"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" Pre-Release News and Discussion Thread

[DogBoneController]

Giving how it’s illumination and how their movies feel like they’re made for younger kids and when they try to do humor for older audiences it feels like it was written by a guy who’s stuck in 2005.

my expectations are a little low

Given that we have a live-action movie as a reference, the bar's so low there's nowhere to go but up.

 

[Frontier]

Come on now, did anyone really think that the studio wasn't going to cast celebrities to voice the characters in the movie? Yeah, Charles Martinet has been voicing Mario and Luigi for years, but outside of the gaming community, no one knows who he is. Known celebrities bring in people who otherwise wouldn't go to see the film and then the studio can print their names at the top of the movie's poster. I'm not saying that this is right or that I agree with this practice, but that's Hollywood for you.

Mind you, the very idea of Jack Black voicing Bowser is just plain bizarre to me. But as long as the characters look and feel like their video game selves, that can be overlooked. If the audience is able to think of the character as Luigi and not Charlie Day, then the writers have done a decent job.



I think that's a good idea.

I don't think there's ever been conclusive evidence that celebrities or bigger names bring in more people into the theaters. Execs just assume that is the case.

 

[Goldstar!]

If I had to cast a celebrity, I would've casted WWE wrestler Kurt Angle.

He would've been perfect.

I can see that.

Keegan Michael Key as Toad? I like Keegan Michael Key, but John Stocker will always be the voice of Toad to me.

 

[Goldstar!]

I don't think there's ever been conclusive evidence that celebrities or bigger names bring in more people into the theaters. Execs just assume that is the case.

Like I said, that's how Hollywood executives think. I don't know if that belief is accurate or not.

 

[Pooky]

Hard not to feel now this will be Illumination's Mario movie with the emphasis on the former rather than the later, I'll reserve a little judgement until a teaser comes out but my hopes are not high.

Advantage; Sonic.

 

[DogBoneController]

IMO Paul Dooley (Sarge from Cars) would've made far more sense as Cranky Kong than the dude who did Obama impersonations on SNL.

That being said, I'm curious as to how much of a role Martinet had in casting Pratt. You'd think the dude who's voice is so widely recognized around the world would have a big say in the process.

 

[Goldstar!]

I know that right now fans are upset that Charles Martinet wasn't cast as the voices of Mario and Luigi, but I knew from the get-go that wasn't going to happen. Charles Martinet is good, but he's not an actor, and video games and movies are completely different mediums. Movie scripts are much more story focused and require a lot more dialogue. Mr. Martinet's voice is great for cut scenes and between level cinemas, but a movie script will require for him to say a lot more than just "Mama Mia!", "Here we go!", "Oh no!" and "I'm number one!", and I imagine hearing that voice would start to become grating for an hour and a half. I don't know if Mr. Martinet could do the Mario and Luigi voices for 90 minutes worth of dialogue.

I still don't get why the producers went with Chris Pratt of all people, though.

 

[Pooky]

Though hardly ideal, I could see Pratt as Luigi a *little* easier than I can see him as Mario.

 

[DogBoneController]

I still don't get why the producers went with Chris Pratt of all people, though.

Perhaps Miyamoto knows something we don't?

 

[JMTV]

I know that a lot of people are blowing their friggin minds out about Chris Pratt being Mario in the 2022 animated film, but honestly I'm not surprised.

I mean, this is Hollywood were talking about, do we really expect them to care about their fans? No. All they care about is the mula. That's all. I'm not saying what their doing is right, but I'm just saying that it ain't personal, that just the nature of business.

In my opinion, I don't hate the casting choices. I thought it was pretty interesting. I can see Jack Black working as Bowser since he does have that edge and rough in his voice. Who knows? Maybe it can pull off like Sonic 2020 and MLP Generation 5, but that's going to depends on the script and the voice directing.

Will I watch it? Probably not. Not because of Illumination(I don't hate them, but I'm not a fan of them either), it just that I'm not a Mario fan. I do respect Mario, but I prefer Sonic much better. We'll see on what Nintendo and Illumination can do with the movie, but only thing that can succeed was be so much better than the 90's live action Mario movie, and that sets a pretty low bar.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I'm going to be honest, the only casting I'm divided on is Pratt as Mario and I don't think his casting will be on par with Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu and Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog as both were good choices IMO.

 

[Pooky]

I can't speak for everyone, but I wouldn't say I was surprised so much as disappointed. Of course we all know what's been going on with animated films for decades, and Illumination films in particular. I just had some hope that, based on Nintendo's involvement and Miyamoto's in particular, that this would skew closer to the charm of the games than generic Hollywood product.

And until the first teaser comes out I still have some hope for that. If having Chris Pratt voice Mario is a compromise for something that still has more of that is more "Mario" than something as bland and forgettable as Illumination's Grinch I'll take it. But reading stuff like "Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong" is a real test of faith.

I do wonder if this kind of casting is a bit of a relic of an earlier time though. In 1992 Robin Williams absolutely would bring adults to Aladdin, in 2004 it seemed audiences might line up for Will Smith in pretty much anything even if he was a fish, but do people really line up for Chris Pratt or are they there for MCU and the dinosaurs? In these IP-driven times I think a Mario movie won't do any worse if the budget isn't allocated to ensuring Cranky Kong has a sufficiently famous voice actor. Part of me wonders if the generally negative reaction to this cast might get the industry to reconsider the importance of this practice, but it's probably too entrenched in the process now to make a difference.

 

[DogBoneController]

I'm going to be honest, the only casting I'm divided on is Pratt as Mario and I don't think his casting will be on par with Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu and Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog as both were good choices IMO.

Reynolds' casting was also divisive when it was first announced; people only warmed up to it because he was just red hot from Deadpool 2.

Schwartz still elicited anger from hardcore Sonic fans over the fact that he wasn't Roger Craig Smith.

 

[Frontier]

Reynolds' casting was also divisive when it was first announced; people only warmed up to it because he was just red hot from Deadpool 2.

Schwartz still elicited anger from hardcore Sonic fans over the fact that he wasn't Roger Craig Smith.

Yeah, I mean, Schwartz did a great job as Sonic and that interpretation but I think with the same direction Roger Craig Smith could've pulled it off and there was no reason for him not to be the voice of Sonic in the movie outside of Schwartz being more of a live-action name (and I acknowledge he also has VO experience and gushed about RCG after getting the job).

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Reynolds' casting was also divisive when it was first announced; people only warmed up to it because he was just red hot from Deadpool 2.

Yeah that didn't really win over any Pokemon fans at all because whether or not you're a Deadpool fan, the idea of Reynolds voicing a variation of Pikachu just seemed so out there no one was really onboard with it until people saw the concept art and trailer and how he was portraying the character that people got more into the idea.

Schwartz still elicited anger from hardcore Sonic fans over the fact that he wasn't Roger Craig Smith.

Schwartz didn't really get much bad buzz because a lot of the focus of people's ire towards the Sonic movie was on how Sonic looked and that awful first trailer and vibe from the movie that the voice didn't honestly bother many people. Especially since it's not like Sonic's had one consistent voice even in the games throughout his career.

And quite honestly neither has Mario. Yeah NOW it's Charles Martinet (and granted has been for years as most earlier titles without voice clips with the games people generally don't count) but as others have noted as Mario games aren't your Grand Theft Auto or Far Cry where there are intense narratives that require top notch voice talent, he wasn't really hired to read off pages of pages of script because yeah this won't be a Mario movie where he's only going to say catchphrases or the occasional line of dialogue. He's going to be chatty and quite honestly we've had much odder fits for Mario in the past. Whether or not you're a fan of Captain Lou Albano's take from the original cartoons that was a pretty clear "we're getting this guy because he is well known even if he is a really out there pick for Mario when you think about it." And need we forget in 1993 when Bob Hoskins played Mario. So I don't think Chris Pratt is that out there a pick. Maybe if you're just familiar with him as Starlord from the Guardians of the Galaxy/MCU movies but in case you don't remember his other big 2014 was Emmett from the Lego Movie. And quite honestly if you just give Emmett a deeper voice with Italian accent I can see that sort of energy from Mario who is suppose to be a happy go lucky generally just good natured guy. That's the role Pratt can play well in voice acting and though not my first pick I really can see why he was chosen for the role.

To be frank a lot of the people gotten that everyone's freaking over being in this role I don't get. Charlie Day is made to play someone like Luigi; Jack Black has the maniac energy and ego for someone like Bowser; Since they probably aren't going to make Donkey Kong the total lunk head he is in his cartoons I can see Seth Rogen easily fitting that character's simplicity. And yeah Keegan Michael Key I'm for as Toad... I just hope Key isn't "Playing WIth Fire" annoying in this movie just to get into Toad's "character". Honestly the only one I'm not sold on is Anya Taylor Joy because... quite honestly I haven't seen her in a really upbeat or sweet heart or generally good natured role that you would expect from someone whose playing Princess Peach. In fact I mostly know Anya Taylor Joy from really dark stuff like Split or even her playing the total jerk from New Mutants. I guess she was the main star of Playmobile but... seriously who would cast the main star of Playmobile the movie in anything potentially related let alone with the main star of the lego movie? That's the odd casting out to me but I think the rest works and if they saw something in her I can give that the benefit of the doubt.

I think I'm also not as annoyed as most of you because I found out about the casting actually watching the Nintendo direct a few days back where Shigeru himself was talking about the movie. And it's clear he and his team were given freedom by Illumination to do what they want so this isn't a case of Illmunation just running rampant on a franchise to make it in their style. And honestly I hope this become what Peanuts was for Blue Sky; an example of an animation studio giving freedom to the right team to bring a beloved icon to the big screen in a really great way even if most of the rest of their movies are nowhere near as good.

 

[DogBoneController]

I'm willing to bet that Mario and Luigi will have more Brooklynite accents like they do in the live action movie and the DiC cartoons, as opposed to the stereotypical Italian accents they're now associated with (guessing Universal wants to be more PC?).

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Reynolds' casting was also divisive when it was first announced; people only warmed up to it because he was just red hot from Deadpool 2.

That was because fans wanted Danny DeVito to voice Detective Pikachu.

Schwartz still elicited anger from hardcore Sonic fans over the fact that he wasn't Roger Craig Smith.

Well, true.

 

[DogBoneController]

John Leguizamo (Luigi in the live-action movie) is not too pleased with the cast.

(Anya Taylor-Joy is part-Latino, FWIW.)

 

[ShadowBlinky]

John Leguizamo (Luigi in the live-action movie) is not too pleased with the cast.

(Anya Taylor-Joy is part-Latino, FWIW.)

Sorry John, your movie is still a train wreck and will always be no matter what you say.

 

[DogBoneController]

With the announcement of a Donkey Kong expansion at Universal Japan's Super Nintendo World (odd, considering SNW won't be in America at least for another year or two, and longer if you're an Orlando guy), I'm even more curious about Donkey Kong's role in the movie, let alone wondering why he's in the movie in the first place.

Did Universal also get the Donkey Kong movie rights as part of the Mario deal? It would make sense given it's been long theorized the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises are set in the same universe, but you'd think Nintendo would treat the two as separate properties despite the constant crossovers.

It also evokes a sense of irony given Donkey Kong was the very game Universal sued Nintendo up the butt for 30 years ago. Time heals all wounds, I guess.