A lot of fans are looking forward to the upcoming animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie. After the ill-fated live-action film adaptation in the '90s, the audience truly deserves a Mario movie that captures the essence and magic of the video game franchise that we have all known and loved for decades.
While the responses to the trailers that they released so far have been positive, there is still some skepticism about the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario. The backlash continues to go on even up to this day and there are questions about whether the casting choice could affect the overall quality of the film.
In a recent interview with Total Film (via Games Radar), The Super Mario Bros. Movie co-director Aaron Horvath addressed the backlash surrounding Pratt's casting as Mario in the film where they defended their decision and iterated that he is the perfect choice to voice the character.
"For us, it made total sense. He's really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our film, he’s perfect for it," he said.
Horvath also explained in the interview that the film is an origin story of Mario as we're going to see him "becoming Super Mario" throughout his journey. He also revealed that they drew from 40 years of Mario history as inspirations for the story of the film since it's not a direct adaptation of one of the games.
"When you play the game, if you don’t give up, Mario will succeed," the co-director said. "So we transferred that player experience from the game to a characteristic that [movie] Mario would have."
Whether you agree with the decision or not, the directors are standing by their decision based on the vision that they have for the film. All we can do as fans are give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for the entire film to make our own final judgment on the casting.
Also Read: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Almost Got R-Rated Reboot With Joe Manganiello
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to release in theaters on April 5. You can check more details about it here.
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