There’s little over a year from now until Chris Pratt makes his intriguing debut as Super Mario, but even before the film’s first preview comes out, its producers are backing up the Guardians of the Galaxy star as a more-than-capable plumber.
When Nintendo announced the full cast of its upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie, the names on the list raised plenty of eyebrows and none did more than choosing Pratt to play the titular character instead of Charles Martinet, who’s been playing the plumber for 25 years. Most criticisms towards that decision stemmed from many Nintendo fans feeling like Pratt’s casting as Mario was a disservice to Martinet’s legacy, as well as to the many talented voice actors exclusively dedicated to that line of work.
However, one of the key names behind the new Super Mario Bros. movie has jumped to Pratt’s defense. Producer and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri recently commented on some of the reasons why Pratt was the project's go-to choice. Upon being asked by TooFab, Meledandri said, “the voice that he's doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal." Meledrani also claimed he’s very excited for fans to finally hear Pratt's Mario voice, while also claiming he gets where part of the negativity came from as a fellow Italian American.
According to Meledandri, Charlie Day’s Italian heritage is enough to pay a nod to the Super Mario Bros.' stereotypical Italianness, though he did warn that people should not expect Pratt to go full Martinet when yelling out “It's a-me, Mario!” As Meledandri explained, this is simply because "That's not the tenor of the performance throughout the film." Overall, Meledandri just expressed he wants people to go see the movie before criticizing it, which definitely seems like a sensible approach.
As if playing Mario wasn’t enough of a childhood dream for Pratt, he has a Garfield role lined up, meaning there must really be something to like about the actor's voiceover talents, especially after his performance in both LEGO movies. In the end, Pratt’s star power (and not the Super Mario kind) was what ultimately clinched boh parts for him, and given Martinet’s history as Mario, it actually makes sense to forgo his beloved work for the sake of something new.
After all, Nintendo already has a lot to deal with when it comes to Mario's smooth transition from 2D to 3D and now to movie theaters without having to worry about luring non-gaming fans to see it. In any case, voices are hardly the biggest obstacle to making a good Mario movie, as it’s arguable that translating the games’ simple stories and whimsical humor presents a far bigger challenge.
The Super Mario movie is scheduled to be released on December 21, 2022.
Source: toofab.com