It’s not exactly unheard of that critics and audiences will have differing opinions on a particular movie, and it’s happened plenty of times already with 2026 film releases. I totally get it when polarizing comedies like Scary Movie divide them, or when audiences laugh through Kevin Hart’s “dumb” new comedy despite reviews being a big “yikes.” What’s more surprising is when such a disparity comes with one of the year’s biggest blockbusters. Yep, I’m talking about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which is new to streaming this week on Peacock.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was the first this year to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. That is a clear indication that moviegoers didn’t care what critics had to say about it, because the ratings from the two groups were not even in the same star system. Currently, Rotten Tomatoes has the new Mario movie at 42% for critics but a whopping 87% for the audience.
Why is there such a big gap? CinemaBlend’s review of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie called it out for a lack of character development. Other critics seem to agree, like Kyle Wolfe of Pop Culture Leftovers, who said it “mistakes constant stimulation for storytelling,” while The Movie Buff’s Hector A. Gonzalez said it felt “as if we are doomscrolling for ninety minutes straight.”
I can see where they’re coming from. I didn't get to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in theaters but jumped at the chance to stream it last night with my Peacock subscription. I loved the animation, the video game sound effects and all of the quirky character moments, but I struggled to find much of a cohesive story.
The younger members of my family didn’t seem to have as much of an issue, either because they are all more familiar with the games than I am, and/or because — to repeat something a colleague said — the movie kind of felt like a bunch of YouTube Shorts strung together.
I think while critics are doing their job by breaking down each element of what makes a movie “good,” most people aren’t exactly going to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie looking for high cinema. The audience comments had people saying it took them back to their youth and was an “awesome tribute to the games.” A lot of positive feedback came from people just saying their kids enjoyed it, with no mention of whether or not it satisfied the adults in the group.
Regardless of why audiences scored the Illumination/Universal/Nintendo movie so high, there’s no arguing that it’s one of the year’s biggest releases. In fact, with the $1.011 billion it earned in global ticket sales, it’s third on the list of highest-grossing films of 2026 (so far), falling behind only Toy Story 5 ($1.029 billion) and Michael ($1.016 billion).
If you skipped The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in theaters for whatever reason, or if you were one of those families rating it 5 stars online, now you have the chance to watch it (or rewatch it) from the comfort of your own living room on Peacock. Let’s-a go!
