Credit: Marvel StudiosIt’s up to the fans, now.
Related: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Might End With These Character Deaths
Known for his versatile performances across film and television, especially starring in blockbuster hits such as Jurassic World, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers franchises within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Chris Pratt is largely recognized for his guy-next-door, affable personality on screen. And is seemingly going to be in everything this Spring.
Returning back to the James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe by The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios, the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 sees Chris Pratt return the gun-toting Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), a former Celestial-human hybrid leading the beloved characters from the franchise in an epic final adventure. Returning to bid farewell, Pratt leads the pack as Star-Lord, alongside green Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and cyborg Nebula (Karen Gillan), tree-like Groot (Vin Diesel), and deadly Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper). Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ravager Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), and Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone) also reprise their roles in the colorful cast. Previously, the ensemble was seen in a heartwarming Christmas adventure, the Marvel Studios Special Presentation, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) — happily together, likely for the last time.
Pratt will also debut as the lead in Illumination founder Chris Meledandri-produced The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), which has been much-anticipated by movie-going audiences since the trailer debuted last year. The new film is based on the beloved Mario video game franchise from Nintendo, and produced by Illumination, Universal Pictures, and Nintendo, and distributed by Universal. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and written by Matthew Fogel, the film boasts an all-star ensemble voice cast, featuring Chris Pratt as the iconic Mario of the eponymous Super Mario brothers, Anya Taylor Joy as the lovely Princess Peach, and Charlie Day as the loyal brother Luigi. Jack Black lends his voice as the villainous Bowser, while Keegan Michael Key brings life to Toad. Also starring are Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Charles Martinet, who normally voices Mario and Luigi in the games, makes cameo appearances throughout the movie as their father and Giuseppe.
Why is Chris Pratt’s newest movie considered a flop?
It’s-a me, Chris Pratt!
As fans rejoice the “return of cinema” after Illumination’s recent announcements, the initial reviews for new The Super Mario Bros. Movie have come out — and they’re not good. Right now, with the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score hovering at an approximate aggregate of 40-50%, early reviews have indicated an almost disturbingly dark bent. Perhaps high expectations played a little into it, but a score this low does not indicate a particularly stable future.
The new Super Mario movie is definitely going to need all it can get from theater-going audiences to turn a decent profit, as word of mouth and high movie review scores have absolutely had positive effects on astounding movie successes in recent times — DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) and even Chris Pine-leading Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves — both more “niche” movies that have found surprising success despite being predicted flops. On the other hand, we have also seen films like Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) fall in box office takings after a stronger initial opening.
Recently, when Discussing Film reported the news about The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s disappointing critical reception, many came out in support of the film despite its low scores, citing controversial films like 2020’s Cuties, that still have a 87% “Certified Fresh” rating on websites like Rotten Tomatoes. This is largely in an effort to discredit critic reviews, as the Cuties film has been largely panned for having alleged “pedophilic” elements. As user @shoe0nhead states:
idc (I don’t care)
idc pic.twitter.com/oSmfno6fJj
— shoe (@shoe0nhead) April 4, 2023
But what are fans actually saying in response to these reviews, and how might this affect The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Well, some are rather devastated at the news, as @iraliwontmiss posts with accompanying meme images of “distressed Pedro Pascal”:
NOOOO
NOOOO pic.twitter.com/SJY3NxC6w0
— iko x (@irakliwontmiss) April 4, 2023
But conversely, it’s good news for those behind (and rooting for) the picture for Shigeru Miyamoto’s Nintendo, as it seems that despite these disappointing reviews, fans seem more than willing to turn out for the family friendly film. As user @InfernoOmni adds, with nearly 15K likes at the time of writing:
don’t care. we still watching.
don’t care. we still watching. pic.twitter.com/gRkMXmI0X5
— Omni ☕️ (@InfernoOmni) April 4, 2023
Will Chris Pratt’s star power and Mario vocal chops be enough to bring the new Super Mario Bros. Movie to mainstream box office success? Perhaps not. But it definitely seems that fans are willing to go all out to see the fun, flashy, nostalgia-grabbing movie in person — in what could be one of the major feel-good films of 2023. Whether this will truly prove one of those films that do well with audiences despite tanking with critics? Only time will tell.
What do you think about The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s chances? Is Chris Pratt a big enough draw? Share your thoughts in the comments below!