Forget Chris Pratt, Jack Black's Bowser is the real star of the Mario movie trailer

It's here! At long last. That famous Miyamoto quote of a delayed movie eventually being good (or something to that extent) looks to ring true more than ever with the debut of The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer.

Beginning development seven years ago, Nintendo creative fellow (yes, that's his real title) Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri debuted the first teaser for the upcoming Mario movie – and boy, was it worth the wait. The Mushroom Kingdom is gorgeous! The colours pop majestically with the animated worlds feeling like something straight out of a video game.

Of course, the big discussion was about Mario himself and how he would sound, courtesy of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt. Well, to the surprise of no one, Chris Pratt sounds like Chris Pratt. It's the most disappointing thing about the two-and-half-minute clip, again raising the topic of why Hollywood refuses to hire proper voice actors for voice acting roles. It was the same with Ben Schwartz in the Sonic movie and it's the same here. 

Check out the first teaser trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie below: 

The one exception to this is the ever-endearing Jack Black. When the Mario cast was unveiled for the first time last year, the laughable list – which included Anya Taylor–Joy as Princess Peach and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong – was only given some brief spark of hope by the casting of Black as Bowser. And the School of Rock actor again proves his worth with the brief lines shared in the trailer. You can tell Black cares about this role, something I can't say Pratt shares about playing the athletic plumber. 

Focusing on Bowser in the opening clearly shows the makers know that Black is the real star of the film, breathing fire over an ice kingdom featuring the penguins from Super Mario 64. It's wonderful to witness. Regardless of Pratt, I'm genuinely thrilled this movie exists and looks as good as it does. Could we finally be past the era of terrible video game films? Sonic 2 proved they have real potential and the Mario movie could be the true first video game adaption to be brilliant from start to end. Worst comes to worst, we could always just watch the French version.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie stars Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sebastian Maniscalco and Jack Black. It will premiere in theatres in the US on April 7th, 2023. 

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