Super Mario Bros Movie

[Master Chief]

Jack Black's voice is great!

[KiramidHead]

So the trailer makes it easier for me to pimp my new episode, on an early Super Mario Bros movie script.

[xShadowFoxX]

Well, now I'm convinced the movie is going to be good if not great.. with Chris Pratt dragging it down.. I don't know. He just sounds so bored and dry. He's bringing a low energy performance to something that should be more frenetic.

[Cougerboy]

Well, now I'm convinced the movie is going to be good if not great.. with Chris Pratt dragging it down.. I don't know. He just sounds so bored and dry. He's bringing a low energy performance to something that should be more frenetic.

Kinda reminded me of the "Ugly Sonic" situation with the Sonic movies. Not quite the same as Pratt's voice over situation with Mario, but there are similarities. When Paramount released that first trailer for the original Sonic movie, fans were in an uproar over the hideous design of the movie version of Sonic. Not only did it look too different from the Sega video game design, many commented the movie version made Sonic downright creepy.

To their credit, the producers of the movie listened to the fan feedback, delayed the movie to redesign Sonic to look closer to the iconic video game version. That's almost unheard of in Hollywood. And the producers were rewarded when the movies enjoyed decent box office returns.

Now in Pratt's case with Mario...some fans are also in an outcry over his voice not sounding what they think  Mario should sound like. But the key difference with the Sonic situation is that 1) Mario's design looks pretty authentic to the video game version and 2) Pratt's voice notwithstanding, the rest of the movie looks pretty good so far.

Which means...Pratt's voice controversy likely won't have the same impact as the Ugly Sonic saga.

[xShadowFoxX]

Which means...Pratt's voice controversy likely won't have the same impact as the Ugly Sonic saga.

I agree completely. While I do think Pratt's voice will be the worst thing in the film, I do think the rest of film, based on the trailer,looks pretty good and the performances are there, and I'm totally thinking Jack Black's Bowser will carry the film.

But there's also a possible what if, such as what if Pratt's voice in the movie sounds much better than in the trailer. That could happen.

[Cougerboy]

Which means...Pratt's voice controversy likely won't have the same impact as the Ugly Sonic saga.

But there's also a possible what if, such as what if Pratt's voice in the movie sounds much better than in the trailer. That could happen.

That's certainly possible. We only have small sampling of his voice in the trailer. His performance in the whole movie could be a lot better than we expected.  Personally, Pratt's voice isn't really a deal-breaker for me.

Contrary to what some hardcore Nintendo gamers think, there has never been one particular Mario "voice". And even if the movie gets the voice "right", it could still stink if the rest of the movie doesn't hold up. That is what truly matters in the end, whether the whole movie is good. After all, video game based movies in general don't have such a great track record in critical reception, its only with recent hits like Detective Pikachu and the Sonic movies that have broken this trend of horrible video game movies. That is what we should pay attention to. Wheher Mario can persist in countering the "bad video game movie" stigma.

[KiramidHead]

I think Pratt sounds fine, not great, but fine. And weird everyone is dog piling on Pratt when Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't sound like she's putting much more effort into the voice acting.

[Cougerboy]

I think Pratt sounds fine, not great, but fine. And weird everyone is dog piling on Pratt when Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't sound like she's putting much more effort into the voice acting.

I think an even bigger issue than the voice actor casting would be Mario's personality...or lack thereof.

In the games, Mario doesn't really have much of personality besides being...maybe cheerful. Thats fine in an interactive game when Mario is simply the avatar of the player.

But in a narrative medium like a movie, the central character needs a certain personality for the audience to root around. How the writers tackle that is a key challenge. What personality to give Mario that will work for the story without alienating the gamers is the question.

Contrast that with Sonic, his very appeal when he exploded in popularity back in the early 90s was because he had an "attitude", he was cool, impulsive and quick-witted. That made the writers' job easier in the Sonic movies.

[ace3g]

[Cougerboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Hjq0RxiD0

That looks absolutely incredible. It captures the game feel very well. And the colors are so vivid.

Also another new clip:

[ace3g]

https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/1619795800686739456

[ace3g]

[Kradan]

Wait, Donkey Kong is also in this ?

[kwisatz]

Wait, Donkey Kong is also in this ?

Looks like he got the Hulk part

[ace3g]