Pre-Release The Super Mario Bros. Movie Pre-Release Discussion Thread (Now releasing April 5th in the US)

[WestEgg]

Duuuuuude, DK looks like the gorilla from Sing.

 

[Colocho]

Prat sounds like he is afraid to sound silly, so he sounds flat instead. Whoever directed him didn't do a good job either.

Visually is amazing and I'm happy that they didn't give the usual plot to Peach.
This movie will make bank easily, Illumination knows really well how to get people to see their movies, even if adults don't enjoy their movies too much.

 

[WestEgg]

Prat sounds like he is afraid to sound silly, so he sounds flat instead. Whoever directed him didn't do a good job either.

Visually is amazing and I'm happy that they didn't give the usual plot to Peach.
This movie will make bank easily, Illumination knows really well how to get people to see their movies, even if adults don't enjoy their movies too much.

Young adults don’t enjoy their movies very much. Older adults? My parents LOVE the minions.

 

[Look over there]

I'm jumping on the avatar bandwagon.

looks at avatar
looks at title
looks back at avatar
So does Kremling leadership determination operate under that 'current head is whoever beat the previous head' rule?

(at least, the trailer certainly sells that DK's got the capability)

 

[meatbag]

Duuuuuude, DK looks like the gorilla from Sing.

DK is supposed to look more like old-school sprite DK. He does kinda look like his earlier depictions.

I was mostly fine with the first trailer, but this second trailer definitely had me wincing a little at the generic Illumination comedy CGI movie package. "Look at us! We're adorable" had me rolling my eyes.

That said the visuals are looking even more god-damn fantastic, it's gonna be worth the money to watch it on the big screen just to bask in the graphics haha.

 

[WestEgg]

looks at avatar
looks at title
looks back at avatar
So does Kremling leadership determination operate under that 'current head is whoever beat the previous head' rule?

(at least, the trailer certainly sells that DK's got the capability)

The Krocs will return, have no worries.

 

[karmitt]

Hot take I’d be happy if the next 3D Mario game took a lot from the aesthetic of every design, and perhaps some of every voice here.

Mario isn’t stale, but I’m more than open to a bit of change as long as the exciting gameplay is wholly intact.

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

Hot take I’d be happy if the next 3D Mario game took a lot from the aesthetic of every design and voice here.

Mario isn’t stale, but I’m more than open to a bit of change as long as the exciting gameplay is wholly intact.

Every voice?

if i have to hear Chris Pratt's mouth coming out of Mario, if I have to see the bumbling everyman personality instead of the happy-go-lucky go getter we get in the games? then I'm going to fucking scream.

...movie does look good, though, don't need every aspect to be translated to the games but there's some lovely eye candy on display here.

 

[CyberWolfBia]

Hot take I’d be happy if the next 3D Mario game took a lot from the aesthetic of every design and voice here.

Mario isn’t stale, but I’m more than open to a bit of change as long as the exciting gameplay is wholly intact.

Glad you are aware it's a hot take! ;P (at least about the voices)

But for real tho..
Martinet is simply unreplaceable; and while I have no issues with the rest of the cast of this movie Pratt just repeatedly shows that he can't hold a candle, not even with a basic "Wahoo!"

 

[Joe]

 

[shoptroll]

That was a better trailer than the last one. Got some good laughs from it. I can’t believe they may actually pull this off. I think I’m legit excited for this now.

Also, New Super Princess Peach when?

 

[karmitt]

Glad you are aware it's a hot take! ;P (at least about the voices

:] yep well aware.

I think they’re doing a damn good job here, and I’m just not that precious about the exact voicing decisions the company has made - many originating in 1996.

Edit: and to be clear my post was mostly about the designs. I added ‘and voices’ to make it spicy

 

[shoptroll]

Thinking about Seth Rogen’s intro and actively wondering if Robin Williams were still alive if he would’ve been cast in this.

 

[Brawlz]

Very solid trailer that has made me even more excited for the movie April.

Now, if we could just get a specific date for Super Nintendo World, that would be wonderful >.>

 

[CyberWolfBia]

Thinking about Seth Rogen’s intro and actively wondering if Robin Williams were still alive if he would’ve been cast in this.

Maaaaaaan ... Seth Rogen was night and day from Chris Pratt's segment of the first Direct. Dude named his dog Zelda and name-drops PlayChoice-10 Arcade Machines?

That's someone that truly understand the source material!

 

[Joe]

Maaaaaaan ... Seth Rogen was night and day from Chris Pratt's segment of the first Direct. Dude named his dog Zelda and name-drops PlayChoice-10 Arcade Machines?

That's someone that truly understand the source material!

Seth Rogen has spent hours of his life stomping.............................................................................. Kremlings.

 

[Joe]

So that "leaked plot summary" from earlier this year was fake, right? I read it again and it doesn't line up with anything that we've seen in the trailers. The trailers outright contradict it in some parts.

 

[totofogo]

So basically most characters are being done well except for Mario and Peach

and call me crazy but… I ain’t mad

I’ve always been a Luigi guy and it’s the cast around Mario that makes him who he is? To some degree he already is an “everyman” like Link in being a player avatar and somewhat devoid of personality due to that. They chose to take that in a different direction here, but as an intro to the universe for an inexperienced eye, I suppose that this uneducated/untrained Mario is the ”avatar” whether we fans like it or not.

Peach on the other hand… maybe she uh, learned to speak more regally with age

 

[totofogo]

Maaaaaaan ... Seth Rogen was night and day from Chris Pratt's segment of the first Direct. Dude named his dog Zelda and name-drops PlayChoice-10 Arcade Machines?

That's someone that truly understand the source material!

Seth’s intro felt painfully aware of the response to Pr*tt’s

 

[chocolate_supra]

not sure how I feel about DK being more like his original appearance (meanie) than his modern one (fun)

Meanies can be fun, just look at Aubrey Plaza

Wow that looked AMAZING!

and I love Chris' voice lines!
ARGH
AHHHHH
YAAAAAA
AND HAAAAAAA

He's auditioning for the coveted role of Link

I'm hoping they make it so DK learns to be nice or something. Cranky as some sort of king/ruler is... interesting.

Other than that, trailer looks great. Loved seeing all the power-ups.

We don't know that he's the ruler. It's possible his arrogant ass just had that throne built for himself

the french dub is a a rare french W

...french Wario?

She just ... starts taking charge!
[/goes to clip of a Kingdoms Map, like a war room or something]
... That has got to be the most generic thing to be upset over. I always thought a head of state should laze about, feasting and drinking.

The isekai'd dude being terrified and clumsy and stuff seems like a pretty basic thing too. It's the generic stuff, you know? That's where they're really trying too hard.

Hiding behind a spoiler tag because there's a deeper reason for his reaction but I don't wanna drag the thread into a bad direction:

Spoiler

It's a very common complaint I've heard for almost a decade, usually pointed at modern sitcoms and commercials, that the women "have" to be the capable, take-charge part of a couple and the men are "always" portrayed as bumbling fools who must be saved from themselves by the women. They look at it as a Hollywood-mandated approach designed to try and smear men and lessen their prominence and authority in society, by setting this stereotype that men are dumb and incapable and women are the real bosses. It's absolute horseshit obviously but that's why the guy in that video says it's a red flag, and says people should be horrified by it because of "modern day Hollywood." He's not complaining about specifically that point in the trailer but rather what his type (MRA fucks) sees as Hollywood pressing this agenda into more branches of entertainment.

Thinking about Seth Rogen’s intro and actively wondering if Robin Williams were still alive if he would’ve been cast in this.

I would have loved to have Robin Williams voice Mario

 

[Mekanos]

My fear about the Kremlings is someone involved thinking K. Rool is too similar to Bowser. If DK does face off against the Kremlings in a sequel/spin-off though I would be very surprised to see them here.

 

[Barely Able]

I will not sit idly by and let my family be slandered!

I actually don’t care. Do think the movie looks like it’s going to be good and actually enjoying the voice acting. Think it’s better than we thought it was going to be. Not revolutionary by any means though.

 

[MondoMega]

My fear about the Kremlings is someone involved thinking K. Rool is too similar to Bowser. If DK does face off against the Kremlings in a sequel/spin-off though I would be very surprised to see them here.

I could see a throwaway line referencing them from one of the Kongs, probably Cranky. A rival faction on the island? An example of invaders from another kingdom they've dealt with before? Depends on how closely they want to stick to game lore, or like with some of the Super Show references they take some cues from the DKC cartoon.

Speaking of; i've seen a few tweets from Japanese fans wanting Koichi Yamadera and Ryusei Nakao to reprise DK and Cranky from said cartoon's JP dub. Wonder what the odds of that are.

 

[totofogo]

Meanies can be fun, just look at Aubrey Plaza

God why isn’t she voicing this entire cast

just watched white lotus s2e2 and i am so darn happy for her and where her career has gone

 

[chocolate_supra]

God why isn’t she voicing this entire cast

just watched white lotus s2e2 and i am so darn happy for her and where her career has gone

I just watched Emily the Criminal and same

 

[Lucifer]

This movie looks really weird... In a good way. I totally expected them to just do a sort of retelling of the original SMB story with Peach being kidnapped and the Toads being turned to stone or something. But they're going a little crazy.

I like all the characters too, anything with Mario is already an improvement because he's too much of an avatar in the games anyway, always thought of Sonic being more likeable because they're not afraid of giving him actual characteristics.

And Peach reminds me of how she is in certain games like the Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi/Smash series.

 

[Mandos]

My fear about the Kremlings is someone involved thinking K. Rool is too similar to Bowser. If DK does face off against the Kremlings in a sequel/spin-off though I would be very surprised to see them here.

Just do K Rool the schemer and have him start out doing an infiltration/secret takeover under a persona instead of a direct power play like Bowser. That’s a good way to differentiate them. Lex Luthor Vs Zod basically

 

[TheCongressman]

The concern about references and cameos and stuff I get, but also I think it's the point rather than a cheap gimmick. I've wanted for so long to see how Mario's world fits together. We get all these disparate pieces in the games with nearly no context. So it's awesome to finally see how all these characters, kingdoms and worlds actually interact with each other. Maybe it will go too far in some places, like there doesn't need to be deep lore about the karts, but it is still nice to have an actual explanation why they're driving gokarts.

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

I’ve always been a Luigi guy and it’s the cast around Mario that makes him who he is? To some degree he already is an “everyman” like Link in being a player avatar and somewhat devoid of personality due to that. They chose to take that in a different direction here, but as an intro to the universe for an inexperienced eye, I suppose that this uneducated/untrained Mario is the ”avatar” whether we fans like it or not.

Sorry to leave a big rant specifically replying to you, but I wanted to respond to this point because it really hits on what isn't making this trailer work for me.

This characterization for Mario? I hate it. Earnestly just despise it. I think they could have taken the concept of an every man Mario unfamiliar with the Mushroom Kingdom and taken it in a direction that was both more faithful to the game characterization and was less generic than what we see here. Imagine a Mario thrown into the same situation as the movie, but they made him more cheerful and curious. Not a hyper-competent hero who gets everything right, not a macho alpha male character, absolutely not. But an earnest guy thrown into these wild new situations, maybe a little over his head but not deterred and always ready to help. There are a few shots where I get this - the shot of Mario looking at the sink, the Tanooki Mario scene, the Mario Kart shot (let down by a kinda weak "Wahoo!"), there's something potentially there. And I'm hoping those other elements are there, but the trailer does not give that impression. But hey! Something different could work if it was interesting, right?

...Instead we get..a bit of a bumbling dope? We get so many shots of him looking wide-eyed at the world, but a lot of it can have this...kinda dull, confused air to it. The few moments of confidence Mario has are brazen, unearned overconfidence played for weak slapstick comedy. We get a lot of him screaming and flailing around, also for comedy. Maybe if the humor was more interesting or paced better I'd vibe with it more, but it's all very standard kid's movie humor stuff. He gets the most generic voice actor and voice direction possible to be the most average kinda guy. It's not interesting or novel, it's just...boring, a safe take on the idea that feels trite and tired just from the trailer. This is the film's vision of Mario, a vision consistent with other aspects of the film, even from that first trailer. Standard, safe kid-oriented humor, earnest elements downplayed for the sake of the joke that isn't even all that funny.

You can definitely make an argument that I'm judging the movie too soon, given that we only have these few trailers. And I'm sure the movie at the end of the day will at least be...fine. Not great. Probably on par with the Sonic movies, maybe rated a little better because they're good looking animated films. I want to see it, I want to be pleasantly surprised, but this is so far meeting my expectations in all of the worst ways. A beautiful movie, great nods and references, but that being where most of the substance is whereas the writing and characters are its weakest aspect. And while I never needed a 10/10 movie here, this all just...kinda bums me out, I guess?

 

[mariodk18]

I care for Mario quite a bit as well, but I can't find myself getting too invested about his portrayal in this movie, good or bad. Maybe this is heresy, but he really doesn't have much of a character to go off of, purely from the games. Sure, he's happy go lucky and has been shown to feel bad (like in Odyssey for Cappy), but that isn't much to build a character out of for an hour and thirty minute movie. Even in the M&L games, it's really everyone else around Mario that has the personality with Mario being the experienced, confident, almost stoic-upbeat rock that keeps pushing forward.

But if they're going with an origin story, especially one that is plumber > platforming, kart-riding, power up using super star...They kind of do need to start from something "basic" while also giving him some personality. Luigi, Bowser, Peach, etc. have all had the traits shown in this trailer in previous games (Luigi's Mansion, Paper Mario, Smash, etc.). But I assume their thought was that if Mario started out the movie as already confident/willing-to-push-forward Mario, then it might be hard to get invested in the character. It does make sense for the outsider (a human, according to Bowser) to be out of his element in all of these crazy universes and for Peach to be confident, as the princess of her kingdom.

They probably went with textbook implementations because that's what has worked for them in the past, which makes sense to argue is is safe. I guess what I'm trying to say, if it isn't clear, is that I don't believe this movie will "ruin" Mario's character for me. We'll always have the Mario from the games and if this movie is bad, then it'll just be "the bad 'movie' Mario". I do agree that it does feel weird to see Mario act like this, but I hope by the end he'll be more like the "Mario" that we know and love.

Now with regards to Chris Pratt's VAing in this trailer specifically? I can agree that it's not as lively or is more muted compared to Luigi or Bowser or Toad, but I hope my impressions of it improve as more trailers release.

 

[Nathan Little]

I have a mighty need to see a better picture of Diddy and Dixie in HD glory.

 

[Michie]

Mario in the games has no personality. Al his personality is more or less your own head cannon.

Since Shigeru Miyamoto is heavily involved in this movie i don't think you can claim "this isn't how Mario should behave".

 

[clay_ghost]

The movie actually look very good. Definitely worth watching day 1.

 

[shoichi]

I really enjoyed the trailer makes me want to see the film.
Jack Blacks voice as Bowser gives me the Pete from the Goofy cartoons feel. Didn't mind Anya's voice as Peach, Luigi voice works by Day, Key's voice as Toad is a better Toad voice than normal scratchy Toad to me, but Pratt's Mario still is hard to get used to.

The Mario Kart scene is an interesting touch, the way its presented makes me feel like the Rainbow Road is used as a way to lead to a finale piece towards the end of the movie on the way to getting Luigi back from Bowser. Like Mario, Peach, Toad, DK and a bunch of others they meet along the way decide to work together to save the galaxies and worlds from Bowser, with a time skip montage of everyone getting their vehicles set to go prior to the trailer scene. That then plays out to a climatic battle racing scene near Bowser's Fortress.

 

[Irene]

Really liked what I saw.

Maybe too many bits with swelling orchestra reaching a climax and then abruptly cut off to a one line joke, but I guess it’s for trailer purposes.

Looks grand and epic in scope and like it’ll touch on so many aspects of Mario, from rotating fire spirals to Rainbow Road. As long as you take it for what it is, I think this has the potential to be a really good time.

 

[Mekanos]

Just do K Rool the schemer and have him start out doing an infiltration/secret takeover under a persona instead of a direct power play like Bowser. That’s a good way to differentiate them. Lex Luthor Vs Zod basically

Personally, I would lean into K. Rool being like Ratigan. Someone who tries to be composed and regal but is deep down a feral, barely stable beast.

 

[DenkeyKong]

Diddy and Dixie are awesome but I noticed another cameo:

Bramball from New Super Mario Bros Wii. I want more weird Mario enemy deep cuts like that.

There's the one shot in the trailer where they show Bowser's minions quickly. Shy Guys, Bob-ombs, Sledge Bros, Swoops were all there, which is really nice to see. Especially after the first trailer only showed Koopas

 

[DenkeyKong]

Regarding Luigi, in the first trailer we saw Luigi running away from the Dry Bones. Do we think this is before or after he gets captured?

I'd say/hope after, such that he can have his own time to shine and not just be captured the entire movie

 

[MondoMega]

The Mario Kart scene is an interesting touch, the way its presented makes me feel like the Rainbow Road is used as a way to lead to a finale piece towards the end of the movie on the way to getting Luigi back from Bowser. Like Mario, Peach, Toad, DK and a bunch of others they meet along the way decide to work together to save the galaxies and worlds from Bowser, with a time skip montage of everyone getting their vehicles set to go prior to the trailer scene. That then plays out to a climatic battle racing scene near Bowser's Fortress.

From earlier merch leaks it seems like some racers from Bowser's side will make it a chase. There was the Mario, Peach and Toad we saw in the trailer, plus a Koopa on a Banzai Bill looking bike.

Speaking of merch leaks... i'm embarassed it took me this long to piece this together, but...

Spoiler: Unrevealed Character Spoiler?

Back in June I found that Nintendo had trademarked the names of the announced cast for the Mario movie, plus one I was unable to identify: 露马利. As you can see from the conversation below, it was suggested that Lumalee was the closest existing character name to this one, but I was skeptical as that was a pretty weird and obscure pull that also flew in the face of the Chinese localisations of other names.

I realise I was wrong and i'm not sure why this didn't come to mind as soon as I saw the McDonalds leak, lol.

 

[Galgavias]

Regarding the bumbling Mario comments, we have to remember that at heart this is a kids film, and kids love heroes who are basically Wile E Coyote'd throughout before coming good at the end. It's a successful film formula that Illumination have utilised themselves with Despicable Me. And it does allow for a compelling - if formulaic admittedly - narrative for a property where coming up with a decent story otherwise might have been tricky. And everyone will be cheering when, after the end of the second act where Bowser wins a major victory by capturing Peach and threatening the entire world, Mario comes good in the third act to save the day.

Personally I'm amazed that Nintendo (and Miyamoto) were presented with the image of Peach in her motorcycle suit wielding a freaking spear and were like, 'yep that's cool'. Sakurai take notes please.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Personally I'm amazed that Nintendo (and Miyamoto) were presented with the image of Peach in her motorcycle suit wielding a freaking spear and were like, 'yep that's cool'. Sakurai take notes please

They've been pretty fine with peach bring a badass, e.g. everything from mario + Rabbids. We are fortunately a long time removed from the era of Super princess peach.

 

[chocolate_supra]

 

[LukasManak22]

 

[Ahmed]

I was hoping they'd make Peach hot.

 

[Bonejack]

Hot DAMN that movie looks so good. Didn't expect a Mario Kart part. Also didn't expect DK being part of the "main" story, i'd thought he would be in a little side part and/or a post credits scene teasing a standalone movie for Seth Rogen DK.

Warrior Princess Peach is legit. Xena who? Also love those "I'm this close doing it myself" faces she has during Mario's fails.

Jack Black continues to be a gift for the movie and the world. Seriously, this is a casting so on point it's up there with the all-time greats like RDJ as Iron Man or Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and more.

I will definitely see this movie more than once in the cinema.

Gotta say, Pratts Mario grows on me, it's okay. Not really good, but also not bad. Disclaimer: This is purely about Pratt voicing Mario and nothing else.

But if Mario does a lot of shouting/screaming like in the trailer, then i am glad they didn't went with Martinet. Such high pitched shouts/screams would've been uncomfortable over the period of a films runtime.

German has a nice wahoo too. I like the German cast, no celebraty cast like Sonic.

Outside of Anya Taylor-Joy, whose german dub voice actress i don't know, every other celebrity voicing the chars in english has their regular german sub VA.

I have to say, i really like the german VA performance. Especially Pratts dub VA puts a lot more motivation in the lines. You can hear it during the Cheep Cheep scene.

SO glad that they didn't cast any german "celebrity" for the dub voice acting.

Oh, no, I think more and more, people have been able to walk and chew bubblegum in a case like this.

It's just that for the sake of some people who would ALWAYS want to default to "Y U GOTTA BRING POLITICS/HIS PERSONAL BELIEFS INTO THIS?!", it's far easier to convey just how crappy his actual performance is. Then feel free to loop in the other stuff.

Cranky was the Kong monarch sitting on his throne.



It's a change, but I'm getting to like it. I wouldn't mind this type of thing rolling over into the games. Especially if Kremlings are lurking around the corner as a rival "kingdom" for the Kongs!

I, for one, welcome our new grumpy king.

So does Donkey Kong just show up for 5 minutes, beat Mario's ass and then leaves?

Pretty sure you see him in the Mario Kart part of the trailer, so he's at least appearing more than just for that arena part.

 

[LukasManak22]

Wasn't the previously rated trailer duration about 90 seconds? Because this was over 120 seconds. But that rated trailer was listed for cinema use, so probably something smaller in cinemas before the Christmas?

 

[Mbolibombo]

My kids got to watch the trailer before school this morning - blown away.

I am not sure who is looking forward to it the most, me or them hah.
I will probably need to watch the movie twice though, one localized to Swedish with the kids and one with the original cast to.

 

[Galgavias]

They've been pretty fine with peach bring a badass, e.g. everything from mario + Rabbids. We are fortunately a long time removed from the era of Super princess peach.

Oh no doubt. But there's having Peach be a capable, independent, courageous leader wielding magical abilities and facing down danger instead of permanantly being damselfied... and then there's having her wield a freaking spear.

I do approve of her having the 'mentor to the hero' role in this film seemingly. Although let's hope she still gets moments to shine herself as opposed to deferring to Mario completely in the finale.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Gah, I need to know who is voicing the french Peach, her voice is so good !

And I'm sure I know who it is because it sounds very familiar too

 

[Hermii]

This movie looks really weird... In a good way. I totally expected them to just do a sort of retelling of the original SMB story with Peach being kidnapped and the Toads being turned to stone or something. But they're going a little crazy.

I like all the characters too, anything with Mario is already an improvement because he's too much of an avatar in the games anyway, always thought of Sonic being more likeable because they're not afraid of giving him actual characteristics.

And Peach reminds me of how she is in certain games like the Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi/Smash series.

From what we seen, it looks like Luigi will be the one that gets kidnapped.