When it was announced that Chris Pratt would be playing Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a lot of fans online were immediately skeptical; especially with Pratt not sounding at all like longtime Mario voice Charles Martinet.
As it turns out, a Martinet impersonator wasn’t what the movie was looking for. In an interview with Total Film magazine (via GamesRadar), directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath explained why Pratt was perfect for the role. “For us, it made total sense,” says Horvath, “He’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterised in our film, he’s perfect for it.”
No doubt, the blue-collar hero that the directors could be alluding to is Emmet from The LEGO Movie, a gullible LEGO construction worker who ends up becoming the ‘Special’.
Admittedly, the marketing team does seem too scared to give us some more of Chris Pratt’s Mario voice, but it’s said that his Mario talks in a Brooklyn-inspired accent to really drive in that Italian influence.
Based on the previews we’ve seen so far, it does seem that this Mario is more of a bumbling hero as compared to the cool icon that Nintendo touts him as. I mean, he’s a cartoon plumber with a silly moustache, Nintendo, he can afford to be a little wacky at times.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to release o April 5.
