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

[Blueknight V2.0]

No problem! Just wanted to give a heads up on that.

[Sonario]

Hmmm, we'll just have to wait and see what the movie does, then. It's going to be a damn shame if it doesn't do well after they took the time to listen to fan backlash, something almost nobody else does. People only care about Marvel, Disney and Comic Book Movies nowadays. Underrated wonders like Detective Pikachu or Godzilla don't get enough love. I can only hope this catches a few eyes and does well. If it does, I bet a Robotnik centric thing is a given, if not, that'd be sad but at least we'll still have this one appearance. Plus the games will still be around at least. And who knows, maybe someone else will give it a shot later on (hopefully more involved with Sonic Team or at least someone who knows Sonic well. And also an animated movie with a more established Sonic world this time, like Unleashed or something would be nice. Marza Planet could make it breathtaking)

[CaptainRobo]

Remember the Talking Sonic plushie? Well, here is the full picture.:

[Almar]

2 hours ago, Sonario said:

Hmmm, we'll just have to wait and see what the movie does, then. It's going to be a damn shame if it doesn't do well after they took the time to listen to fan backlash, something almost nobody else does. People only care about Marvel, Disney and Comic Book Movies nowadays. Underrated wonders like Detective Pikachu or Godzilla don't get enough love. I can only hope this catches a few eyes and does well. If it does, I bet a Robotnik centric thing is a given, if not, that'd be sad but at least we'll still have this one appearance. Plus the games will still be around at least. And who knows, maybe someone else will give it a shot later on (hopefully more involved with Sonic Team or at least someone who knows Sonic well. And also an animated movie with a more established Sonic world this time, like Unleashed or something would be nice. Marza Planet could make it breathtaking)

Are we still acting like the older design is the only thing to object to about the movie? And not you know, Sonic's personality, pushing the Two-Worlds retcon with what it suggests about Sonic and his place among humans (which the movie says he has to be all off-the-wall while the humans besides Eggman aren't since he needs to be in opposition to humans)...

[Rabid-Coot]

2 hours ago, Sonario said:

Hmmm, we'll just have to wait and see what the movie does, then. It's going to be a damn shame if it doesn't do well after they took the time to listen to fan backlash, something almost nobody else does.

It can both fail to turn a profit and be proof that listening to feedback is worthwhile if not ideal for Paramount. A dissapointing loss is better than a disasterous one.

[Almar]

There's more to what's wrong with this movie than a design of Sonic.

At the end of the day, he just doesn't act like the Sonic who became an icon. More of some weird composite of Meme Sonic and the already mentioned superheroes

[Blueknight V2.0]

1 hour ago, Almar said:

There's more to what's wrong with this movie than a design of Sonic.

At the end of the day, he just doesn't act like the Sonic who became an icon. More of some weird composite of Meme Sonic and the already mentioned superheroes

Not to be that guy, but this is an origin story. So by the way he acts, this is a younger Sonic than in the Modern games. It's the character we know him as that he has to grow into. Because look at it this way, if Sonic's personality was like the Adventure/Modern games from the start of the film. It would kind of do away with the "origin story" aspect.

Which ties into the whole "shoe" situation. How does he get his iconic shoes? Obviously he doesn't have any (Baby Sonic keychain), then comes to Earth and goes threw a bunch of them before getting the iconic ones. Of course, that's still to be confirmed, but that's what I'm getting.

[Almar]

37 minutes ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

Not to be that guy, but this is an origin story. So by the way he acts, this is a younger Sonic than in the Modern games. It's the character we know him as that he has to grow into.

Just an attempt to make Sonic into a poor man's superhero.

37 minutes ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

Because look at it this way, if Sonic's personality was like the Adventure/Modern games from the start of the film. It would kind of do away with the "origin story" aspect.

Not really, unless you subscribe to the George Lucas Rule of prequel making. Not every part of Sonic as a character needs a dark mysterious past to address. He may just be like that.

37 minutes ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

Which ties into the whole "shoe" situation. How does he get his iconic shoes? Obviously he doesn't have any (Baby Sonic keychain), then comes to Earth and goes threw a bunch of them before getting the iconic ones. Of course, that's still to be confirmed, but that's what I'm getting.

How is showing how Sonic got his shoes not just cheap fanservice? They're shoes. Men buy shoes. And his shoes are a Michael Jackson reference to begin with.

Also:

>comes to Earth

Notice the problem with that. Also, I'll point out that if anything Sonic's backstory in this movie would fit his intended personality by Naka and Co. better than what it's actually doing. What with him lounging around when not seeking fun, telling Tails to shut up for annoying him, etc.

[Diogenes]

50 minutes ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

Not to be that guy, but this is an origin story. So by the way he acts, this is a younger Sonic than in the Modern games. It's the character we know him as that he has to grow into. Because look at it this way, if Sonic's personality was like the Adventure/Modern games from the start of the film. It would kind of do away with the "origin story" aspect.

Even if they insisted on making it an origin story, there's any number of ways they could've written him, they weren't locked into this specific interpretation.

[Stasis]

Regarding him getting his shoes, I'm getting StC vibes where Kintobor gives him the friction resistant pair to enable him to run faster. 

[Scritch the Cat]

I don't expect this movie to nail its goals, but I think Almar et al may be extrapolating too much about Sonic's behavior from what elements are being shown in the trailer.  Sure; being laid back may be as much a part of his character as being a thrill seeker, clown and superhero, but those are the flashy things Sonic is marketed around.  Lounging on a reclining chair, which is something anyone can do, regardless of physical abilities, is not trailer material.  Doing things that utilize Sonic's abilities certainly is.

[Blacklightning]

4 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

I don't expect this movie to nail its goals, but I think Almar et al may be extrapolating too much about Sonic's behavior from what elements are being shown in the trailer.  Sure; being laid back may be as much a part of his character as being a thrill seeker, clown and superhero, but those are the flashy things Sonic is marketed around.  Lounging on a reclining chair, which is something anyone can do, regardless of physical abilities, is not trailer material.  Doing things that utilize Sonic's abilities certainly is.

Why not do both? Have him chill out in places only he can get to.

Shit, one of the pre-redesign posters was already exactly that, which is probably the only compliment I ever would've paid it at that time.

 

[Almar]

It's not just him lounging around. It's him telling Tails to shut up for making a ruckus when he's relaxing, flipping the bird, ignoring Tails when he's gushing over the Egg Carrier transformation, even him giving the player a nasty look for taking too long.

[Indigo Rush]

Can't believe I'm saying this given my unbridled hatred for this movie before the redesign (still not sold on a live action Sonic film, but no point fighting it now), but maybe we should wait to see the film before we make a final call on Sonic's personality? Trailers can cut and twist footage in a matter that could totally change the perceived tone and pacing of the film... lest we forget Gangster's Paradise.

Also might be worth mentioning that this is (unfortunately) an origin story, so it could also involve Sonic shaping up into the more established personality type we're used to. Just throwing that idea out there. 

[Almar]

Sonic was already described in pre-release talk as an off-the-wall character. Aka the Sonic we actually see.

[Scritch the Cat]

2 hours ago, Almar said:

It's not just him lounging around. It's him telling Tails to shut up for making a ruckus when he's relaxing, flipping the bird, ignoring Tails when he's gushing over the Egg Carrier transformation, even him giving the player a nasty look for taking too long.

With the exception of that last one, none of those have been common things.  Prefer that brand of Sonic all you want, but to act as if Sonic has never before been portrayed as a goofball or superhero is objectively wrong.

And I think a big part of this is that we draw different conclusions of Sonic from the bit with him signaling impatience in his idle animations.  You extrapolate from that bit that Sonic is willing to be rude with very little provocation, thus grounds to complain that he is too pleasant here.  My interpretation is that Sonic loves moving and gets neurotic when he doesn't, thus grounds for me to appreciate how playful he is here.  And it's not like we're absolutely assured he won't ever mouth off to someone.

[Almar]

It's weird how you act like the proper series (so not like SatAM or something) when Sonic was actually a worthy rival of Mario (as in the Genesis Era games and Adventure) and expanded universe that actually had notable influence from Genesis Sonic's makers are irrelevant or one-offs rather than something that should define the character.

[StaticMania]

25 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

 You extrapolate from that bit that Sonic is willing to be rude with very little provocation, thus grounds to complain that he is too pleasant here.  My interpretation is that Sonic loves moving and gets neurotic when he doesn't, thus grounds for me to appreciate how playful he is here.

These are both weird interpretations of those idle animations when one of his listed traits that is that he's impatient.

The evolution of Sonic's idle animation leans towards getting bored/tired whenever the players not moving or stretching because the player isn't moving.

Sonic's no stranger to being hyperactive and bombastic, it's really rare in adaptations.

Sonic being an attitude-ridden rude snarky boy is just completely downplayed in favor of him being the more mellow adventurer he became since the jump to 3D.

Also, he's not very consistent.

[Blueknight V2.0]

2 hours ago, Indigo Rush said:

Also might be worth mentioning that this is (unfortunately) an origin story, so it could also involve Sonic shaping up into the more established personality type we're used to. Just throwing that idea out there. 

Basically my thoughts exactly!

[Scritch the Cat]

1 hour ago, Almar said:

It's weird how you act like the proper series (so not like SatAM or something) when Sonic was actually a worthy rival of Mario (as in the Genesis Era games and Adventure) and expanded universe that actually had notable influence from Genesis Sonic's makers are irrelevant or one-offs rather than something that should define the character.

They're not irrelevant or one-offs, but most of them offer only scant insight into Sonic's personality.  There's a big difference between tapping one's foot when waiting around, and giving someone the middle finger; not to mention being callous towards people drowning.  I seriously don't know why you're whining so damn much about the movie Sonic in particular not being mean enough, when Sonic hasn't acted that mean in any plots for over a decade.

As for DIC's take on things, it hasn't had much bearing on the games, but for a while it had quite an immense influence on other spin-off media.  It was many Western fans' impression of what Sonic's canon was, and even now, in IDW's new series, it lives on in the form of a more menacing Eggman.  This movie, while it is largely it's own thing, is not under any obligation to ignore DIC's Sonic media, and that it calls Robotnik by that surname and calls back to the idea of Sonic originating on another planet might well imply that it's pitched at old American fans; at least partially.

[Scritch the Cat]

1 hour ago, StaticMania said:

Sonic being an attitude-ridden rude snarky boy is just completely downplayed in favor of him being the more mellow adventurer he became since the jump to 3D.

Not completely downplayed.  He has his moments of shoving his swagger in peoples' faces, such as mocking air travel in the City Escape intro, spanking himself to taunt pursuing cops in Sonic X, of course numerous jabs at Eggman, and perplexingly even at emotionless robots who don't react in Sonic Colors.  Even in this movie's widely-despised first trailer, casually saying "I took nine-million steps today" before smashing a bunch of iDrones could count as an example.  However, there seem to be two primary rules to this:

1) Sonic will only deploy such mockery against those deliberately tormenting him.

2) There's always humor involved.  Maybe not LOL humor, but Sonic's mockeries are never just straight insults like "You're a moron!"

[StaticMania]

1 minute ago, Scritch the Cat said:

2) There's always humor involved.  Maybe not LOL humor, but Sonic's mockeries are never just straight insults like "You're a moron!"

Calling Knuckles a "knucklehead" was mean and completely uncalled for in Sonic Adventure.

[Scritch the Cat]

23 minutes ago, StaticMania said:

Calling Knuckles a "knucklehead" was mean and completely uncalled for in Sonic Adventure.

I don't exactly remember the context, but I'm pretty sure that at least part of that plot entailed Knuckles being duped by Eggman into attacking Sonic, again.  If that was the part, Sonic disparaging his intelligence, though rude, was not without some provocation.  Sonic called Knuckles dumb because he was, and dumb enough to endanger Sonic at that.

[Sonario]

Yeah I have to say that while Sonic's 'tude has been more and more downplayed in his modern appearances throughout different forms of media, I don't think he's ever been an outright jerk like he was in the OVA. Even in the genesis games, he was a little impatient and a little cocky, but he didn''t openly show contempt for Tails, the player or even Knuckles or Robotnik. Sure Sonic's not "supposed" to be a lighthearted hyperactive superhero type, but this is just one of the many incarnations of Sonic, it doesn't have to be exactly the same as OVA Sonic. Plus let's wait to see the actual movie before jumping to conclusions about how he's nothing like Sonic in terms of personality. We might get some other bits of characterizations different from what we've seen in the trailers so far since Sonic being a jerk wouldn't really be as marketable as him being a fun, hyperactive cartoon character (Something they probably realized after the reaction to the Gangsta's Paradise edgy trailer).

[Scritch the Cat]

6 minutes ago, Sonario said:

Yeah I have to say that while Sonic's 'tude has been more and more downplayed in his modern appearances throughout different forms of media, I don't think he's ever been an outright jerk like he was in the OVA.

Well, he was in Fleetway's series, but still, that's small minority of appearances.

7 minutes ago, Sonario said:

Sure Sonic's not "supposed" to be a lighthearted hyperactive superhero type,

Supposed by whom?  For all this talk of what Yuji Naka wanted him to be, what we ended up getting was at the most basic, a cartoon animal who rescued other cartoon animals.  I don't mind Sonic having a "'tude", but nothing in his earliest game appearances suggests that he resents saving those in trouble.  Sonic is a superhero, by very definition of having abilities outside the normal realm of possibility, rescuing others, and battling villains.  As for lighthearted, that was generally what DIC portrayed, but it's not really at odds with what I saw in the games.  Hyperactive...well yeah; this movie's Sonic seems to be more of that than any past incarnation.  Still, I don't see how it's a problem.