"I thought this film wouldn't be judged as harshly as the previous one, but it actually received even harsher reviews."
That's Shigeru Miyamoto, speaking to Japanese publication Famitsu ahead of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's Japanese release on April 24. The candid admission is notable because Miyamoto was deeply involved in the film's production, just as he was with The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023. The idea that Nintendo's most recognizable creative figure was caught off guard by the critical response says a lot about the disconnect between how the film was made and how critics ultimately received it.
What the numbers actually say
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is, by any commercial measure, a success. The film has surpassed $755 million globally and sits as the highest-grossing film of 2026 so far. Audiences have responded warmly, with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 89 percent.
Critics, though, have been far less enthusiastic. The film sits at 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Eurogamer's own review awarded two stars, with critic Christian Donlan writing: "There's imagination and enthusiasm here, but little else beneath the spectacle."
For context, The Super Mario Bros. Movie landed at 59 percent from critics with a 95 percent audience score. Galaxy has actually widened that critic-audience gap rather than closed it.
How the first film shaped the second
Miyamoto's Famitsu interview offers a window into why that gap might exist. He described spending nearly six years working alongside writer Matthew Vogel to get The Super Mario Bros. Movie right, going through multiple rounds of rejected plot outlines before landing on something that worked. The process was strict, iterative, and clearly stressful.
The Galaxy film was handled differently. Because the first film had already introduced audiences to the world of Mario, Miyamoto said the team felt free to take "a more relaxed approach." The goal was simply to let viewers enjoy the film even if they were brand new to the franchise. That looser creative philosophy might explain what critics are picking up on.
Here's the thing: the first film's tighter development process produced something that, while not beloved by critics, at least felt purposeful. Galaxy sounds like a film that was made with the assumption the hard work had already been done.
Eurogamer notes that multiple translations of Miyamoto's Famitsu quote are circulating. Their version was handled independently through a Japanese contact, while a secondary quote in the same piece was translated via DeepL.
The Fox McCloud wrinkle
Miyamoto also addressed the film's most talked-about cameo: Fox McCloud from the Star Fox series, voiced by Glen Powell of Top Gun fame. Nintendo typically keeps its brands strictly separated in games (with Super Smash Bros. being the obvious exception), but Miyamoto suggested that the move to film opens up room to relax those rules.
That single creative decision has done more for Star Fox speculation than any official announcement. Rumors are currently circulating that a Switch 2 Star Fox game will be revealed before the end of April, with seven days left in the month as of today. Whether the Galaxy Movie cameo was a deliberate setup for that announcement or a happy coincidence isn't confirmed, but the timing is hard to ignore.
The critic-audience split isn't new, but it's getting wider
Miyamoto's surprise at the reviews reflects a broader tension in how Nintendo approaches storytelling outside of games. His own admission that the first Super Mario Bros. Movie "ended up following the same flow as the game" despite his intentions to avoid that is telling. These films are clearly being made with audience enjoyment as the primary metric, not critical acclaim.
The question is whether that's a sustainable approach. The Super Mario Bros. Movie worked partly because it was the first time many viewers had seen that world on screen. Galaxy doesn't have that novelty. What most players and audiences miss is that critical goodwill, while not directly tied to box office performance, tends to matter more for a franchise's long-term cinematic ambitions.
For now, the Galaxy Movie is a financial win and a critical stumble. Miyamoto knows it, and he's said so publicly. Keep an eye on how Nintendo responds creatively if a third film moves forward, and check out our latest reviews for more coverage of gaming's biggest cultural moments.
The Star Fox Switch 2 rumor is the next thread worth pulling. If an announcement lands before May, the Galaxy Movie will look less like a standalone sequel and more like the opening move in a much bigger plan. For all the latest on that story and more, browse our gaming news guides as details develop.
