The first trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie was better than it had any right to be, give or take how you felt the moment Chris Pratt’s Mario opened his mouth and started speaking, and now Nintendo and Illumination have already released a second trailer for 2023's most highly anticipated/dreaded animated film. This new trailer features the debut of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach, Charlie Day’s Luigi, and Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong, with Mario’s dad Shigeru Miyamoto explaining in a video put out by Nintendo that they redesigned DK for the very first time since he was translated into a 3D character (his eyes look different!).
But, come on, there are two bigger things in this trailer beyond appearances from more members of the Mario Bros. family: First of all, Chris Pratt barely says anything other than classic Mario lines (“Let’s-a go!” and “Wahoo!”), which is good, but also they drive freakin’ Mario Karts! We would’ve thought they’d save that for a sequel, or maybe a second sequel, but directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (from Teen Titans Go!) are clearly pulling in every Super Mario thing they can for this. How else can you explain the bridge surrounded by jumping Cheep Cheeps? And the Tanooki Suit (not Raccoon Mario, specifically the suit)? Those are things from the games!
Look, we like being cynical and pessimistic as much as anyone, but… these trailers have been kind of great? What if this movie is incredible? Is it possible that the studio that makes millions of dollars from the beloved Despicable Me franchise, paired with a couple of animation directors who have a proven track record of taking something that seems bad on paper and making it great, could actually make something good?!
