So far, Martinet’s career lacks any blemishes, that obviously doesn't mean there aren’t bad Mario games but the man’s voice is not at fault for those because voice acting (especially in Mario games) is only a small part of a larger experience and product, as proven by so many great games with poor voice acting that are out there. In the movie landscape, Super Mario is likely to be in the region of a $100m budget, more than enough to make quite a few Mario games, so, when faced against that, are the risks of bringing Martinet worth it for Nintendo?Īs weird, unsettling as it can be to not hear Martinet play Mario once that first trailer comes out, the thought of Mario eventually bombing and having Martinet take the blame should be equally frightening for Mario fans. Mario games don’t have the massive budgets that Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or Red Dead Redemption command nowadays, regardless of that not preventing them from being triple-A gaming experiences. Suffice to say, a Mario movie already has a big cross to bear without it having to worry about casting a lead actor that is unknown to the larger parts of what they would hope will make the movie’s whole target audience. Mario as a movie is raw, unproven, and, considering most video game movies' track record, a risky bet at best. Pratt’s casting is a decision made in the boardroom by executive producers, hardly something one can imagine to have come out of Shigeru Miyamoto’s head, yet that part is exactly why Nintendo partnered up with Illumination to develop this film. That lack of activity is due to the man’s prolific career in gaming ever since he found a home at Nintendo, but the fact of the matter is that Mario games top out their exposure levels at around 20 to 30 million copies sold, compared to the hundreds of millions of people that go see Marvel films and anything else Pratt has starred in. Martinet's film and television credits since becoming Mario (because let there be no doubt that Martinet is Mario) are few and far between, and most importantly nothing to write home about. So why pass on Martinet? Well, the answer might be more simple than expected given the voice actor’s somewhat limited range and lack of experience in a project as big as what a Super Mario movie entails. That in itself is a rare achievement, but now that Chris Pratt was selected to voice Mario, the last statement will cease to be true whenever fans get to hear the actor utter his first words in whatever Italian accent he can muster. RELATED: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, and More Coming to Nintendo Switch Online With Expansion Pack To put it bluntly, when it comes to Mario voices, there is no second best. For a good part of his life since Super Mario 64, Martinet has devoted his professional career to Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, even returning for new recordings meant for Lego’s Super Mario toy line that launched last year. That’s what makes it far more than understandable to see the reactions after Martinet was not cast as Mario for what is set to be the plumber’s big cinema debut next year. Just like the man behind those catchy phrases, Charles Martinet, it’s all part of Nintendo’s legacy that has shaped so many people’s experiences with video games. It’s a-me, wahoo, yiiiiiipeee, Mario time, and mamma mia! Mario is not a man of many words, even if whatever few lines he speaks have become memorable pieces of gaming history.
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