The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

3/10

Starring the voices of

Chris Pratt

Anya Taylor-Joy

Charlie Day

Jack Black

Keegan-Michael Key

 

Directed by: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic

 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is soulless and boring, even though it is well animated. For a movie which already had a good layup from the massive take in of the first movie, this to me was a big letdown. This movie was done by Illumination Studios and based on all the work they have been doing, I am starting to think all these sequels are beginning to burn out their creativity, because this movie is all about nostalgic references with an all-star voice cast, which I have to say were epic.

Now remember how the first movie had the Peaches moment, where Bowser was singing that wonderful song with the beautiful Jack Black showing off his vocal range? Well, this movie does not have anything like that, there is no magic moment, no key thing that made me go, “Hey! This happened.”

All I have is a wonderful voice cast, which represented each character in a way I would think they would sound in my head, and animation filled with stuffed references like the producers had a checkmark on all the game references they needed to get done.

So, as you know, the movie is an adaptation of the Super Mario game, specifically Super Mario Galaxy, and it features two princesses, Peach and Rosalina, alongside Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser and Bowser Jr.

Here is what the movie is actually about. We get a glimpse of the past in this story of Rosalina and Peach as sisters, when Rosalina sent Peach to the Mushroom Kingdom to keep her safe.

Now the movie itself starts with Bowser Jr. kidnapping Rosalina, and one of the Lumas she cares for escapes and reaches Peach to tell her what happened. Peach leaves to rescue her sister and puts Mario and Luigi in charge of the Kingdom. Bowser Jr. then attacks the Mushroom Kingdom trying to free his father Bowser, who at this point is a miniaturised prisoner in Peach's castle and genuinely trying to reform himself.

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser end up on their own trail across space trying to find Peach. Bowser was so reformed that even when he got his size and power back, he stayed with Mario. When Bowser Jr. eventually rescues his father, he is able to pull Bowser back to the dark side by reminding him of who he is.

The story that ties them all together is thin and jumps from what is supposed to be a redemption father and son arc for Bowser, to a save the princess, save the universe arc for Peach. Then there is the connection between Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina as sisters and, let me not forget, a small taste of romance brewing between Mario and Peach.

There are too many things happening in this movie and nothing sticks, it all plays around a reference stuffed animation that, if not for the coffee, I would have dozed off.

So yes, the animation is good, colourful and memorable, the voice casting is amazing and I specifically enjoyed hearing Jack Black again, and worth noting, Brie Larson as Rosalina and Donald Glover as Yoshi were both excellent, but that is about it for this movie as it was just lacking anything that could have made it matter.

So I think you have a better chance of enjoying yourself playing the game again than going to see this movie.

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

Mortal Kombat II (2026)

 

6/10

Starring

Karl Urban

Adeline Rudolph

Jessica McNamee

Josh Lawson

Ludi Lin

 

Directed by: Simon McQuoid

 

Mortal Kombat II is actually fun to watch, but the issue I had with it, and I think many will, is that it seems the show wanted to focus on big-time actor Karl Urban, with the hope of drawing more people to come see it.

I liked the effects, and right from the start the show is packed with a lot of fights, which keeps going fight after fight, making it easy to enjoy the film because, if not for the action, the bad dialogue and cheesy lines would have made this a disaster.

Now special effects wise and acting wise, I actually was impressed by the cocky Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban. It was not too flimsy or too serious, it was played with the right touch of both to make you like the character, even if the events around him were not pleasing.

Mortal Kombat 2 follows from part 1, but the good thing is I went to watch it with someone who has not seen part 1 and knows nothing about the whole thing, yet was still able to keep up because part 2 is very good in that aspect of the writing. It fills you in on things, except the Scorpion and Sub-Zero biff, so Earthrealm’s fighters are ready to defend their realm.

This time the real Mortal Kombat is taking place, not just the path to it, which I also liked.

So Earthrealm fighters go one on one with their Outworld counterparts, and there are five fights, with the group that has more fighters standing winning.

But Earthrealm is short one fighter, so Johnny Cage, a washed-up actor, is brought into the team while Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, and Cole train for a brutal conflict that could decide the fate of Earth.

Now the many directions this show could have taken that would have made this a masterpiece were ignored, instead the show created and forced many situations just to make Johnny Cage, Karl Urban, the star. They wanted to make him the focus, and when in the end they needed to destroy the amulet that held Raiden’s power, it had to be his shadow kick that did it, not the blast from Jade, the laser from Kano, or the fire from Scorpion.

I felt that was bad writing on display, and the way the show handled Kung Lao cutting Raiden, then trapping his powers, was just filled with holes.

How come Raiden did not heal instantly, but Shao Kahn does when he had the amulet? How come Raiden then healed instantly when he was about to be attacked by Shang Tsung?

Look, this is a fine film, which I enjoyed watching in the cinema, but I will advise you to go see this with your brain switched off, or else you are going to hate this movie and wish the writers made a better effort.