What the Super Mario Trailer Tells Us About the Coming Movie

When Nintendo announced its intended release of a Super Mario movie, many fans were delighted. Partly because it was exciting to see their favorite game come to life but also because of curiosity. The first Super Mario movie ever made was ‘Super Mario Bros: The Movie’, a 1993 fantasy movie based on the Super Mario Game. However, the film was a colossal flop. It was subject to harsh criticism across the fanbase, with many fans describing it as terrible. Hilariously, Bob Jenkins (who played Mario in the movie) and Dennis Hopper (who played Bowser) tagged the movie as the only movie they had regretted throughout their careers. 

After the movie’s huge flop, it seemed as though Nintendo had completely shelved the idea of creating a film based on any of its games. But the company proved many wrong in 2018 when it announced that a Super Mario movie was in the works. Characters are expected to be voiced by stars like Charles Martinet, Chris Pratt, and Jack Black. A few days ago, Nintendo released a trailer for the movie, and there has been significant buzz about it.

The trailer provides a glimpse of a scene where Mario seems to have teleported to the mushroom kingdom. While this is the only scene that points to the existence of the mushroom kingdom, it shows Mario waking up confused in the location. A disoriented Mario is then guided by Toad (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key). The Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach, is a regular location in the Super Mario game. However, we have little insight into Mario's goal in the kingdom or why he suddenly teleported to the location. This is definitely a twist to look forward to.

Bowser has always been a villain in the Super Mario world, and the movie seems to portray just that. The trailer opens with a scene where larva falls to signal the arrival of Bowser in a nation populated by Penguins. The trailer also shows us that Bowser arrives with a large and dangerous army. At the same time, the Penguins unsuccessfully try to wade off the army with snowballs. However, the most exciting glimpse we get is of a gold star. We see Bowser eagerly get a hold of the star as he invades the Penguin nation. In the game, a gold star means a significant power boost, and it’ll most likely mean something similar in the movie.

This is currently the most controversial point of discussion with the trailer. Many people expectedly had mixed reactions when word got out that Chris Pratt would voice Mario. Many Mario fans are used to Mario's heavily Italian accent, and many were unsure that Chris Pratt would be able to pull off the accent. As it turns out, Mario's accent in the movie is not Italian in any way. It tilts more towards a Brooklyn accent, and many fans are not having it. In fact, voice actor Carlos Morillo recently posted the movie’s trailer with Chris Pratt’s voice edited out and replaced by Mario’s Italian accent. The edited trailer currently has almost 400,000 views!

Since the trailer's release, people have had much to say about their first impressions and expectations from the movie. The reactions have mainly been mixed, with many expressing excitement, while others have been fixated on Mario’s voice.

For instance, a Reddit user had this to say about Mario’s voice in the movie:

In another hilarious and speculative reaction, a Twitter user tweeted:

Although Charles Martinet will equally voice a character in the movie, it won’t be Mario. According to Nintendo, Martinet will voice a “surprise character.”

Other reactions have been optimistic. In response to the trailer, a Twitter user tweeted:

While Mario's voice has been a massive worry for many fans, it is unclear whether Nintendo will make any changes before the movie's release in April 2023. Either way, the fact remains that this movie is a significant move for Nintendo. If it succeeds, it will go a long way to boost Nintendo's confidence in the film scene.