Sonic Live Action Movie Thread (Read OP for topic rules) "Trailer 2 on Page 482)

[CaptainRobo]

So, Ben has see the redesign and he say that it’s good.:

BTW, on a unrelated note, I realized that today is Ben’s birthday. So, happy birthday to him! Yay!

[Blue Blood]

9 minutes ago, CaptainRobo said:

So, Ben has see the redesign and he say that it’s good.:

BTW, on a unrelated note, I realized that today is Ben’s birthday. So, happy birthday to him! Yay!

I'm glad that Ben says that he likes it, because the opinion of the actor for the main character of a film in production is going to be impartial and honest. 

I'm not throwing shade at Ben here nor am I shitting on what he says, but it means literally 

nothing.

[Rabid-Coot]

Everybody involved with the production was on some everything is great don't worry with the old design too.

[SaturnWolf]

I'm glad Ben likes it and happy birthday to him and all, but I don't know how many times we have to repeat that "Person attached to project insists it's good" isn't a topic worth discussing

[CaptainRobo]

So, this was supposed to be the early version of the plot before Paramount take over the development of the movie.:

 

[Gamecuber64]

This might sound odd (this is just a prediction), but I think they may have purposely been trying to make Sonic look at least a little bit weird from the very beginning, and they definitely wanted the humanoid look.

I mean, he IS an alien, and the movie is aiming for a realistic look. Tom screamed when he first saw him. Apparently Sonic has kind of a Rocket from GOTG vibe in the film. Patrick Casey and Josh Miller initially didn't realize how iconic the character was until later when they were hired (they thought it was obscure and something they could expand more on). Were they intentionally aiming for this and just didn't expect the backlash?

[Sega DogTagz]

1 hour ago, Gamecuber64 said:

Were they intentionally aiming for this and just didn't expect the backlash?

I'm sure they went into the project understanding that there would be some backlash if they messed with the design. There always is something akin to an uproar when we first see the CG models for these kinds of movies. Paramount themselves have experience with this, and plenty of examples. It be stupid to think anything otherwise.

I think the fault here was the guesstimate that the uproar would peak and then mellow out to apathy - like it always does. But what they failed to realize is this fanbase is already fairly jaded and the movie started out behind the skepticism 8 ball the day it was revealed to be live action - so the response was much more visceral than usual.

 

I'm sure all the moving parts involved in this had the best intentions of seeing their vision realized... but the unappealing end result combined with the lukewarm reception at best of what we've seen so far, combined with the lack of "Sonic" designs and elements, combined with the cynicism... it just snowballed into a perfect storm.

[CaptainRobo]

The development of this movie is very weird and confusing.:

First, this was all announced back in 2014 with Sony until Paramount take over back in 2017. Van and his partner were confirmed to be writing the movie until Patrick Casey and Josh Miller replaced them. The development got quiet until the filming and the cast were announced last year.

Back in 2015,  Iizuka was confirmed on Facebook that he was supervising the movie.

Spoiler

Source

However despite that, he confirmed that he was not actually involved in the movie according to an interview with ladbible.:

"It's not a SEGA movie - we're not making it, or anything - and I'm only an advisor, really. But I do get shown things, and the [movie team] ask for my opinion. I'm also listening to what the fans are saying, and I'll feed that back to the director - he, and the producers, are very interested in receiving that feedback. At the end of the day, it's up to the team at Paramount to make something successful, but we're all looking forward to seeing the finished movie."
 

Source

At the end of 2016, Van who is one of the former writers promised that Sonic won't look too different.:

When Sonic’s movie design got revealed at the end of last year and it got a lot of backlash. Jeff and Tim has responded to the criticism and promised changes to the design back in January. 

Despite that they still go with the design. 

Look how that ended up.:

Spoiler

 

The movie was originally going to be set to be released in 2018 which was last year, but got then pushed to this year. However again, thanks to the complaints, the movie got pushed again to next year.:

https://screencrush.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-2018/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sonic-hedgehog-movie-sets-2019-release-date-1086760

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/05/sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-delayed-2020-redesign/amp

If the film was announced back in 2014 and soon push back to 2020 then we will be waiting for this movie for about 7 years. That’s a long time! 

 

 

[OnyxCrimsonBlur]

To be perfectly honest though I'd rather have the movie pushed back and be decent than have it release and be terrible. It happens a lot, sadly, that things are released before they're ready.

[CaptainRobo]

1 hour ago, OnyxCrimsonBlur said:

To be perfectly honest though I'd rather have the movie pushed back and be decent than have it release and be terrible. It happens a lot, sadly, that things are released before they're ready.

Agreed. I feel like the redesign was a good move for the people working on this movie. I’m glad they push it back. You really don’t see an decision like this made in Hollywood that often. It’s a shame that this got into a really big mess. Hopefully, the redesign look more like the one that we are always familiar with.  

[OnyxCrimsonBlur]

5 hours ago, CaptainRobo said:

Agreed. I feel like the redesign was a good move for the people working on this movie. I’m glad they push it back. You really don’t see an decision like this made in Hollywood that often. It’s a shame that this got into a really big mess. Hopefully, the redesign look more like the one that we are always familiar with.  

I hope it looks like what we're familiar with too. I'm honestly a bit nervous to see what we're going to be dealing with for the updated look. Especially since this one was so 'not Sonic' to put it rather politely.

[The Famous Sonic]

What if the redesign is even worse than the other design?! 

[OnyxCrimsonBlur]

Just now, The Famous Sonic said:

What if the redesign is even worse than the other design?! 

Perish the thought.

[MainJP]

Ngl, I forgot this movie was a thing till recent. 

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, The Famous Sonic said:

What if the redesign is even worse than the other design?! 

I love shitting on all the dumb things that this franchise has done and continues to do, with the movie and Sonic's design therein being the latest in a long list of fuck ups. But l have to say that the new design looking worse than the original one is so unlikely that it's virtually impossible. The original design was bad. Bad enough for what feels like the entire world to come together to tear it apart and force the studio to admit that they need to go back to the drawing board. All of the problems with the design and execution have been documented by Sonic fans, movie fans, impartial critics and industry contemporaries. We even know for a fact that SEGA, the IP holders, were dissatisfied with the design from the get-go but were relatively unable to take control because of how licensing rights are handled for cases such as this.

The design will be improved. There's absolutely no way that Sonic's design is going to look worse. It might not look good (personally speaking I'm still expecting it to look pretty crap) and there there will always be issues with how appears in a live-action setting because of subjective opinions. But it will be better than this:

 

[The Famous Sonic]

I just hope the new design will wear gloves. 

[Dr Ryan]

2 hours ago, The Famous Sonic said:

I just hope the new design will wear gloves. 

Really though, I know a lot of people say gloves and teeth... But surely the eyes are the most obvious design issue. Such a distinctive part of the design and they have ruined it. It's even the Sonic Team logo!

If this design doesn't fix the eyes to mono-style it will never look right.

White hands in place of gloves is fine with me.

[The Famous Sonic]

But it wouldn't be fine if Sonic wasn't wearing shoes! 

[Splash the Otter]

3 hours ago, Dr Ryan said:

Really though, I know a lot of people say gloves and teeth... But surely the eyes are the most obvious design issue. Such a distinctive part of the design and they have ruined it. It's even the Sonic Team logo!

If this design doesn't fix the eyes to mono-style it will never look right.

It'll look fine! Sonic looks better with two separate eyes anyway.

[Dr Ryan]

1 hour ago, Splash the Otter said:

It'll look fine! Sonic looks better with two separate eyes anyway.

Respectfully... That is madness lol. It's like saying Mickey Mouse looks better without ears or Homer Simpson looks better without yellow skin. It's absolutely integral to the design and has been for almost 30 years. It's iconic AF.

In my opinion of course!

Sonic with separate eyes looks wrong. It doesn't look like Sonic and there is no reason to change it for the movie.

If we can have a live action Mr Mime and Ditto, we can have a live action, mono-eye Sonic.

[Splash the Otter]

14 hours ago, Dr Ryan said:

Respectfully... That is madness lol. It's like saying Mickey Mouse looks better without ears or Homer Simpson looks better without yellow skin. It's absolutely integral to the design and has been for almost 30 years. It's iconic AF.

Mickey's ears and Homer's skin tone are iconic. Sonic's mono-eye is a minor detail. Nothing of value is lost by removing it.

14 hours ago, Dr Ryan said:

Sonic with separate eyes looks wrong. It doesn't look like Sonic and there is no reason to change it for the movie.

Would you mind explaining why you think it looks "wrong" or "not like Sonic"? Because it looks fine to me.

14 hours ago, Dr Ryan said:

If we can have a live action Mr Mime and Ditto, we can have a live action, mono-eye Sonic.

But I don't like mono-eye Sonic! And anyway, Mr Mime and Ditto are supposed to look weird. Sonic isn't.

[MainJP]

1 hour ago, Splash the Otter said:

Mickey's ears and Homer's skin tone are iconic. Sonic's mono-eye is a minor detail. Nothing of value is lost by removing it.

How is that a minor detail? It makes up almost his entire face.

It's one of the first things people notice about his appearance. Across all of his official incarnations that's one of the most consistent elements of his design, dude!

Quote

But I don't like mono-eye Sonic!

That explains the mental gymnastics. You could have just led with that instead of wasting time trying to say they aren't iconic.

[Blue Blood]

I don't think that the issue is mono-eye or not. As @MainJP correctly pointed out, Sonic's eyes make up almost his entire face. The shape and size of his eyes very important to his design, even if they're not as immediately as iconic as Mickey's ears, the Simpsons' yellow skin or indeed Sonic's own blue fur and spikes. The issue with the movie design is that Sonic's eyes are small, round circles instead of large, dynamic and angled. Eyes are a more subtle part of Sonic's design than his spikes and they can be messed around with, but its important that the size and shape are kept relatively the same. 

[Dr Ryan]

I think MainJP and Blue Blood have nailed it with their replies already.

It's definitely a key part of the design. As important as the spikes IMO.

I mean... Look at Sonic Team's logo lol.

 

[Blue Blood]

I'll just stress that I don't think that mono-eye is essential for movie Sonic to look good. I would like him to have the mono-eye of course, but it's more important that they're closer to the usual shape. You can still make Sonic look like Sonic with some changes to his eye shape. They're am important, but more subtle detail.