The reviews are out for the new Super Mario Bros. Movie and… it sounds like the film is anything but a level-up.

While we weren’t exactly expecting the follow-up to the animated video game adaptation to be the next Citizen Kane, it’s worth pointing out that the response to the first film was, at least, somewhat mixed, and it went on to gross more than a billion dollars at the global box office, making it the 20th biggest box office earner of all time at the time of writing.

Ahead of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s release at the end of this week, critics have been having their say, and they’ve certainly not been holding back, with a smattering of two- and one-star reviews (not to mention a zero-star take from one particularly unimpressed reviewer).

Here’s a selection of what’s been said so far about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie…

“Of course it’s intended for little kids, but it surely didn’t need to be such a visually dull screensaver of a movie, with even more of the cheesy, Euro-knockoff look of that first film. And, again, the paucity of funny lines is a real puzzle.”

“It’s a supremely vacuous anti-movie that climaxes with a sequence featuring full-screen Nintendo gameplay, as if to remind us of the levels of rancid commercial whoredom we’ve reached.

“The film is torturous to sit through and, for me, provoked periods of actual physical discomfort. I had to stab myself repeatedly in the hand with a pen to distract from the howling distress. It’s that bad, and that offensive.”

“It’s testament to just how bad the original Super Mario Bros Movie was that this sequel can be a noticeable improvement in every respect – animation, storytelling, humour, vocal performances, you name it – while still comfortably qualifying as absolute rubbish.”

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is frenetic in such an impersonal way that it feels like the entire film should be put on Ritalin […] The film treats its story as a threadbare adventure, a mere throwaway, because it’s so focused on those little pings of recognition for gamers. And that’s quite a comedown.”

“[The Super Mario Galaxy Movie] offers the adults a few pings of nostalgia, but otherwise it’s a humourless, hysterical trudge. […] The moments of fan service might keep the hardcore happy, but for everyone else over the age of five it’s just a succession of loud, bright things happening without any real point.”

“Relentlessly fast-paced and filled with hyperkinetic visuals, the sequel hits the sweet spot in terms of what its target audience wants, even if adult non-aficionados will find little of interest other than the starry vocal cast.”

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doubles down on its own blandness. There’s barely a plot here. Not a single memorable character. Not even another piano ditty for Jack Black to sing […] There is… one real, solid joke in this film? And it’s mostly just repeating a bit from Disney’s Zootopia.”

“A movie like this will probably make a lot of money, because it doesn’t rock the boat. But a boat that never rocks is a boat that never goes anywhere. That’s how boats work. They’re supposed to take you on a journey.

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t take you anywhere you haven’t been before, and it’s not as fun, it’s not as exciting, and it’s not as challenging as literally any of the games it’s based on. This is not an adaptation of the Super Mario Bros., it’s just a reminder that the franchise exists.”

“A masterpiece of game design that provides endless levels of unique planets to roam and explore, 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy is filled with moments of pure euphoric joy […] yet somehow on screen, it all registers as flat, imagination packaged into the most cleanly corporate and focus-group approved form possible.”

“While it’s likely that retro gamers won’t find anything here that wasn’t in the first movie – Yoshi and one or two others aside – it’s no doubt got enough for kids to enjoy, which will surely come as a relief for parents looking to entertain their offspring over the Easter holidays.”

“This is not a movie to be scrutinised, but to allow beleaguered elder millennial dads to sit their tots down for a precious two hours (if you count the trailers) and get some much-needed rest. It’s cute, and breezy, and rock-stupid, and will probably make a billion dollars again. Such is the world in which we live.”

“This film is even more of a manic roller coaster ride compared to the first movie, with so many gaming references packed into every scene, it’s hard to keep up. There are also a lot more power-ups used this time around, and that results in some fun and interesting combat for Mario and Luigi.”

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie arrives in cinemas on Friday.

Britain’s “special relationship” with the US has finally been put to bed by the Iran war, according to former UK government adviser.

Donald Trump has slammed Britain repeatedly over the last month over Keir Starmer’s reluctance to get involved in the Middle East conflict.

The president called British aircraft carriers “toys” and told the UK to “go get your own oil” from the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, as the Iranians continue to blockade the major shipping lane.

Trump’s secretary of defence Pete Hegseth also mocked the “big, bad Royal Navy” in a press conference this week.

Peter Ricketts, who was the British government’s first National Security adviser between 2010 and 2012, said the US’s criticism is proof there is not a particularly exceptional bond between the two countries.

He told Times Radio: “I think it should really put to bed finally, once and for all the idea of a special relationship.

“Honestly, we’ve never had a special relationship with Americans. You know, we’ve had a transactional relationship with them. that’s normally been quite a warm one.”

However, he did say that there is still plenty of “operational cooperation” between the UK and their American counterparts, despite this friction between leaders.

Ricketts said: “I do think, though, that the operational cooperation between the defence staffs and the intelligence staffs and the foreign policy people is still proceeding pretty much as it does, very professionally.

“If you look at the fact that the Americans are using British bases, that’s an example of cooperation. British planes are flying in the Gulf in defence of Gulf countries. So I think it’s like an iceberg at the top.

“Above the waves, it’s very, very choppy. Down below, out of sight, I think the operational cooperation goes on.”

Technology secretary Peter Kyle also insisted that Trump’s latest attacks had not embarrassed the government.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “You’re only humiliated if you allow yourself to be humiliated in the way that you act and respond.”

He insisted Starmer has acted with “dignity” throughout his time in office, taking a “cool, calm” approach towards the Trump administration.

Rosamund Pike got very honest about the making of Doom while reflecting on the early years of her career in a recent interview.

Last month, the Oscar nominee made an appearance on Elizabeth Day’s podcast How To Fail, where she was asked about some of the action movies she took part in early on in her screen career.

“It started well with James Bond,” she began, referring to her “promising start” in the movie Die Another Day, but admitted that things soon took a downward turn.

She recalled: “When I was making Pride & Prejudice, and I was having great fun in my cornfields, in my bonnet, I got a call to be in an action franchise.

“They were making a cinema version of the video game Doom, and I think in my bonnet, in my field of hay bales, [I thought] ‘yeah, I can do anything, I can jump on this hay bale in my crinoline, so I can certainly go and kill some zombies on Mars’.”

Rosamund pointed out that, initially, the film would have seen Ray Winstone in the lead role, who was subsequently replaced by Dwayne Johnson, who was still being credited as “The Rock” at this time in his own acting career.

“Suddenly I’m in this film with The Rock and I realise how utterly ill-equipped I am to be an action star,” she claimed.

“I was just out of my comfort zone, out of my league, out of my depth and the film was an absolute bomb,” Rosamund continued. “I probably could have ended my career. I mean, it was just probably one of the worst films ever made. It was a catastrophe, I think.

“As I say, I don’t read the reviews, but you get the sense like you are lucky to have survived that one. But then, it wasn’t career-ending for The Rock. Or me, as it turned out.”

However, Rosamund did come away from the project having learned an important lesson about doing her research before accepting roles.

“I didn’t know enough about video games,” she conceded. “I wasn’t the right girl to be in that.”

As Rosamund suggested, Doom was slammed by critics upon its release in 2005, currently holding a critical score of just 18% on the reviews site Rotten Tomatoes.

Doom was rebooted in 2019 with a new cast, although the movie ended up being released direct-to-video.

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It’s no secret sex education in schools was completely inadequate. While we have to give the UK government props for making efforts to change that in recent years, anyone over the age of 25 will know that the information we were taught about our bodies – especially for those with vulvas – barely scratched the surface of everything you need to know when entering adult life.

Inevitably, this meant we were taught the bare necessities when it came to periods – that is, the science behind the menstrual cycle and that the only options for controlling your flow are pads and tampons.

Obviously, period education is still not good enough, because one in seven (14%) girls in the UK didn’t know what to do when they start their periods, and over a quarter (26%) still don’t to this day.

The narrative dictating that periods should be private, and any material that comes into contact with your menstrual blood needs to be disposed of as if it’s toxic waste is incredibly harmful and entrenches shame in us from a young age.

It also goes without saying that presenting pads and tampons as the only option for period care is extremely costly, so much so that 11% of women in the UK struggled to afford period products in 2025, and 36% wear pads and tampons for longer than they should.

Well, we have news for you: the world has moved on from disposable period wear. Not only do we now have a much more comprehensive understanding of the plethora of ways people experience periods, but with that has come a whole new range of products that don’t involve having to run to Boots once a month.

Enter: period pants. Or, pants and swimwear created from super absorbent fabric.

If you’ve never used them before, period pants might sound a little intimidating. And understandably so, they go against everything we’ve been told about how you should treat periods.

Plus, they can seem like a big investment to splash out on all at once. It’s true that they’re more expensive than ‘regular’ period care up front, but we’d argue that they’re much more cost-effective over time because they can be reworn over and over.

They also have a ton of other benefits, including being:

• Time-effective: You can wear the same pair of undies all day, so you don’t have to keep nipping to the loo to check for leaks every four to six hours.
• Body-safe: Period pants remove the risk of wearing a pad or tampon for longer than is recommended.
• Comfortable: There’s nothing worse than feeling like your tampon is slipping out, there’s a string showing, or your pad is moving out of place. Period pants come in a range of colours, shapes, and sizes, so you can find a pair that you’ll forget you’re wearing and that goes with your outfit.
• Easy to wash: All you have to do is chuck them in the washing machine.
• Planet-friendly: Because you’re not disposing of plastic pads, period pants are much better for the planet.
• Customisable: Just like regular pads and tampons, period pants come in a range of absorbencies, so there’s always an option that matches your flow.

Having tested a wide selection of period pants, I can safely say there are good and bad ones. For some reason, the sizing is often extremely off – which I find with underwear in general, but especially period pants.

I’m between a UK size 10 and size 12, and many a time I’ve ended up having to go up to a size 14 in period pants – and it’s not (just) because I’m crazy bloated during my period. There are a few brands that claim to make ‘one size fits all’ pants, which I’m wary of, although there are a few that manage to do it successfully.

Just as when you’re buying any kind of underwear, you’ll want to look out for a few key things when shopping for period pants, such as:

• Sizing: As mentioned, I find period pants can come up small. Size up to be on the safe side.
• ‘Nude’: Period pants are still relatively new to the market and I’m yet to find a brand that has a diverse range of ‘skin’ tones. Challenging any period pant brand founders reading this to do better!
• No silver: In 2023, Which? found that some brands used silver to prevent odours in their period pants. However, the compound has been found to disturb the vaginal microbiome, so look out for brands that don’t include silver (I’ve only included these in my round-up below).

As a staunch tampon and pad hater, I can’t stand having to remember to put period care in every bag I leave the house with. Not to mention having to think about being near a toilet at every second of the day, whether you’re at a festival, on a night out, at work, or on the beach.

While I’ve tested out a whole range of period care, including cups, disks, and sponges, period pants are (in my opinion) the best, not least because they’re as close as I can get to free-bleeding without the risk of staining all my clothes.

Over the last year I’ve been testing all kinds of period pants and swimwear in a range of styles from lots of different brands, to find the best ones.

Here’s a glimpse into what’s in my current period pant rotation.

If you’re looking for period pants that looks nice (in case you feel like showing your underwear to anyone while you’re on the menses), Modibodi is the brand for you. It even has a ‘sensual’ category!

My overall favourite pair of undies, though, is the Boux Avenue option – they’re comfortable, don’t dig in, and they hold a surprising amount of blood.

This sounds more horrific than it actually is, trust me. Once you’re done wearing your pants, this is how to wash them:

1. Give them a rinse with cold water so they don’t smell. You can do this in the sink, shower, or bath. Your call!
2. When you’re ready to wash them, pop them in the washing machine on a delicate wash, or under 30 degrees.
3. Lay them out flat to air dry, and adjust the internal gusset (if there is one) once you’re ready to put them away.

Keir Starmer has been urged not to send King Charles to the US for a state visit after Donald Trump’s “bullying”.

The monarch will head stateside at the end of April for a pre-planned trip despite the president’s repeated attacks on the UK.

Hours before the state visit was confirmed, Trump slammed his allies, telling the UK to “go get your own oil” from the Strait of Hormuz after Britain refused to join the Iran war.

He’s previously called British aircraft carriers “toys” and accused the UK of seeking to “join wars after we’ve already won”.

There are some hopes that the King will be able to repair the strained relationship by appealing to Trump’s enthusiasm for the Royal Family.

But speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, broadcaster David Dimbleby claimed: “It’s a very bad political moment to send him the present of the King, with all the panoply that involves.

“A state banquet? While he’s bombing the hell out of Iran and people are dying all over the Middle East?”

Dimbleby added: “It would have been appropriate to say to the King through the usual channels, look, this is probably not quite the right moment for the King to come here. Let’s postpone it.

“Trump says the war’s over, but we know it’s not over, let’s postpone it until things quieten down.”

He said Trump is a “narcissist” who has been “bullying” Britain, having downplayed the UK’s role in Afghanistan earlier this year, too.

“The King is head of the armed forces and I think a rebuke of some kind is necessary,” Dimbleby said.

He added: “I think it’s a misuse of the King, who has to do what he is told by the government, but I think it’s giving Trump more than he deserves.”

He also claimed that the UK’s relationship with the US is “not one of mutual affection” but a deal between two countries.

But former national security adviser, Peter Ricketts, told Times Radio that it could be a “good thing” for the international relationship.

Ricketts said: “Well, the King is an enormous professional who spent all his life on difficult missions. And my goodness, this will be a difficult mission. And he does have a tremendous patch with people. Trump seems to like him.

“So whether it was not a good idea to plan this visit at all, it’s going ahead now. And yes, I think in being there with Trump in the same room, with all his experience and advice and the and the affection that Trump seems to have for the Royal Family.

“I mean, actually, that can only be a good thing. Although, you know, I do think it’s very hard luck on the King to have to undertake this very perilous mission right now, hopefully with the war, no, not actually a hot war, but with relations very rocky at the political level.

“It’s perhaps a moment for some, some quiet royal diplomacy.”