Super Mario movie fans are being won over by foreign language dubs, not Chris Pratt
Mario sounds just like Star-Lord, which is the problem
Illumination's Super Mario Movie got its first trailer yesterday and a lot of people had plenty to say about the film, as well as actor Chris Pratt's performance as Mario.
In case you missed it, yesterday the first trailer for the Super Mario Movie debuted at New York Comic Con and in it we got our first glimpse of Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Chris Pratt as Mario, and even a very brief look as Charlie Day as Luigi.
As you'd expect, a lot of people have been anticipating this first look at Pratt as the iconic Nintendo character, with many wondering if the American actor would be putting on an Italian accent or try to sound vaguely like the video game character at all. As we now know, Mario kind of just sounds like how Pratt does in a lot of his other movies. But to be fair, we only got a few lines of dialogue from Mario in the trailer, so we haven't got the full picture just yet.
That isn't to say that fans don't already have opinions though, as can be clearly seen on the likes of Twitter. The general consensus seems to be that Pratt isn't diabolical as Mario, but many feel they'd prefer more of a Mario-sounding performance from Pratt. A lot of people have also pointed out that the non-English dubs of the trailer seem to fit Mario's character better - with the French, Italian, and Brazilian dubs getting most of the praise.
I don't wanna say Chris Pratt isn't trying, but it does say a lot when the voice actors for the French and Brazilian localization of the Super Mario Bros Movie are putting an effort to sound alike Mario compared to Pratt's voice performance.October 7, 2022
Holy crap the French dub Mario in the Super Mario Movie trailer is incredible pic.twitter.com/wNEtj30Y6aOctober 6, 2022
Thinking the Italian version might honestly be the way to go for the Mario movie, subs not dubs https://t.co/OaGFRAgCaZOctober 6, 2022
There's also been a lot of pushback when it comes to the recasting of Mario, especially since voice actor Charles Martinet has provided the voice for Nintendo's plumber protagonist for the last 30 years.
In fact, shortly after the trailer debuted, fellow voice actor Tara Strong took to Twitter and said: "It should be Charles." Before shortly following up with another tweet that reads: "Voice actors: I’m gonna put my heart & soul in this for at least 20 years, help sell billions in merch, make the studios millions of dollars & make generations around the world happy. Hollywood: We don’t care."
It should be Charles. pic.twitter.com/IeWoyAAHKjOctober 6, 2022
As expected, there was also a lot of hilarious reactions to the Super Mario Movie - a few of which we've included below. The majority of fans though were super impressed with Jack Black's performance as the Koopa King Bowser and wished that we could see more of Charlie Day's performance as Luigi, who only briefly appeared right at the end of the trailer. We're still yet to hear actor Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach or Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong but there's still plenty of time before the film officially releases on April 7, 2023.
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Chris Pratt’s voice is to the Super Mario Bros. Movie what Sonic’s human teeth were to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie#SuperMarioBrosMovie #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/OYY5nSEGnZOctober 7, 2022
me watching the trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) pic.twitter.com/Q8LJpyekQxOctober 6, 2022
The big twist of The Super Mario Bros Movie is gonna be when Mario joins Bowser to murder all the penguins pic.twitter.com/PyGSiFua0UOctober 6, 2022
Just can't wait to see more of the upcoming Mario movie? Find out what happened when Jack Black made a surprise appearance at NYCC dressed as Bowser.
After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.