The actor was in NYC Wednesday -- the same day the new animated film hit theaters -- and we got him to sound off on whether he'd changed his opinion from last year ... namely, whether he'd be watching the new adaptation of everyone's favorite video game character.

As it turns out, John hasn't budged on his original position ... dude's definitely not catching it, and he's still pissed there weren't any Latinos to be cast.

In between photos he was taking with fans on the street, John reiterated what he's been going on about since the fall ... basically, he feels like Nintendo and the studio heads behind 'SMBM' took a step backward by getting Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as Mario/Luigi -- neither of whom technically have Italian roots ... unlike their made-up characters.

You'll recall ... Bob Hoskins and John played the roles, respectively, in the live-action version.

JL says he wanted to see a Hispanic actor in the lineup again, and is sour that nobody from Latin America got a shot. It's unclear if John is advocating for true/accurate casting -- for which there's been a big push -- or if he just wants to see more Latin representation.