Mario Movie Improves On Characters Who Didn't Have "Much Of A Personality", Says Director

somehow i lost interest in the film even before this interview. i have the feeling the franchise used is interchangeable. it is certainly a well and effortfully produced, but generic animation film.

Yeah I always play Mario games thinking you know what these characters would be a lot better if they were just like the annoying cringe worthy characters from Illumination films

We will see their personality once the movie has been released.

Director of movie says people he hired for his movie are great...

We'll see. One of the reasons I prefer Luigi to Mario is because Mario lacks his brother's personality.

Well just as long as every female character is a strong woman, because we have a lack of female empowering strong women in movies who are capable of violence, I mean even South Park has a vice principle who’s a strong woman now!

I'm glad they did a good job and I can't wait to see it, but..

Is it me or every time there is a movie or serie adaptation of a game there is always a comment about how they fixed or improved something about the characters or world?

Many videogames and their characters are iconic for a reason you know? Do your variant, sure, I see why you have to, but don't claim you fixed what was not broken to begin with >.>;

mario games are more or less arcady in nature, so character development isn't really at the forefront most times. I don't really understand though what there is to "improve" in terms of personality, because the games were made with a specific artistic vision that filled the role of every character accordingly. Seems more like bad wording to me.

The Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series beg to differ.

I agree with the person above me! I mean just look at origami king, all they were more limited with characters yet they were still great! Bob, ):

I was kinda disinterested in this movie anyway but now I also dislike the guy. He can f**k right off.

And thank god Mario isn't just Chris Pratt in a costume in the games. Sure, he's nothing special, but that's the point, just a hero who goes around doing hero stuff with a jolly vibe to it all. I like what the movie seems to be doing with these characters but they can exist seperately.

The appeal of Nintendo's characters, arguably, is that they are mostly silent (or nearly silent) ciphers for the player to map on their own expectations/traits of the character. That's what makes them so timeless and enjoyable. Whole different appeal to video game characters like Sonic, who have a whole personality kind of baked into the character.

Does that really matter to the success of the movie? Probably not. I think we've seen Mario projects do this before (like those old shows, or that other movie). It'll probably follow in those lines. It'll be funny, maybe a bit cool, kind of fun, but lacking that sort of mind-blowing greatness of a Mario Galaxy or a Mario Odyssey because I think, essentially, it's that fusion of gameplay and those cipher(ish) characters that makes the real Mario magic happen.

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed «we have a lack of female empowering strong women in movies who are capable of violence»
Erm... What's about main heroines in horror movies and, especially, in slashers? I'm so tired of the "final girl" trope, you can't even imagine that. At least, we have Ashley "Ash" Willams, Chlid's Play's protagonist, Phantasm's protagonist, Tommy Jarvis... Who are "final boys", not girls.

Ah yes, more “let’s throw professional voice actors under the bus in favor of actors that have no experience with voice acting so they use their typical voices!”

Keep sullying the art form with your overemphasis on big name marketing.

From what little i saw from the trailer,i liked how the characters acted.They are pretty similar to the games/ old cartoon.Only one different is Peach.But i like that,i like that she's no generic damsel-in distress like the games.She's basically Smash Bros Peach with a deeper voice(which she had in early 3D games anyway,became higher pitched only later).

Yeah make Peach a generic tough girl with no flaws they could have done similar to her in Super Princess Peach game have some flaws but there's balance in her character.

I'm still not on Seth Rogen voicing DK he sounds like not trying and man that guy ain't funny.

I like the mario games because they are timeless classic and gives good feel on adventure thats why I like about Super Mario Odyssey and Galaxy this one just looks really generic we see for final product.

I'm glad they used the word "literally",
otherwise I wouldn't have understood what they meant.

@Vyacheslav333 I was being sarcastic with my post 😉

We have to have Strong independent women in everything!

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed Just like we have to strong men everything!

Now everyone can be strong and independent and that's awesome.

This kinda sounds like a "Our film is much better than video games because games are only toys while movies are true art" sort of interview. I know the Mario cast aren't the deepest characters, but they obviously have tons of personality that shine through. Not saying that the movie can't have good character improvement, but there was already stuff there that they should of acknowledged

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed heaven forbid a women is strong hey! what a bizarre comment you are making here.

No matter how he is presented in the movie, nothing will beat Cranky Kong in the Rareware era.

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed Well, okay...

Wow ...Pretentious much?

I feel Nintendo has done a fine job Establishing who these characters are and done very well by doing it without dialog for many years. Building on top of that for a movie is fine, but personally, I feel like from the trailers, they turned Mario into a bumbling hero, which I don't think is necessary. I get they want to show growth of the protagonist, but it looks like Princess peach is going to be the wise sage character that gets Mario ready to save his brother.

Which really not the characters, but more Nintendo's characters are being molded to fit their standard Hollywood storytelling...

Don't get me wrong Still looking forward to seeing the movie in April, but the trailer doesn't make me feel like they are doing anything special.

"Not much personality"? I see we're continuing the narrative that characters absolutely need to have complex storylines/motivations in order to have "personality" when golden age characters like Mickey Mouse, Popeye, or the Looney Tunes tend to have straightforward stories but easily identifiable and beloved personalities. The Mario cast is no different with the voice talents and animation in the games communicating their personalities with very few words.
Still looking forward to seeing this movie but wow, this guy is really passively taking a slap at not only the games' animators but at professional voice actors, which is ironic when the movie features the likes of Kevin Michael Richardson (as well as celebrities well-versed in voice acting like Jack Black and Keegan-Michael Key).

@Jeremazing But from a storytelling perspective that makes sense.

Mario is from the human world right? It would make sense that suddenly been thrust into a alien world would make him a bumbling hero who has to grow.

He doesn't know the rules of this world, and how things operate. Making him suddenly knowledgeable of all the inhabitants of the mushroom kingdom the second he lands, wouldn't be an interesting story of personal growth.

Peach being a wise sage makes sense because she is a resident of the mushroom kingdom and therefor understands how her universe works.

If you were to switch the characters stories around and have Peach land in new york city all of a sudden, she too would be a bumbling hero because the rules of Mario's world makes little sense to someone from a land of talking mushrooms.

I think you are being overly harsh here. Nintendo wouldn't approve of a script that made Mario out to be a total idiot. That's just standard storytelling of every hero's Journey.

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed yikes.. well I guess it wouldn't be the internet without this take in the comments somewhere. well done, guy

The thing is, if the movie isn't even any "good," it comes down to how much money the movie makes at the box office. To be considered a success, a movie has to make back at least twice it's budget, regardless of whether or not the film is any good.

The 1993 live-action Mario movie not only was poorly received with audiences, gamers, and critics, it didn't even make back it's budget. Hence why Nintendo waited for 30 years to try again with another movie.

And let's look at The Angry Birds Movie: it made back almost five times it's budget in ticket sales, even though it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 43%. Because of that, they made a sequel, which made back over twice the budget, but was received much better, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 73%.

The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie made back at least 3.5 times it's budget, despite a Rotten Tomatoes score of 63%. That was still enough to warrant a sequel, which made back 3-4 times it's budget, despite having a similar Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%. And a third movie is on the way.

So even if you don't like Mario, Chris Pratt's portrayal of him, or have no hopes that this movie will be any good, go see it anyway. Or at least buy the ticket and then do whatever you want with it; either give it away or throw it in the trash (just don't scalp it; that's a BIG no-no).

The reason is, if this movie is successful at the box office, it could not only spawn sequels that may be better than this one, it could also spawn films based on Nintendo franchises that we actually like, such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, and Super Smash Bros.

The more people realize that, the more likely we'll get those films. As it is, that's how I convinced my mother to go see it, because she is a BIG fan of The Legend of Zelda, and would love to see a movie based on that game. So I encourage everyone to heed my advice and go see this movie, even if it's not any good.

@AstroTheGamosian Dude/Dudette it's Mario. Every other kid and their grandpa knows about the character. Arguably more so than Sonic.

This film is going to make bank regardless of it's reception. That's just facts. All these people complaining in the comments or just other sites are a vocal minority (we need to stop pretending they have huge influence). A badly reviewed piece of media hasn't stopped it from making millions or billions.

There's too many parents with kids and too many Mario fans who don't waste their time online nitpicking for this film not to succeed. It's going to be a huge hit. Will it make a billion? eh maybe, maybe not, but whatever it's budget is, it's going to easily double or triple it.

This is the first major bad news I heard about the movie

These comments ain't it so here's an essay for yall:

The people in these comments are so blindly filled with hatred for a film that isn't even out yet. What the director is saying is absolutely correct, these characters are not known for MAINLINE story at all (be real, the common audience doesn't know Paper Mario's story). The Mario series characters are very blank canvas, and yes you can argue that's what makes them relatable/enjoyable, blank canvas characters don't work for a 90 minute film.

While yes it is always nice to see lesser known voices get the spotlight, we have to be realistic. You can see it with the new TMNT movie, people aren't saying anything about the main turtles VA, who are lesser known actors, but instead are BLOWING UP about the rest of the cast, and the same people excited over that are the same people ***** on this film for celebrity casting. Celebrity casting gets people excited and adds to the films hype, simple as that. They are known actors for a reason, they get these roles because audiences enjoy them and their work. They wouldn't get hired otherwise. For this origin story of Mario, a blue collar worker from real world Brooklyn, Pratt and Day fit the role. As much as I love Martinet, there is a limit with that voice with how natural and emotionally backed you can get with it, and it would be tough for most audiences to listen to for extended periods of time. Not saying at all he isn't a valid VA, because he absolutely is, it's just a character issue. Also thinking its a jab at Martinet in anyway, cmon, get over yourselves.

@Keyblade-Dan The whole reason everyone is so surprised with the quality of this film so far is that it is such a far deviation from Illuminations past works. From what we have seen, they act nothing like their past characters or even have that same feel.

There are plently of video games where they do have and show personality.

Giving them personality that works well in movie form is great for a movie, saying they don't ever have personality otherwise though is just wrong.

I mean there are some games where there isn't much but gameplay comes first and there are plently of video games where they do show a lot of personality.

@steely_pete What did he even say lmao. What he said was absolutely correct.

@Vexx234

I guess I'm saying if it's the tropes of every story, how is it a more enjoyable experience when they just molding the story be retold, with Mario Characters?

I argue storytelling has become obsessed with the Hero's Journey, and with little to few steps away from it. Not that I expect Nintendo to be the one to step away from it, but I wish they did here. I just feel like a story could have been told without it, with the Mario characters.

@Vexx234 I'm well aware that Mario is quite well-known, and I do hope the movie does well based on that alone.

But in regards to what you said about it being a vocal minority, even if they are a minority, the louder their bullhorn, the more people will listen. Remember the tenets of the Big Lie: if you repeat it enough times, people will eventually believe it, regardless of the facts.

So if these people who hate the movie before it even comes out, regardless of whether or not it's actually good, are able to convince enough people to not watch it based on what they said about it, it will lead to diminished box office returns.

And it will result in Nintendo not making another movie (Pokémon notwithstanding) for 30 years, if ever again. And for those of us who do want to see these other franchises brought to life, this rhetoric only serves to hurt us.

That's why people like you and me need to get the word out to as many people as possible in order to combat these detractors. The more we can convince people to go see it, if only so we can get a Zelda or Metroid movie, the better.

@Jeremazing True, recently with all these franchises coming out on tv and movies the hero's journey is becoming a bit stale. Sadly its used as the staple for the majority of storytelling so not many people venture outside of it because it's safe and reliable.

But, I agree with you, that's not the only approach to storytelling and it would be interesting to see more films do something differently. Right now the only approach is to do a spin on it.

@quinnyboy58 Heaven forbid that films are made without having to push any social justice narrative, I mean we have had strong female leads for decades, but it’s not new ground, but it’s being pushed today that every female in the movies has to now to be strong, that’s what I find amusing and ridiculous. I don’t want to go in full essay of what I find wrong with this narrative but to me it’s like having a camp gay character or a chubby character in movies to have for the comic relief, having the clumsy and camp but for nothing more, nothing deeper, nothing meaningful

I am referring to Peach’s character of course and having her as strong female lead while it would appear form the trailers that Mario is the bumbling idiotic moron

@Bratwurst35 But who’s pushed that narrative that all men are strong? Hollywood has done that and it’s now being done with female leads and it’s just as boring.

@AstroTheGamosian Mario is an established character. He's like the Mickey of videogames.

Instead of a long winded post, I'll simply say "Mario is too big too fail." The chances of this film being a flop are astronomical.

Is he talking about chris pratt souless perfomance? Even mario rpg has bigger character

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed Um no. Hollywood didn't do that. You do know in the grand scheme of history film is a fairly recent form of media right?

Books are older and the this trope of men are always being strong by default dates way back to some of the oldest written works in history. Where do you think "Damsel in distress" comes from?

You can't blame Hollywood for an agenda that was already pushed long before they entered the scene.

@Fangleman32 Let’s be honest here, todays youth and younger audiences aren’t reading the old books of the past so yes I’d say Hollywood have created the modern idea of what they believe strong characters are, they have pushed that narrative and kept it alive. We will have to disagree on that, horses for courses

I like my characters to be messed up, a little naive, be adaptable to change, even to be weak and show weakness at times and even be a damsel now and then, because the best characters are a array of emotions, I’m also all those things, and if Hollywood want to keep pushing that agenda that all women must be strong like the men are, then that’s going to be just as generic and boring as most of the forgettable films are of today and yesterday.

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed You can't create something that's been already been created. All Hollywood did was adapt those books into a moving picture. The idea was already created, it was already established.

The narrative was already pushed and it was kept alive long before the idea of a motion picture existed. You may not like it and that's fine, but Hollywood is not the sole one to blame that ingrained idea at all.

@Frailbay30 You can also say much of it is media too, but that goes hand in hand with film, it’s all churning out the same garbage and people are unfortunately growing custom or desensitised to that kind of rot

Hope they’re taking notes from Mario strikers (as in the characters’ personalities in their animations not releasing a half-finished product lmao)

@BiscuitCrumbsInMyBed Peach has always been a badass, so why shouldn't she also be strong in the movie? It's very telling when you have guys upset over something like that, especially when it comes to a fictional character.

I grew up watching all 3 Mario cartoons, so they already had personalities.

Oh boy can’t wait to hear about that “personality”. This is the same people that said Chris Pratt was the perfect pick for Mario.

I am so shocked at how many of you bristle at this. Miyamoto himself downplays character development because he makes GAMES. This guy makes MOVIES. If you take these game characters, who need little to no personality for their games, and you need to make them interesting for a movie, then he is absolutely right. What a bunch of whiners you all are!

@Vexx234 We can certainly hope.

This is why movies and video games are generally best kept separate.

@Horace All characters have their own personalities. The storylines are always different of course just like anything ever made period. The fact that this movie takes those personalities and makes them something different than who these characters are is what will kill the movie, that and Chris Pratt’s god awful Mario.