Illumination and Universal Pictures' highly anticipated animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie brings an entire beloved world to the big screen in 2023. During this year's New York Comic-Con, the first teaser trailer was shared with attendees before being released online. While the animation is gorgeous, and the enormity of Super Mario Bros.'s reach looks promising, there's still something that just isn't quite reaching its full potential. Following the NYCC release, an official Italian dubbed trailer began to circulate that helped put our finger on it.
Considering this is one of Nintendo's most popular franchise universes to be explored, the fanbase was eager from the movie's first official announcement last year to see what direction Super Mario Bros. would go, and, understandably, equally critical of the adaptation's content. When news broke that actor Chris Pratt would be voicing the world's most iconic Italian plumber, Mario, fans were a bit alarmed, to say the least. While it was first thought the actor may attempt a caricature of an Italian character with an exaggerated accent — on top of the fact that Pratt isn't of Italian descent — the concerns were addressed by both Pratt and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri. According to Variety, Meledandri said, "I think we’re gonna be just fine. Especially because he’s (Pratt) given such a strong performance."
Unfortunately, in the teaser fans saw from NYCC, that may not be the case. In the two-and-a-half-minute trailer, we got some excellent performances from Jack Black as a guttural, growling Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as a harried Toad, and even a Shakespearean Penguin King from Khary Payton. It was the titular brother, the short king himself, that fans found themselves disenchanted with. Rather than giving him an Italian accent, he'll have more of a Brooklyn sound, but the Italian dubbed trailer begs the question, why not cast an Italian voice actor?
Though we only get a very short snippet, the English trailer showcases a bit of a lackluster Mario. It gives the impression that the studios were relying on Pratt's star power coming off his leading role as Star-Lord in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Unfortunately, voicing an animated character — especially one so iconic within the zeitgeist — is tricky business. In the Italian dubbed version, Mario's voice is excited, playful, and full of wonder at the Mushroom Kingdom around him. In the original, it's difficult not to see Pratt in the recording studio focusing more on pulling off the Brooklyn accent than capturing any emotional inflection.
The trailer does showcase the cartoonish vibrancy of the multiple Kingdoms within Mario and Luigi's world. The animation is beautiful, and all of the game's key players are present, though not all are revealed in the teaser just yet. Joining Pratt, Black, Key, and Payton for the all-star cast are Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Mario's brother Luigi, Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek (who was also excellent in the teaser!).
As always, you can be the judge for yourself. The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits theaters on April 7, 2023. You can watch both the original and Italian dubbed trailers below: