By: Nick Gambino
When Chris Pratt was cast as the voice of the lovable Italian, and ridiculously named, Mario Mario, there was a faction of the internet that kicked and screamed. Nobody knows how big these factions are, but I can tell you it was a lot smaller than the mob that turned out for ugly, human-teeth Sonic a few years back.
That said, when the new The Super Mario Bros. Movie (yes, that’s its full name) trailer dropped last week, teasing us with the first images from the movie and our first taste of Chris Pratt’s voicework, people were impressed.
I think fans were expecting the Parks and Recreation star to sound like Star-Lord, aka himself. As the trailer illustrates, this was never the intention. I mean, it’s unmistakably Pratt, but he’s got this charming New York accent he’s doing. While we only hear him utter a couple lines of dialogue, it works. We’ll have to wait and see if it sustains for the whole movie.
Visually, the movie is a giant leap forward from the 1993 Super Mario Bros. live-action flick starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. That’s generally regarded as one of the worst video game adaptations ever made. I wouldn’t personally go that far, but it certainly doesn’t hold up as well as it should.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer heavily features the King of the Koopas, Bowser, as he invades an ice kingdom and, after wiping out his enemies (snowball-wielding penguins), steals a power-up star. This leads us into our first glimpse of the heroic New York plumber tumbling into the Mushroom Kingdom via his favorite mode of transport – pipes. So it’s a lot like the game.
Mario meets Toad who will act as his tour guide in this strange new world as they head off to Princess Peach’s castle in the distance. And that’s about it. There wasn’t much more divulged in the teaser trailer about the story. We’re not sure how Luigi eventually joins his brother to take on Bowser, but we’ll get a better idea when the extended trailer drops.
In addition to Chris Pratt, The Super Mario Bros. Movie stars Charlie Day (Luigi), Anya-Taylor Joy (Princess Peach), Keegan Michael-Key (Toad), Jack Black (Bowser), Seth Rogen (Donkey Kong) and a lot more.
