ultimately i enjoy the movie. i am too much of a Mario fan and have significant nostalgia in particularly towards their 3D games that it’s basically impossible for me to dislike the movie

Jingle some reference and nostalgia and a smile will results.

however it is a disappointing film and probably big disconnect between emotions and brain that i can’t really defend the movie from criticism that it is bad.

Yeah i agree regarding Peach and Rosalina have little emotional weight. you would think them reuniting would give some scenes of them bonding and getting to know each other

Fox had potential to be critical to Mario’s arc as a sense of doubt and low self esteem with Princess Peach. Fox cocky demeanor ve Mario self doubt and Mario jealous with his confidence around Peach. they hint this and then faked out
you could have the Mario being anxious about this and scared that Peach would chose Fox over Mario and then Mario learning Fox used the cockiness as a shield to his insecurity (noting Fox anxiety when they crashed on the planet and unable to fix the ship) and then learning that Peach values genuineness over bravado.

i do think you could tie Bowser betrayal with Mario insecurity. mario question his own judgement and blame himself for letting Bowser escape and as a result believe he failed Peach and isn’t good enough for her. This could lead to crisis of confidence, Luigi changing from joking making fun of Mario insecurity of Peach at the beginning of the movie to a more supportive stance realising how effected Mario is. the arc resolves with Mario compassion that led to being exploitrd by Bowser is part of the reason why Peach likes Mario in the firet place and hence to accept the naivety as part and parcel of his strength and if Mario was able to redeem Bowser Junior it shows that someone weakness in one context can be a strength in another context

i wished that Dry Bowser became a mindless monster including attacking Bowser Junior forcing Mario and Bowser Junior to join forces and Mario reparenting him (similar to Bowser fury), restore Bowser to his normal state and hence redeeming Bowser Junior and perhaps Bowser himself (ie Bowser heing thankful of going from Dry Bowser to back to his original body when mario coild have killed him)

this then ties two Mario dramatic arc together, his insecurity regarding Peach and the dilemma of compassion and forgiveness vs naivety and being exploited.