldwide. To say that a sequel was inevitable is an understatement, and with so many video games to draw upon, it’s surprising that they decided to skip a couple of decades worth of games and head into the 2010s for story ideas. 2026’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie would be based upon the Super Mario Galaxy games and settings, which certainly gave the filmmakers new environments for the characters, as well as added visual diversity, even if the final results are nearly as satisfying as the original film.
Now heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) once again find themselves in another adventure to save it. Bowser’s son, Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), captures Rosalina (Brie Larson) from the Comet Observatory where she lives with her adopted star creatures known as Lumas and takes her hostage. He then proceeds to the Mushroom Kingdom in an attempt to also kidnap Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Rosalina’s long-lost sister, and rescue his father, Bowser (Jack Black), who has been attempting to rehabilitate himself from being evil. The Lumas come to Peach and Toad (Keegan Michael-Key) for help, which sends them across the galaxy, as Mario and Luigi, with the help of their new dinosaur friend Yoshi (Donald Glover), try and stop Bowser Jr. with the help of mercenary pilot Fox McCloud (Glen Powell). Also in the cast are Kevin Michael Richardson, Eric Bauza, Luis Guzmán, Issa Rae, Roxana Ortega, Juliet Jelenic, Pepper Jelenic, and Virginia Dare Jelenic.
While I have plenty of praise for the first film actually having some structure and character motivations, the sequel isn’t nearly as uniform. At the very least, there’s nothing that’s as immediately relatable for an audience to latch onto outside of generic family dynamics. The only trick the filmmakers have up their sleeve this time around is to make Bowser more of a good guy questioning his bad guy ways, with Mario learning to accept him and not be so hard on him. It’s an odd component that’s mostly meant for comedy, but it doesn’t draw you in quite the same way. Inevitably, Mario is more accepting of Bowser, and Bowser is less inclined to bring harm to Mario and his friends, which to me seems like the building blocks of sequel material, especially considering the after credits stinger that seems to be setting up the next film. On the other hand, I keep trying to remind myself that this is meant to be an all-audiences-are-welcome kind of project, and not an intricately constructed narrative. Even still, the bones of it could be better.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, like its predecessor, is also a massive reference fest. Thankfully it all’s world building, and there’s some surprising appearances from certain characters form the Mario universe, including Wart (portrayed by Luis Guzman), the main villain of the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2. Most devoted gamers know that game was originally not a Mario game at all in Japan, but retrofitted to be one before the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. So seeing them incorporate elements from that game, which in some ways has already become a solid of the franchise, is kind of fun. Also enjoyable is an appearance by Fox McCloud, another Nintendo video game character, but one that has nothing to do with Mario games whatsoever. However, bringing him into the fold as a Han Solo-type to aid the other characters is amusing.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie wisely stayed away from the heated competition in the summer of 2026, dominated by the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, as well as the horror films Obsession and Backrooms, and with the surprising decline of tentpole titles like Supergirl and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. It was a fascinating summer movie season, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was instead released at the beginning of April. Regardless of release date, the film was always going to be a success, and it was. An extremely minor financial dip in comparison to the first film, it still managed to bring in over a billion dollars worldwide, one of the top earners for the year. In other words, it was by no means a failure, which means we’ll be doing this again in another few years.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was animated digitally and finished at 4K resolution, then framed theatrically at the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Universal’s 4K Ultra HD release of the film is sourced straight from its 4K Digital Intermediate source, grading it for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and encoding it to a triple-layered BD-100 disc. Once again, it’s another top-notch presentation, even more so from a native 4K source, compared to the first film. It’s far sharper than its 1080p counterpart with maxed out bitrates and more precise textures and details. Like the first film, the HDR grading truly enhances the intricacies of the many layers of the film’s color palette. From the various locations in and around the Mushroom Kingdom to the gloriously saturated sections of the galaxy to the many sectors of Planet Bowser, all are bursting with a wide range of hues. Contrast is perfect with super deep blacks within darkened environments, as well as gradations and shadows during daytime sequences. There are also no encoding issues, making the sequel’s UHD another superb visual presentation.
Audio is included in English Dolby Atmos, and Spanish and French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus (the Blu-ray contains a Descriptive Video Service track, as well). Subtitle options include English SDH, Spanish, and French. The Dolby Atmos track is slightly improved over its predecessor in terms of volume, which was mixed too low and required an adjustment. That’s true here as well, but it’s not nearly as soft. Dialogue exchanges are clear and Brian Tyler’s score is sweeping. Sound effects are given a gargantuan amount of attention, working all around the sound space, with plenty of deep bass response to back them up. It’s a muscular track all around, aside from the volume adjustment.
The 4K Ultra HD release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also includes a 1080p Blu-ray and a Digital Code on a paper insert. The main Collector’s Edition is housed in a standard black Amaray case with a slipcover, while there’s also a Steelbook variant. Regardless of which version you own, the UHD and Blu-ray discs both contain the following extras:
- Next Level: Making The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (15:03)
- Cast of Characters (22:28):
- Mario & Luigi (5:46)
- Peach & Rosalina (5:48)
- Bowser & Bowser Jr. (6:04)
- Toad & Yoshi (4:47)
- Exploring the Galaxy (10:28)
- Galactic Thematics (5:17)
- Cosmic Tunes (3:32)
- Power-Ups (2:21)
- Secrets of the Galaxy (2:45)
Like the previous film’s UHD release, the majority of this material is super fluffy and doesn’t really get into the nitty gritty, but there are some items of interest. Next Level gives an overview of the making of the film, Cast of Characters explores the actors, Exploring the Galaxy takes a look at the various environments, Galactic Thematics delves into the character dynamics, Cosmic Tunes gets into the score, Power-Ups dives into the various abilities the characters can do, and Secrets of the Galaxy details some of the Easter eggs built into the film. Participants in this material include Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Benny Safdie, and Brie Larson; as well as directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, co-directors Fabien Polack and Pierre Leduc, producer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, editor Eric Osmond, writer Matthew Fogel, head of story Ed Skudder, layout cinematography supervisor Lorenzo Veracini, animation director Christophe Delisle, art director Matthieu Gosselin, character designer Shigehisa Nakaue, character animator Charlotte Mansard, CG supervisors David Pellé and François Boudaille, head of computer graphics Milo Riccarand, compositing supervisor Julien Trouchet, effects supervisor Simon Pate, character effects supervisor Sébastian Stoïanov, lighting supervisor Cédric Launay, lead lighting artists Sophie Guillois and Yannick Lecoffre, composer Brian Tyler, and Nintendo music composer Koji Kondo.
Nintendo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise with another entry in the Mario movie franchise, and it too is a winner. It’s not quite as solid structurally and does feel a little overstuffed, but it’s nonetheless enjoyable, holding up better on repeated viewings. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also looks terrific in 4K and belongs on every Nintendo fan’s shelf, as well as the shelves of those who enjoy simple but well-made movies, regardless of age.
- Tim Salmons
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