Usually, when there’s controversy surrounding a video game movie, it’s about the quality of the film. Or whether they are trying to portray the game’s world and lore correctly or whether it was the right call to have Jake Gyllenhaal be a prince from the Middle East. But things are a bit different regarding the Super Mario Bros Movie. There are incredible pieces of the film, like the visuals, and then there’s the voice cast, which fans are still iffy on. The biggest wild card is Chris Pratt, who hasn’t wowed as many fans as the directors likely hoped with his “voice” of Mario.
In the first trailer for the film, he had two lines, and they both sounded like Chris Pratt’s original voice. That came after months of teases about how his take on Mario was an “evolved” voice and that gamers “hadn’t heard anything like it in the Mushroom Kingdom.” He was right because Chris Pratt had never been in the Mushroom Kingdom, and fans wish that were still true.
Pratt and the directors have defended his voice, and in a new chat with ExtraTV, he further went on to say that people only have the right to judge him if they see the movie:
“You know, come watch the movie. Go watch the movie, and then we can talk. I really think that once you’ve seen the movie – you know what, in all honesty, I think you probably need to watch it twice.”
Very subtle and something that many will call out for various reasons. But to his credit, he did cite that he understood why many people were critical of his voice as this franchise means the world to them:
“You don’t want someone to come along and cynically destroy it as a cash grab with a movie. I fully understand that, you do not want that to happen, and there are so many hearts and souls and minds dedicated to making sure that didn’t happen.”
While that’s promising, whether that’s true or not remains to be seen. Case in point, Seth Rogen also did an interview about the movie, and he admitted that he refused to do anything but his regular voice for Donkey Kong. Mainly will see that as an insult to voice actors and the character too.
Will the film do well despite all this? We’ll find out on April 5 when the Super Mario Bros Movie arrives in theaters.
