Unlike a certain blue hedgehog, Super Mario's pop culture saturation outside of video games never seemed to go that far, at least in my opinion. Like Sonic, Mario has had cartoon series and comics, but they never seemed to really...stick. For example, Sonic had an Archie comic going for decades, but Mario never did have a comic that stuck around long. One way Mario did beat Sonic was to the theatres. In 1993, the film Super Mario Bros. was released, starring the late Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the titular heroes. The film was the first live-action movie based on a video game. It would be critically panned and be a box office failure, but it would get a cult following and be regarded as a cult classic.
This failure would lead Nintendo to be reluctant to allow studios to make movies based on their films. However, with Nintendo-themed rides coming to the Universal Studios parks in America, Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto met with Chris Meledandri, the founder of CG animation studio Illumination. Their discussions led to a new upcoming Mario movie, coming to theaters in April next year. Let's look at the trailer!
...somebody dropped their fireball.
Man, Superman's new Fortress of Solitude looks weird...
Cue the Airship theme from Super Mario Bros. 3!
Wow. Is that Kamek? And the Koopa Troopas look awesome!
And there's big bad Bowser, looking all menacing.
(nice)
That is a lot of Koopa Troopas.
Huh. Didn't realize that was Jack Black at first.
Oh my God, the penguins! Are they here as a nod to Super Mario 64?
Ha ha, I think they're going to need something a bit more heavy-duty than snowballs.
Hey, that Koops Troopa has a Spiny Shell helmet! Nice little detail there!
Yeah, Jack Black's Bowser is totally going to steal the show.
Anyone who's played Pokémon knows that Fire beats Ice, so...yeah. Not surprising his fire breath would wreck an ice castle.
I'm guessing that's another nod to Super Mario 64. The Power Stars in that game were not power-ups, but collectibles to advance further in the game.
Don't you hate it when you fall into a pipe and it takes you to a land of giant mushrooms? Real damper on the day.
That was funny.
I have to admit, I am excited by this. This is what I feel a Mario movie should be. Animation really is the best way to go for the Mario mythos, in my opinion. I know there's been backlash to Chris Pratt voicing Mario instead of Charles Martinet (Mario's voice from the video games), but I don't see a problem. Pratt has experience voice acting (did everyone forget The Lego Movie?), and it's not like Mario's had other voice actors in the past. I mean, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show? The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3? Super Mario World? When I was a kid, "Captain" Lou Albano and Walker Boone were the voices of Mario. So, yeah. It doesn't bother me. I think this film will do the Mario mythos justice. I did like the '93 film, but yeah. This is a Mario film should look like.
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