The Super Mario Galaxy Movie 4K 2026

While big-budget animations of recent years have been straining to incorporate social commentary and dramatic depth—though without quite achieving the same impact as "Coco"—the new "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" film, perhaps unwittingly, parodies the whole thing.

Suddenly, the age-old theme of fathers and sons appears here as well, exemplified by the monstrous, not-at-all-ninja-turtle Bowsers. And it even seems that the greatest and most fearsome villain of the Mushroom Kingdom might finally change, yielding to lofty dramatic ideals. But then the invisible god of Nintendo—the sun, in the form of Mario game creator Shigeru Miyamoto—proclaims from somewhere behind the gathering clouds: what’s the point of all this? Let’s just have fun. Some things must remain eternal: heroes, villains, their relentless conflict, the kidnapping and rescue of princesses. We’ve all known for a long time that they’re just pretend, that this is a game—even if this time it’s in the form of an animated film. But remember the pure, unclouded joy that games brought us in childhood. After all, that is their essence.

You can still marvel at the heroes’ agility as they narrowly avoid falling into chasms and fiery traps at the last moment. You can experience incredible adventures and whirlwind action alongside them in colorful worlds filled with strangely cute creatures. If the games once managed to captivate us with this, then the movie will remind us of that feeling. It’s packed with numerous references to other Nintendo games: from the first robot-shaped device the company used to try to break into the American game console market, to Mr. “Shadow” Game & Watch, symbolizing the dawn of the portable era, and the daring space mercenary Fox from the 16-bit era with its first hints of 3D; and, of course, the voracious but very cute little dinosaur Yoshi.

There isn’t much in the way of a thorough introduction to the characters; rather, they are brief sketches in the form of comics or children’s fairy tales. No one has time to waste on such things, after all—adventures await. But gamers will certainly appreciate how ingeniously certain gameplay elements are woven into the narrative. When Bowser’s security system displays Mario and Peach in 8-bit format, the “eternal children” who grew up on NES games—better known in Russia in the ’90s under the pirated alias Dendy—can only applaud. And when the princess eats a mushroom to look more imposing during negotiations? Yes, she has finally grown up enough to take action herself, rather than just waiting for her Mario.

Don’t listen to pretentious critics and remember what pure fun is. Not the mindless popcorn kind, where you have to turn a blind eye to logical inconsistencies and switch off your brain while watching yet another blockbuster trying to pass itself off as intense and dramatic. But the kind you had as a child. Watch this cartoon or just play some Nintendo games.