Mama mia! The Super Mario Galaxy Movie held its first press screenings on Monday and the early reaction on social media seems mixed at best. Alas.
While full critics reviews for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are embargoed till Tuesday, Universal allowed press and others to post their limited reactions on social media on Monday.
The followup to the hugely popular 2023 franchise starter The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Galaxy tells the story of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach once again facing the evil Bowser (this time along with his son Bowser Jr.) in an adventure that spans the galaxy. Along the way they meet new characters including Princess Rosalina and Nintendo icon Yoshi.
Galaxy once again features the core voice cast of Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), and Keegan-Michael Key (Toad). New voices for the sequel include Benny Safdie (Bowser Jr.), Issa Rae (Honey Queen), Brie Larson (Princess Rosalina), Glen Powell (Fox McCloud) and Donald Glover (Yoshi).
Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return to direct Galaxy with the script written by Matthew Fogel, who also wrote the first film.
Despite the muted reaction from the press screenings, Universal and Nintendo will be confident Galaxy follows the path of the 2023 film, which was a global phenomenon, scoring $1.36 billion in box office revenue (from a modest $100 million production budget). Super Mario Bros. similarly didn’t vibe too much with critics and holds a 59 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes (with a whopping 95 percent score with audiences).
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits on April 1. See a selection of social media reaction to the film below.
