I took my 10-year-old son to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie today, and I'll cut right to it — if you grew up with a Nintendo controller in your hand, you owe it to yourself to see this on the big screen.

The sequel brings back Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and the whole gang feels comfortable in these roles now. The real newcomers are what make this one special. Brie Larson joins as Rosalina, who turns out to be Peach's older sister — an interesting story choice. Benny Safdie voices Bowser Jr., the son of Bowser, who breaks his father free and unleashes their combined fury across the cosmos. And then there's Glen Powell as Fox McCloud — voiced to perfection, which makes sense given Powell previously played a flyboy in Top Gun: Maverick.

Seeing Star Fox on the big screen was genuinely one of the coolest moments in the theater. It also has me hopeful that a new Star Fox game might finally be in the pipeline. That said, I'm not sure a standalone Star Fox film would land. Fox McCloud is a franchise icon for Nintendo fans, but I don't think the general public knows him the way they know Mario. A limited-run streaming series — eight episodes or so — would honestly be the better fit to build that audience properly.

The Easter eggs and game references are where this movie truly shines as a fan experience. The film pulls from an impressively wide range of the Mario catalog, from the tropical vibes of Sunshine to the creative chaos of Mario Maker. And yes, fellow children of the '80s — Wart and Birdo show up, with Luis Guzmán voicing Wart, meaning Super Mario Bros. 2 finally gets its big-screen moment. My personal favorite deep cut? R.O.B. the robot, voiced by story supervisor Ed Skudder, working as a staffer in the Gateway Galaxy. Painfully slow, delightfully robotic, and a perfect nod for any Xennial in the audience who remembers that plastic peripheral sitting next to the NES.

And while we're talking cameos — don't blink during the spaceport scene. Right in the hangar where Fox McCloud preps his ship, a small rocket descends on the launch pad and out spills a bunch of colorful Pikmin — those adorable little plant creatures from one of Nintendo's most beloved strategy series. They don't really contribute anything to the story, but they don't need to — it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that had me grinning ear to ear. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has practically made it his personal mission to insert Pikmin into whatever projects he can, and honestly? Keep them coming.

Donald Glover voices Yoshi — and yes, he mainly just says "Yoshi," but it works.

Is it better than the first movie? Honestly, no. Critics have noted the sequel leans heavily into fan service and game references, sometimes at the expense of plot and character development — and that's a fair critique. The story doesn't hit quite as cleanly as the original. But for Nintendo fans, the sheer density of callbacks and cameos more than compensates.

The film is well on its way toward the billion-dollar mark at the box office, and it's easy to see why when you watch families light up in the theater.

One last thing — stay in your seats. There are two post-credits scenes: a mid-credits scene where Fox drops the Bowsers off at a far-off prison, where Lumalee torments them with nihilistic one-liners, and a post-credits scene teasing the arrival of Princess Daisy.

Bottom line: Not quite the leap the first film was, but an absolute blast for any Nintendo fan, young or old. Go enjoy it on the big screen while you can.

7.5/10