The first trailer for Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is here and it’s really made us wonder why Chris Pratt was cast as Mario…
Anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s played Super Mario.
It was (and still is) an iconic game series and whether you’re a fan of the OG game, where you – as Mario – had to jump on top of Goombas, collect coins and rescue Princess Peach, or the Mario Kart driving game, you’re undoubtedly excited about Illumination’s upcoming film, Super Mario Bros.: The Movie.
And good news Mario fans, the first trailer for the film just dropped. But sadly, there’s also bad news: Chris Pratt was definitely not the right choice to voice Mario.
We mean no disrespect to Pratt but Mario has a very distinct voice that fans have come to love and the way Pratt performs Mario’s one line in the trailer, “Mushroom Kingdom, here we come,” leaves something to be desired.
WATCH: The official trailer for ‘Super Mario Bros.: The Movie’…
Animated films casting A-list actors to voice the characters is nothing new and Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is no different. Alongside Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Rogen voice various characters in the Super Mario Bros. film.
But based on the trailer, at least Black and Key (who voice Bowser and Toad respectively) have made considerable efforts to emulate the original Bowser and Toad voices from the games whereas Pratt hasn’t.
When it was first announced that Pratt would voice Mario in Super Mario Bros.: The Movie, fans were disappointed because they were confident that he wouldn’t be able to do the character justice; he’s an actor, not a voice actor. But Illumination founder and CEO, Chris Meledandri defended Pratt and told Deadline back in June:
“When people hear Chris Pratt’s performance, the criticism will evaporate…”
Well, we’ve heard him perform one line as Mario and we’re not impressed. Perhaps it’s time that animated films go back to casting voice actors rather than A-listers; especially when it’s a film adaption or reboot of something as iconic as Super Mario…
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