Hopes and Concerns for The Mario Movie

Prior to the October 6th trailer, nobody was excited for Illumination’s bluntly named “Super Mario Bros. The Movie”— a movie adaptation of one of Nintendo’s biggest properties by Illumination Studios. I was the exact same way, but now that the teaser trailer is out, and people finally have a sense as to what this movie is going to be like, I’ve become cautiously optimistic about the movie. It doesn’t look like the best thing in the world, but I’ve allowed myself to be excited for the film, something that I would have never expected prior to the trailer’s release. That being said, no trailer can perfectly depict what the actual movie will be like, so here are my hopes and concerns for the movie after having seen this teaser.

I can’t remember very many movies that have been as critiqued for their casting as much as the Mario movie. The September 23rd, 2021, reveal of the movie’s cast was met with universal confusion and mockery; Chris Pratt playing Mario and Keegan Michael Key as Toad were the most heavily criticized choices. As it stands, the casting choices for the movie are my biggest concern, since they seem almost entirely chosen based on the actors popularity and celebrity status rather than their ability to effectively play their assigned role. I’m not denying the talent of any of the actors on show here, but now that the trailer is out, the casting ranges from just okay to completely misguided.Nowhere is this more apparent than with Chris Pratt’s performance as Mario. An actor’s performance in a movie can’t be wholly judged off the 3 or 4 lines that get chosen for the trailer, but the lack of energy and blandness in Pratt’s performance is so apparent that I can’t help but expect the rest of his performance to be more of the same. In a trailer that was otherwise pleasantly surprising, this choice stood out so much that I expect it will be the audience’s biggest complaint when the movie gets released. 

Ignoring the obvious flaws with casting, Illumination, the animation team behind the movie, seem to be putting their best effort behind this movie, something they haven’t been known to do since Despicable Me 2 in 2013. From the environments and characters shown in the trailer, I have high hopes that the animation quality and overall aesthetic of this movie will blow every prior Illumination film out of the water. I’m not entirely sure what changed with Illumination in the past few years they’ve spent working on this movie, but they’ve definitely increased their efforts.

Another worrying note is that the humor of the movie will probably be in the same vein as every other Illumination film. That being said, I probably shouldn’t complain that a movie whose intended audience is younger children isn’t funny to me.

There are many things that I’m worried about with this movie, and I’m confident that many of the problems displayed in the trailer will translate into the final product, but I’ve also seen a lot of potential that I wouldn’t have ever expected from a movie like this. If this movie keeps the strong art direction shown off in the teaser, and if the performances are slightly less awkward, It’s fully possible that the Mario Movie will end up being a worthwhile watch.

By Christopher Eckl