The Super Mario Bros. Movie

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

16 minutes ago, Brickman said:

It’s just an opinion, some think what they have heard so far sounds like garbage for Mario and some don’t care. It’s the Internet we’re allowed to discuss if we don’t like something just as everyone else is allowed to say it’s great. To me it sounds like garbage so I’m going to voice that opinion in the Mario thread. 

You're presenting an opinion of a movie,and I'm presenting an opinion of the current state of nerd culture 

[Gloves | 11,890]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

You're presenting an opinion of a movie,and I'm presenting an opinion of the current state of nerd culture 

And I'm presentin' 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

3 minutes ago, Gloves said:

And I'm presentin' 

I'm not liking the design I see here.  neither one is faithful to the original vision.  You should probably do something about that 

[Brickman | 4,073]

3 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

You're presenting an opinion of a movie,and I'm presenting an opinion of the current state of nerd culture 

It’s always been like this in nerd culture, it’s just a bigger audience now. We have all had the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, now we can just argue with more people about it 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

Just now, Brickman said:

It’s always been like this in nerd culture, it’s just a bigger audience now. We have all had the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, now we can just argue with more people about it 

I think it's worse.  If reddit and the internet had existed in the 80s, think about the outrage we'd have seen over Ewoks, Gremlins 2's plot, Short Round, Back to the Future II recasting Crispin Glover, and Indiana Jones facing off against Nazis again! 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

5 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think it's worse.  If reddit and the internet had existed in the 80s, think about the outrage we'd have seen over Ewoks, Gremlins 2's plot, Short Round, Back to the Future II recasting Crispin Glover, and Indiana Jones facing off against Nazis again! 

If you had access to a computer and modem during that time, you had or saw exactly these types of conversations--on BBSes.  This sort of back and forth isn't anything new, it's just far less localized and more widespread and more easily accessible.  Instead of 3-4 people going back and forth about something on one board, or a dozen going back and forth about it on a regional/national FIDOnet topic, you've now got most of the world involved, which dials the shitshow factor up to 11.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

4 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

If you had access to a computer and modem during that time, you had or saw exactly these types of conversations--on BBSes.  This sort of back and forth isn't anything new, it's just far less localized and more widespread and more easily accessible.  Instead of 3-4 people going back and forth about something on one board, or a dozen going back and forth about it on a regional/national FIDOnet topic, you've now got most of the world involved, which dials the shitshow factor up to 11.

Exactly.  Million of people who encompass the culture, as opposed to the 14 nerds that had a modem 

[G-type | 2,601]

If you don’t think Pratt is a good choice you’re childish, selfish and entitled. Got it! 

[JamesRobot | 5,845]

Maybe Chris Pratt just had the best audition.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

3 minutes ago, G-type said:

If you don’t think Pratt is a good choice you’re childish, selfish and entitled. Got it! 

I'll defer to @Tanooki in that one, as I didn't use any of those words.

I'll also state that I'm on of those guys who constantly cries foul about George Lucas changing the original trilogy, so it's not like I don't have my own nerd hill to die on 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Exactly.  Million of people who encompass the culture, as opposed to the 14 nerds that had a modem 

Well, yes and no.  "The culture" seems to be getting less and less defined as time goes on and more and more people want to jump into whatever little part of it they like but then ignore/crap all over/etc. the parts that they don't.

Back when you had these much smaller communities discussing things directly, you really did have more of a homologous "nerd culture," where there were the handful of disagreements (Star Wars vs Star Trek being the most prevalent, usually), but most of those were handled good naturedly, with no real hard feelings in the end.  And, once in a while, usually regionally, you'd have large events, conventions, etc., where larger groups of like-minded folks would get together and participate in the same sorts of things.

Nowadays, where anyone and everyone is able to hop in, drop whatever hot take they want, then hop out, it's diluted and destroyed so much of what was "nerd culture" (just one among many, really), it's getting harder and harder to really state whether something is truly part of it or just popular culture in general.  In my opinion, this movie is being made far more in the vein of serving popular culture than the "nerd culture" that its source material originated from.  I've personally never been a huge Mario fan, so I wouldn't have been particularly interested anyway, but I'm even less so given all the big pop culture buttons this movie's trailer and all of its promotional material has been pressing, and understand why plenty of folks who consider themselves staunchly within "nerd culture" don't care about or even actively dislike this movie without even having seen it.  Whether they'll be proven right or wrong in the larger popular cultural arena remains to be seen.

Edited March 13, 2023 by darkchylde28

[Reed Rothchild | 9,640]

Ah, I think I'm following.  That's an interesting topic in itself: how pop culture has basically engulfed nerd culture, to the point that they are increasingly the same thing.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

44 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Maybe Chris Pratt just had the best audition.

Maybe, maybe not.  I think he was probably who they wanted, and was a name that Hollywood execs knew would get young and old butts into seats, regardless of how they feel about video games, which is really the whole idea here.

43 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'll also state that I'm on of those guys who constantly cries foul about George Lucas changing the original trilogy, so it's not like I don't have my own nerd hill to die on 

I think you're creating a bit of an apples vs oranges debate with this, as Lucas is specifically going back and trying to change material from a set-in-stone universe 20 or more years after the fact.  What's going on with this Mario movie?  At worst, it's telling yet another disjointed tale from the Mario universe that doesn't at all fit in neatly with the loose stories of all the plethora of Mario starring, featuring, or themed games which have been released over the decades.  It seems to basically be an amalgam of the best parts of all of it, telling an all new story that borrows the major themes from most of the games while telling the story in a way that appeals to everyone, not just the nerds who played all those games.  Nerds got pissed at Lucas for trying to change canon and existing history, Mario movie "haters" seem to be upset because the new movie isn't telling a specific story from a specific game, forgetting that you can't really reconcile all of the stuff from all of the games and have it actually all make sense.

[RH | 5,013]

11 hours ago, fcgamer said:

I wonder what was going through the directors minds when they cast Pratt as Mario. I wonder what the rationale was, if any.

I’d put money on it—Pratt was offered the position because he’s Both a big star but he also has a proven record as a bankable voice actor in kids films.  He’s been the Pied Piper to children (and Moms!) since his days as Johnny Karate.

Edited March 13, 2023 by RH

[Tulpa | 3,569]

4 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

Maybe Chris Pratt just had the best audition.

Actors of his status rarely (if ever) do auditions.

[AirVillain | 494]

Alright... getting closer here. 

I'm certainly not going to go see this movie opening night, or opening weekend. I'll wait a week or two then go see a weekday matinee. 

Regarding the voice acting.... is it SHOCKING that filmmakers would want a "big name" star to be Mario? No. It's obvious. That's how they sell/promote movies. They take the most people to try to generate the most "social media presence" possible.... so Chris Pratt is going to be tweeting to all his MCU fans and they are going to buy tickets. It's simple. 

Unfortunately Charles can not do that. 

It's unfortunate because we have literally known one style of voice for Mario for the better part of 3 decades (since M64?). So will Chris Pratt as Mario be jarring? I don't know. I haven't watched the full trailer, because I want to experience everything in the movie with childlike wonder and joy.

But I will go in to the theatre with an open mind and let the movie be. 

If you think it's stupid and will be shitty, then it will be that. If you give it a chance, maybe it could be decent. 

There's no doubt the animation and graphics look really good and with all the references they are going to ram into this thing, I can't imagine it being a TERRIBLE movie experience. 

But alas... we'll see! 

[MegaMan52 | 2,476]

(Possible Spoilers for those who don't want to keep watching trailer or easter egg videos)

Luigi's ringtone is the GameCube's start-up sound. Guess they realize that the GameCube doesn't deserve to be left out.

Edited April 2, 2023 by MegaMan52

[spacepup | 2,422]

@AirVillain You are dead on, imo, and that's the same approach I'm talking.

That isn't to say people can't have their opinions about the voice acting and whatnot.  And yes, after watching the trailer I can say that it is a bit surprising and feels a bit weird.  

Nevertheless, I'm going into the movie with an open mind and I have no doubt that I'll have a good time.  You are absolutely right that mindset going into something can make a big difference to your enjoyment of it.

I fully expect it to be a fun, nice looking movie, based in a world that I've known and loved for many years, so I'm very much looking forward to it!

[Link | 2,768]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:31 AM, AirVillain said:

If you think it's stupid and will be shitty, then it will be that. If you give it a chance, maybe it could be decent. 

I think Charles Martinet's version is stupid and shitty. I've always hated it and I can't believe they continued it after Mario 64, let alone the better part of three decades. So for me this is a very welcome change. 

[Tanooki | 4,958]

41 minutes ago, Link said:

I think Charles Martinet's version is stupid and shitty. I've always hated it and I can't believe they continued it after Mario 64, let alone the better part of three decades. So for me this is a very welcome change. 

I don't feel that far down the way of it being shitty, but stupid, definitely.  It always sounded like a comedically racist knock at an italian accident and short of a word, wahoo or two, it gets grating pretty quick.  Sometimes traditions only exist because people got use to it, not because they're actually good and old Mario voice fits.  This sounds natural, and people going into it all negative like it's like CGI sonic v1 where he looks like he was dunked in Judge Dooms DIP vat need to get over themselves and just watch it and see openly.  Every piece I've checked from where clips, official trailers...this looks solid, very solid.  Nintendo wouldn't allow stupidity to be in play considering how dead set against another Mario movie they were for like 30 years now, and given the studio they couldn't have picked a better one for sure.

We're days out now if I remember right...must see.

[Link | 2,768]

Yeah I really can't imagine a whole movie of Castrati Mario. I wouldn't watch it. Picturing the way kids imitate things, I bet parents will be glad too. 

Captain Lou's voice was great. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

If I cant have Captain Lou (did anyone ever hear the NRBQ song “captain lou ALBANO”?)

 

I’ll take a new voice at this point I think we are due for one I’m going to see it either way. Shit ive known Mario for 35 years? Ill support him in whatever he sounds like, most likely. 

[AirVillain | 494]

19 hours ago, Link said:

I think Charles Martinet's version is stupid and shitty. I've always hated it and I can't believe they continued it after Mario 64, let alone the better part of three decades. So for me this is a very welcome change. 

18 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I don't feel that far down the way of it being shitty, but stupid, definitely.  It always sounded like a comedically racist knock at an italian accident and short of a word, wahoo or two, it gets grating pretty quick.  Sometimes traditions only exist because people got use to it, not because they're actually good and old Mario voice fits.  This sounds natural, and people going into it all negative like it's like CGI sonic v1 where he looks like he was dunked in Judge Dooms DIP vat need to get over themselves and just watch it and see openly.  Every piece I've checked from where clips, official trailers...this looks solid, very solid.  Nintendo wouldn't allow stupidity to be in play considering how dead set against another Mario movie they were for like 30 years now, and given the studio they couldn't have picked a better one for sure.

We're days out now if I remember right...must see.

14 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

If I cant have Captain Lou (did anyone ever hear the NRBQ song “captain lou ALBANO”?)

 

I’ll take a new voice at this point I think we are due for one I’m going to see it either way. Shit ive known Mario for 35 years? Ill support him in whatever he sounds like, most likely. 

Okay... so.... I'll admit something here. It sounds really stupid, but I feel as though I'm in the Tree of Trust. 

Regarding Charles vs. Chris voicing Mario: I genuinely NEVER thought about the fact that Mario would actually have to be carrying dialogue throughout the film. 

And yeah... when you think about it, the high pitch super stereotypical "Italian" voice would sound kind of stupid for actual speaking. I mean... it works well for jump noises, or the "wahoo" as Tanooki mentioned, but for an ENTIRE film in which Mario is one of the main, if not the, characters...?

I think I'm going into it even MORE opened minded now.... because yeah, thinking about it.... that high pitch voice over the course of an entire movie probably wouldn't really fit well with the character and get annoying after a while. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by AirVillain

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Well as Link put it, castrati mario voice is in there in some capacity.  Martinet has a secondary role in the film, one of them being Mario's father, whatever that ends up being...a visit, phone call, I have no idea.  So a few words or sentences there may sound like the old n64 game dragged out sounding pretty shrill.  Again, great for a word or two, mostly for wahoo sound effects, but conversing?  Nails on a chalk board.  I've never really hated a Mario mainline game, though sunshine is lacking a bit due to issues, but in none since 64 did he ever say more than a few words (largely, Mario when sleep talking on N64) and that's about it.

[Link | 2,768]

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23669990/super-mario-bros-movie-review-references

I'm not sure what this reviewer expected. Too much nostalgia and in-jokes, too much action, not idiosyncratic enough yet a certain character is too weird, we don't and do want children to imitate characters.  

This critique feels like paint-by-numbers analysis, and after all of that the lofty final paragraph sums it up as a complaint that the movie has nothing to say. It all feels a little hypocritical.