Mamma mia!
The first look at Chris Pratt in the upcoming “Super Mario Bros.” movie has been released and the world has tuned in to judge Pratt’s Mario voice.
The verdict? Far from “Mario number one!” and verging on “Mario ho hum,” according to Twitter.
“Bland,” “zero effort” and “meh” were just some of the responses to the newly released trailer, with the general assessment being Mario sounds like… Chris Pratt.
“Who would have thought that chris pratt’s big secret voice in the mario movie would be his normal speaking voice,” one user tweeted.
“Literally the only the meh thing about the Mario Movie trailer was Chris Pratt’s Mario voice,” agreed another.
“You can tell Jack Black put a ton of love and heart into his Bowser voice, while Chris Pratt just uh… spoke?” was another person’s assessment.
Fans of the iconic video game series were angered after Pratt, 42, was announced as the voice of the titular character, taking to social media to vent their frustrations.
Chris Pratt saying he worked so hard on the Mario voice only for it to sound like Chris Pratt is the funniest thing
— Comet 🐑🌟 | Lumi Pilot | Workin' on comms (@starteas) October 6, 2022
“Chris Pratt playing Mario is italiaphobia and i’m tired of acting like it isn’t,” said one disgruntled Twitter user.
“F–k this casting celebrities as video game characters in their movies thing … No one wants to see them reinvent Mario to act like Chris Pratt,” another said.
However, producer Chris Meledandri defended casting Pratt –– who is not Italian — as the voice of the plumber.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Meledandri said Pratt did a superb job as the iconic character and skepticism “will evaporate” when they hear his voice — although apparently not for some.
The star-studded cast for the animated film includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
Nintendo is producing the “Super Mario Bros.” movie in conjunction with Illumination Studios, the animation studio behind films like “The Lorax,” and the “Despicable Me” and “Minions” franchises.
The film is slated to be released in April 2023.
