After being left disappointed by Chris Pratt's Mario voice in the trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, many fans are taking to social media to voice their support for the French dubbed version. Based on the beloved video game franchise from Nintendo and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, The Super Mario Bros. Movie tells the story of Mario's attempts to rescue the captured Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) from an underground lair. In addition to Mario and Princess Peach, The Super Mario Bros. Movie also features characters like Luigi (Charlie Day), Bowser (Jack Black), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), and Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen).
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As anticipation continued to build regarding how Universal Pictures and Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie would turn out, Pratt hyped his voice performance in the film as "unlike anything you've heard in the Mario world before." After months of waiting, fans were finally treated to the first trailer for the film earlier this week, which debuted a brief snippet of Pratt's Mario voice. Fans were quick to take to social media to criticize Pratt's Mario voice, with many pointing out that it basically just sounds like Pratt's regular voice and not like the video game character they had come to know and love, who was originally voiced by Charles Martinet.
Now, as fans continue to criticize Chris Pratt's Mario voice, many have taken to social media to share their love for the French dub of The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer. The French dub features actor Pierre Tessier as Mario, doing a voice that is much closer to the cheerful, high-pitched version of the character that exists in the games. Check out some fan tweets above.
Can Pratt's Mario Still Win Fans Over?
With Pratt building up his voice for The Super Mario Bros. Movie so strongly and suggesting that it would be a unique take, it's understandable why so many fans are feeling let down by the fact that it doesn't sound all too different from Pratt's regular speaking voice, albeit with a noticeable accent. It's also worth mentioning, however, that Pratt really only speaks one or two lines in the trailer, which is hardly a wide sampling. Furthermore, it's likely that the characterization of Mario in the film is very much built around Pratt's voice, meaning fans could change their tune on the performance after seeing how Pratt's voice works in concert with other elements and the character's personality.
The backlash to Pratt's voice in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is reminiscent of the way fans felt after the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 2019, with many feeling that Sonic's design was too much of a departure from the video game source material. The backlash was so strong, in fact, that the studio ended up delaying the film and entirely reworking Sonic's design, but it seems unlikely a similar approach will be taken for The Super Mario Bros. Movie with Pratt's voice performance. While initial reactions have definitely been negative, it's still possible that future trailers are able to turn things around. If not, many fans are clearly okay with watching the movie in French.