I wasn\u2019t quite sure what to expect from the recently released teaser for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie; I\u2019d already heard plenty of thoughts \u2013 mostly negative \u2013 about Chris Pratt\u2019s casting as the titular red-hatted plumber, but not a lot else. The fact that Twitter\u2019s greatest concern following its release centred around the dude\u2019s backside \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 was certainly intriguing. IGN even posted a poll about viewer\u2019s reactions, where possible answers including \u2018I am upset\u2019, \u2018I am very upset\u2019, \u2018Representation is good\u2019 and \u2018I feel nothing\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Thankfully, the 47.7% majority voted for the latter option. Although the fact that 25.7% voted for \u2018I am very upset\u2019 is nonetheless rather concerning. Of all the problems shaking the world right now, the absence of any sizeable derriere on Nintendo\u2019s mascot is an interesting focus. I\u2019ve been playing Mario games for most of my life, and I\u2019m pretty sure Mario doesn\u2019t have a prominent behind in any of the entries I\u2019ve played. This is an animated character from PEGI 3+ games (occasionally a bit higher, but never 18+; an article from The Independent suggested that some of these games would be rated 18+ because of their encouragement of gambling, but that’s a bit extreme), remember, and this is a family film being advertised. If the filmmakers suddenly went out of their way to accentuate this particular bodily feature, that would be a more serious cause for concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, onto the trailer. The opening graphics as fireballs rain down aren\u2019t too bad, and the subsequent image of Bowser\u2019s vessel is pretty decent too. Kamek\u2019s announcement of the arrival of the Mario series\u2019 big bad is nice and ominous. Jack Black\u2019s voice acting is solid, although maybe needs a bit of tweaking to sound a bit less like Jack Black at some points. Generally impressive work in this area though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good comedic work from the penguins, and some nice build-up of tension as Bowser appears to actually destroy a segment of the Mushroom Kingdom rather than following protocol by just kidnapping Peach straight away. We cut to Mario falling off a mushroom, but it would have been nice to hear a Mario-style \u2018ow\u2019 instead of a Chris Pratt grunt. We\u2019re not getting Charles Martinet here though, so maybe we\u2019ll let that slide for the moment. It\u2019s also nice to have a younger Mario here (i.e. not Bob Hoskins, even if the original movie does have a lot of \u2018so bad it\u2019s kind of watchable\u2019 charm). The annoying squeaky voice of Toad is pretty solid, so no complaints there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mario: \u2018Mushroom kingdom, here we come\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Pratt\u2019s voice acting leaves something to be desired. Mostly because, at the moment, he just sounds too much like Chris Pratt. Also, \u2018here we come\u2019? Why not ‘here we go’? I\u2019m not asking for a full-on Italian accent here (which could bring up some political issues), but at least you could\u2019ve stuck true to some of the plumber\u2019s iconic dialogue, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The iconic Super Mario font adorns the title; nice touch, I approve. Not enough Luigi in the last bit, and I can\u2019t get a decent hold on Charlie Day\u2019s voicework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, it\u2019s got some potential. Even if it gets shoddy reviews when it comes out next April, I\u2019ll go and see it anyway. For the memes, at least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I wasn\u2019t quite sure what to expect from the recently released teaser for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie; I\u2019d already heard plenty of thoughts \u2013 mostly negative \u2013 about Chris Pratt\u2019s casting as the titular red-hatted plumber, but not a lot else. The fact that Twitter\u2019s greatest concern following its release centred around the … <\/p>\n