Sonic 2 Movie Spoiler Thread (Mostly Untagged Spoilers)

[Zadent]

13 hours ago, The Great Egg Emperor said:

Now that Shadow has been confirmed, who should voice him? I kind of want Robert Pattinson, but that's just me.

I’m of 2 minds here. If going for a big name like Idris Elba for Knuckles, Keanu could be a good pick, imo. But I’d be lying if I wouldn’t enjoy them doing like the did for Tails, and bring one of the actual voice actors in, though I’d want Jason Griffith for that (Jeff Fowler said he was involved in the cinematics for ShTH, so that’d be a neat throwback as well).

[VO.SUPER]

Honestly, I imagine game voices will be for side characters. I just have a feeling if Paramount is following the trend of this movie, they'd get a game voice for someone like Rouge or Amy and then get a celebrity for Shadow. 

[HywelAtTheMoon]

12 minutes ago, VO.SUPER said:

Honestly, I imagine game voices will be for side characters. I just have a feeling if Paramount is following the trend of this movie, they'd get a game voice for someone like Rouge or Amy and then get a celebrity for Shadow. 

I don't know. Keanu would make a great Espio. He has a thing for popping up in weird roles, especially if it's a kids film. He played a ball of tumbleweed in a Spongebob movie, if I recall.

[Sega DogTagz]

I doubt we see any more game VAs jumping over. Colleen just kinda got the job by defacto.

Paramount probably didn't want to waste manpower hunting out a VA for Tails 1 line in the end credits line for a movie that might bomb anyway, so using the videogame actor was the path of least resistance. No one was sure that this thing would turn into a franchise, so they saved some cash and played it safe.

The first movie did surprisingly well, and here we are a few years later. They could have tried to re-cast Tails, but we have already seen how vocal the Sonic community is about the little things regarding this movie and a switch away from a video game accurate voice actor would not bode well for that. They were kinda stuck.

 

The guys in charge of casting for these movies have pulled 2 guys from left field (Idra and Jim) and hit home-runs. I'll probably scratch my head for a few seconds with whoever they pick for new characters moving forward, but they have earned the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

[Zadent]

Yeah, I figure Jason is unlikely. Just a bit of wishful thinking, as his voice is the one I always hear for Shadow, and it’d have been a neat detail since he and Jeff both were involved in the game in some capacity. Given how he’s set up though, yeah, they’ll likely go for a bigger name.

[VO.SUPER]

1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

I doubt we see any more game VAs jumping over. Colleen just kinda got the job by defacto.

Paramount probably didn't want to waste manpower hunting out a VA for Tails 1 line in the end credits line for a movie that might bomb anyway, so using the videogame actor was the path of least resistance. No one was sure that this thing would turn into a franchise, so they saved some cash and played it safe.

The first movie did surprisingly well, and here we are a few years later. They could have tried to re-cast Tails, but we have already seen how vocal the Sonic community is about the little things regarding this movie and a switch away from a video game accurate voice actor would not bode well for that. They were kinda stuck.

 

The guys in charge of casting for these movies have pulled 2 guys from left field (Idra and Jim) and hit home-runs. I'll probably scratch my head for a few seconds with whoever they pick for new characters moving forward, but they have earned the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

Truth be told, I dont think it was that as much as Paramount trying to keep the budget low by hiring a less mainstream actor. 

And some films will handle it this way. You had the canceled Sly Cooper film originally going to cast one mainstream actor, but go games cast for the side characters. 

It will depend on how Paramount weighs their options. Do they think more celebs will bring more people or are they satisfied with the growth of this movie with some of the concessions they made to casting. 

Even Shamar Moore isn't the most A-list celeb despite his segment of the film having him be pretty prominent. 

[azoo]

Colleen was a chance to go cheaper and also gain more favor from the fans in the same go. Pretty cut-and-dry imo.

[PeterPancake]

Adam Driver would also be a great pick 

[Razule]

I just saw the movie, and I'm confused about what happened to the echidnas. Was the implication supposed to have been that Longclaw and the warriors killed each other? And Knuckles was the only child in a village that consisted entirely of adult male warriors and no women? They must have already been on the brink of extinction.

[AuroraRedwinters]

7 hours ago, Razule said:

I just saw the movie, and I'm confused about what happened to the echidnas. Was the implication supposed to have been that Longclaw and the warriors killed each other? And Knuckles was the only child in a village that consisted entirely of adult male warriors and no women? They must have already been on the brink of extinction.

Yeah the whole setup has a lot of holes in it although it is implied both the echidnas and Longclaw perished in the fight somehow. I'm hoping the Knuckles series can fill in those gaps more. 

[___-_]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:15 PM, Diogenes said:

Well one is a mutated chao with a body composed of water, typically taking a humanoid form, but by absorbing chaos emeralds it can grow and change, at times resembling a shark, a spider or scorpion, or a giant sea serpent capable of wiping out a city.

And the other is a big mutated lizard on life support, eyeless, toothless, with malformed limbs, created in a lab in a search for immortality, a sickly lump of flesh in spite of its regenerative abilities.

Can't say I see much similarity between them.

Are you assuming any "connections" you've come up with are intentional clues, and not just your own unsupported reaches?

My bad I missed this, but yea for some reason I feel you keep trying to impose this rule, where because their outward appearances are different, that gives you the excuse to say there's simply no connection... when that's missing the point entirely. You keep trying to argue on a superficial level. Their main core elements and the idea of what they are about are the same. What is there not to get about that?

Please tell me. Why did you gloss over the fact that Chaos is also immortal just like the Biolizard? That's the main obvious point about this whole discussion we're having. This fact alone binds the two together and shows how they connect to Shadow and the entire plot of SA2, since he's also immortal, and this is what Professor Gerald was looking for Maria, was it not? Why do you ignore that there're literally Chaos prototypes all around the Ark and the Ark stages only... and then somehow come to the conclusion that there're absolutely no connection between Chaos and Biolizard? What more do you even need at that point? Who do you think made these prototypes? Sonic? Me? or Gerald? It's gotta be me, right, since I want my theory to work so damn badly, right? =P

But even going further, why do you not take into account the stage framing around the Ark levels and what type of story it has to tell for its level design? Going deeper into the Ark levels, clearly they become dramatically more water centric unlike anywhere else in the game other than the off 2 stages, even for Sonic, with Chaos prototypes being the main enemy type guarding these areas. We both know Chaos consists of water... so you see what I'm cooking up here, right? And even going further, the Ark itself, a stupidly and unnecessarily highly technologically advanced space station becomes weirdly tribal and archaic, referencing a more ancient time liking to Chaos and his image, showing off a giant serpent's head (something you described for Chaos, mind you) followed by a huge water slide literally leading to the Biolizard's lair, consisting of nothing but an oasis and a literal recreation of SA1's emerald shrine and some exposed organ like mechanism.... And you still say there's no connection? At all? The water, the serpent architect, the weird beating heart thing, the shrine and the Biolizard protecting it at all costs just like Chaos did is just a coincidence, right? Watch this @17:01 - 17:30.

 

 

Watch for yourself how the music goes from some crazy ass techno rock to tribal music akin to SA1's "Strain" theme, a theme heavily associated with Chaos. Now, why would they do this and only for this specific moment in the game and nowhere else? It's gotta be just another coincidence, right? All of Crush 40's and Jun Senoue guitars and synths broke that day so they had to settle with only drums, unfortunately =P.

Now watch this @0:30 and beyond:

Oh look, another ancient giant serpent head architect and various bodies of water that just so happens to be theming a little level called "Lost World" in SA1. Hmmmm, now why would the game designers do all that? I mean, it certainly couldn't be about Chaos, and the Biolizard being a weird giant serpent lizard thing was just pure coincidence going from SAONE to SATWO, right? Because after all, just like you said, Chaos can shapeshift into many things out of the convenience of destroying my entire argument. Mans can even turn into a shark, right? Hell, why not just use shark architect for everything in Lost World, then? It's literally genius since we've already seen Chaos turn into it before, sharks can swim and this is a water stage, right? Fuck a foreshadow.

Or, it's almost as if it's because it's not the point and not associated to Chaos's core imagery. Lore wise as shown in SA1's Lost World, in Echidna history, it's the giant serpent that they remember that destroyed everything. Not a shark. Not a scorpion. It's the serpent that they have plastered on their big ass mural because of that incident. The serpent god is what they know Chaos as and what they warn of anyone else. THIS is what Professor Gerald has been heavily hinted at seeing when basing the Biolizard after Chaos for his immortality project. How the hell else would he know about the emerald shrine that's quite clearly been remade in the Ark along with literally everything else? You conveniently dodged answering that. You literally see it right there, man.

Now for us, as in us actual players? No one's thinking about a shark or a spider/scorpion thing when thinking about Chaos. Literally no one associates Chaos as anything else but it's base form and then it's perfect form when they think of it. Its serpent form is LITERALLY the first thing we see of Chaos when we turn on SA1 and is arguably its most iconic iteration for crying out loud. And that's what the Biolizard is so quite obviously designed after to help us think what the game designers seemingly hinted at; The idea of Chaos and how he affects the story in SA2. It's in the Biolizards name ffs =P

But yea. I'm gonna leave it at that and not stress this anymore. At the end of the day, I'm just looking forward to Shadow in Sonic 3 and how they go about SA2 and possibly SA1 if they ever decide to. The real question is if they got the balls to stay faithful and have him cop a blicky for all these lil impressionist kids to replicate or be the cowards they are and not stay true to the source =P

[Diogenes]

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

Please tell me. Why did you gloss over the fact that Chaos is also immortal just like the Biolizard?

Because Chaos being immortal is not in any way relevant to SA beyond the necessity for this ancient creature to exist in the modern world so the story can happen. It's not a "core element", it's not "what it is about".

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

Why do you ignore that there're literally Chaos prototypes all around the Ark and the Ark stages only... and then somehow come to the conclusion that there're absolutely no connection between Chaos and Biolizard?

I've acknowledged the Artificial Chaos several times, yes Gerald knew of and was inspired by ancient echidnean shit, but he also was involved in making an orbital cannon, made deals with evil aliens, played around with a civilization-destroying ancient robot, and researched an interdimensional fire demon. Dude had his hands in a lot of pies, not all of which have to do with immortality.

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

Who do you think made these prototypes? Sonic? Me? or Gerald? It's gotta be me, right, since I want my theory to work so damn badly, right? =P

I mean if we're limiting ourselves to SA2 we don't actually know for sure, there were more scientists than Gerald on the ARK and unless there's some scrap of dialogue I'm forgetting they're not confirmed to be his doing until ShtH.

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

But even going further, why do you not take into account the stage framing around the Ark levels and what type of story it has to tell for its level design?

Again, I acknowledge that there's a bunch of SA/Lost World imagery in Cannon's Core but I'm not convinced it means anything because I can't see how it relates back to the Biolizard besides "that's where you find it". Like you point out the throbbing organ-like structure, but what does that have to do with anything? The only organ Chaos had was a brain and it didn't look anything like that. It's just some weird techno-organic heart reinforcing the Biolizard as a fusion of flesh and machine. I don't see enough of a coherent point to tip it from "cool imagery" to "actual thematic meaning".

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

How the hell else would he know about the emerald shrine that's quite clearly been remade in the Ark along with literally everything else?

We don't know how he knew. The only records of Chaos that we know about are a mural deep in a temple that was only recently discovered and whatever unseen "stone tablets" Eggman got his hands on. We don't know what Gerald's source was, we don't know what information was recorded in it (beyond what's necessary for the things he was shown to have recreated), we can't just trivially assume that it includes all the information necessary to support this theory.

2 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

And that's what the Biolizard is so quite obviously designed after to help us think what the game designers seemingly hinted at; The idea of Chaos and how he affects the story in SA2. It's in the Biolizards name ffs =P

If they wanted the Biolizard to evoke Perfect Chaos they failed utterly, they look basically nothing alike. Also, SA did not invent lizards.

[Mobius_Historian]

Hey, remember that end credits scene, where we see agent stone in disguise, as a GUN agent right after the GUN commander said Robotnik could not have survived? Well, I thought what if Agent stone had actually been accidentally killed in that earlier scene in the death Egg robot? Then, Robotnik used the last bit of the master emerald's power he still had to quickly transfer his mind into's stone brain dead body before his death?   Yeah, I know it's stupid, but if Jim Carrey wants to leave, and Lee Majoub wants to stay with the franchise, and it's no so much of a recasting as a role transfer to another actor who has been there from the start ...

... Yeah, I know. They said they were leaving the door open for Carrey to return. just a thought

[Eskana]

I really enjoyed the movie- enough that by the end I barely remembered the dance battle and wedding scenes (I could almost take the wedding scene, it was so over the top that it kind of worked for me.)

I also liked that they didn't bring Angel Island into this- while sure, it's a part of lore, I feel like too often it's just a way to get rid of Knuckles. I hope that if he takes on the "Guardian" role in these movies or show, he gets to just carry it around with him. I'm hoping the show is more like a "Knuckles uncovering the secrets of his tribe" like in Sonic Adventure or maybe a more Knuckles' Chaotix vibe (but hopefully in a way that's more reflective of the Archie SU Shattered World Chaotix arc, where the Chaotix were there but still their own team, just working with Knuckles.)

 

I am interested about one character though, since I don't know where they're going with this. What do you guys think of Stone?

[AuroraRedwinters]

Love the nod to Sonic 3 & Knuckles with Robotnik wanting to taser Knuckles once the Master Emerald was found. 

And I like Stone. He is a good foil to Robotnik. I'm curious to see where they take the character in the third movie; with a lot of unknowns around Jim Carrey's future status, this movie could set him up as a legitimate threat rather that Robotnik's loyal lackey and favorite barista. 

[herefor1reason]

Before I saw this movie, I was worried about them bringing in Shadow too early. That they would just bring him in to satisfy the outcry for him, rather than deciding based on what's best for the movie and the story/stories they're telling. But despite all the differences, this WAS a Sonic movie, in the way that someone who's been there with Sonic from the beginning would hope for a Sonic movie. It FELT, like a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Not through it's whole run, the whole wedding and danceoff thing was tonally pretty out there, and a weird way to introduce G.U.N., but walking out of that theater, I couldn't feel anything except that I had watched something in touch with the version of Sonic I fell in love with. It wasn't identical. Angel Island didn't make an appearance despite the presence of Knuckles, the Echidna tribe, and the Master Emerald. The Owls, guard the Emerald. Sonic is this kid who's overcome his loneliness and is learning responsibility. Tails sets out to find Sonic, rather than it being this chance meeting. They mixed events from Sonic 1 & 2, with the events of the first movie. Just SO much is different, but it didn't feel wrong or out of place. Some weirdness and pacing issues, for sure, but this was Sonic.

 

So with Shadow coming before Chaos, before the history of the Emerald shrine and angel Island prophecy, before the Death Egg, before Little Planet, before Amy and Metal Sonic, it doesn't seem to matter so much. They'll get it right. I do wonder how they'll handle Maria though? I could see Amy taking her place, or playing a role in Shadow's story. I hope we GET Amy at some point, really wanna see the movies' take on her.

[Mobius_Historian]

Not having even a hint of  Amy yet, with Shadow on the horizon, is my biggest problem with this movie series.

[Dr. Detective]

I actually thought it was adorable that Tails breaking out of his shell and the bonding moment he had with Sonic was sparked by them dancing together. I think my actual problem was more just the song they chose. 

It's not a bad song but it definitely had the feel of something you'd put in a typical live-action animated film. That would have been the perfect time to give us a dance mix of some sort of actual Sonic tune. 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

1 hour ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

I actually thought it was adorable that Tails breaking out of his shell and the bonding moment he had with Sonic was sparked by them dancing together. I think my actual problem was more just the song they chose. 

It's not a bad song but it definitely had the feel of something you'd put in a typical live-action animated film. That would have been the perfect time to give us a dance mix of some sort of actual Sonic tune. 

Yeah I would have prefered something from the 90s like the other songs.

[Wraith]

This movie was weird.

Spoiler

I'll be upfront and say I still didn't like it that much but it feels like a perfectly serviceable adaptation of the source material at same the time. It's shortcomings are largely shortcomings the games share so I can see why it's a fan hit. The only real problems are problems you'd expect to see in a Sonic thing anyway so it's easier to just tune out and enjoy it if you're already used to it.

After the atrocity that was Sonic's debut I was surprised that Tails and Knuckles both mostly act like you'd expect them to act with a few differences. Tails's changes are lateral, they play into the fanboy thing a bit for laughs but I think that's fine. Knuckles's changes straight up make him a better character than he is in the games and I was a little shocked by that. I was afraid they'd play into the serious anime rival thing too much but he's very funny/endearing alongside being an interesting threat and imo his redesign is the only one that's been a slam dunk so far.  Eggman is a little more unhinged in this but he was entertaining enough so I didn't mind. I only really hate Eggman when he's too passive and that was the opposite of what was going on here. He was on Sonic's ass from the moment he returned to earth and I enjoyed that quite a bit compared to how lax he is in modern Sonic/other adaptations.

It's a shame Sonic still falls flat. If he had gotten his act together in this one I would have been fully prepared to admit I was wrong about this series and give it a pass but if anything they double down on the awkward kid shut in stuff. Half of what comes out of his mouth are dated pop culture references and the other half are boring, by the numbers monologues about family and heroism. The Sonic I know hasn't even sat still long enough to watch one movie and he doesn't care whether he's actually considered a hero or not. You can complain about me being a fanboy all you want but I think it pairs with the fact that that Sonic sounds like a way more interesting protagonist to watch than the one we are watching. I'm fine with adaptions changing things but they have to be good changes and I'm not convinced these are. All that aside I'm just not sure if he's all that great on  his own anyway. I'm not even sure what his arc is supposed to be in this. Relax and enjoy being a kid, except that if you hadn't gone out of your way to be a hero everything would have easily fallen apart so????

Other than that big wrinkle, yeah it's a fine fanservice movie. Sequences like Siberia and the underwater temple felt ripped straight from the games and that's a feeling I never thought this series would really capture. Sonic chasing down Knuckles and Eggman in the temple in particular, the ensuing fight and Eggman's betrayal felt like a peak into an alternate reality where we got a solid adaptation of 3K. Super Sonic doesn't really feel earned emotionally since the family stuff is so pushed off to the side in this movie anyway but it's a cool to watch him tear shit up in that way he always does. Unless you don't recognize him, in which case maybe you're my partner and you  will be confused and ask if Sonic just fused with Tails.

Which kind of brings me to the whole flipside of this whole fanservice movie thing. The middling reviews make sense to me now because if you're not into Sonic it's mostly just a bunch of shit coming out of left field with very little time spent trying to convince you to care. Characters just kind of tell you what their whole deal and backstory is instead of taking the angle of letting us get immersed in those things because there's no time for that. Tails just telling us his backstory felt akin to not knowing anything about him in Sonic 2 the first time I played it and reading about him being bullied in the manual, for instance. Like, now I know about Tails but I don't feel for him, yknow? Doesn't feel like a good use of this more storytelling focused medium. Knuckles at least got a couple flashback scenes along with his clumsy backstory monologue but he still feels shortchanged by not getting his own film either. In an ideal world they wouldn't have had to share.

The human stuff that the non Sonic fans are supposed to latch onto feels pretty whatever as well. Everyone was kind of phoning it in last time and that mostly doesn't change here. The family themes feel extra tacked on here with how separate Sonic's plot thread is with Tom's in this. Like Sonic is honestly such a huge shit that I'm not sure why Tom's wife puts up with him sometimes, but that kind of thing is never addressed. No time. Gotta move to the next setpiece.

I will give them two things though: 1. There wasn't as much of any of these characters as I was expecting which was nice. 2. They manage to tie the threads together in a fun way when the humans have to fumble around with Tails's gadgets to escape. That was probably the only time I felt like they were using this whole "drop sonic in the real world" angle decently.

So yeah I'm not surprised that this movie doesn't work for a lot of people. It hardly works for me either, but there are a lot of fucking Sonic fans out there that are into exactly this type of shit. Enough that this angle is a viable one that should satisfy more than enough people. There were people at all ages in my showing popping off at all the references and hype moments and stuff. This is a fine, sustainable roller coaster ride. It's not exactly the Spider-Verse tier adaptation I wanted but that was always a longshot anyway. Looking on the other end of the spectrum at stuff like bayformers and the DCCU and it feels like I might as well count my blessings.

Consider me this admitting defeat. You win again Sonic. May you turn in D+s with confidence for the rest of your days. A pass is a pass. after all.

 

TLDR: It starts out pretty annoying but it gets better as it goes along and gets more into the Sonic stuff. Still not my thing but I didn't have a bad time with this like I did the first one. I'm not excited for a part 3 but if they at LEAST continue the upward trajectory and don't completely shit themselves I'll probably watch it? Maybe?

...Mostly cause of Shadow.



.....As long as we're on this fanservice kick I hope they give him a motorcycle.


And a gun.

[Rabbitearsblog]

I wonder if Tails will have a major role in the third movie?  In Sonic Adventure 2, he was seen in a mech robot and I wonder if they will implement that into the third movie?  That would be awesome if they did that!

[Zadent]

3 hours ago, Wraith said:

This movie was weird.

  Reveal hidden contents

I'll be upfront and say I still didn't like it that much but it feels like a perfectly serviceable adaptation of the source material at same the time. It's shortcomings are largely shortcomings the games share so I can see why it's a fan hit. The only real problems are problems you'd expect to see in a Sonic thing anyway so it's easier to just tune out and enjoy it if you're already used to it.

After the atrocity that was Sonic's debut I was surprised that Tails and Knuckles both mostly act like you'd expect them to act with a few differences. Tails's changes are lateral, they play into the fanboy thing a bit for laughs but I think that's fine. Knuckles's changes straight up make him a better character than he is in the games and I was a little shocked by that. I was afraid they'd play into the serious anime rival thing too much but he's very funny/endearing alongside being an interesting threat and imo his redesign is the only one that's been a slam dunk so far.  Eggman is a little more unhinged in this but he was entertaining enough so I didn't mind. I only really hate Eggman when he's too passive and that was the opposite of what was going on here. He was on Sonic's ass from the moment he returned to earth and I enjoyed that quite a bit compared to how lax he is in modern Sonic/other adaptations.

It's a shame Sonic still falls flat. If he had gotten his act together in this one I would have been fully prepared to admit I was wrong about this series and give it a pass but if anything they double down on the awkward kid shut in stuff. Half of what comes out of his mouth are dated pop culture references and the other half are boring, by the numbers monologues about family and heroism. The Sonic I know hasn't even sat still long enough to watch one movie and he doesn't care whether he's actually considered a hero or not. You can complain about me being a fanboy all you want but I think it pairs with the fact that that Sonic sounds like a way more interesting protagonist to watch than the one we are watching. I'm fine with adaptions changing things but they have to be good changes and I'm not convinced these are. All that aside I'm just not sure if he's all that great on  his own anyway. I'm not even sure what his arc is supposed to be in this. Relax and enjoy being a kid, except that if you hadn't gone out of your way to be a hero everything would have easily fallen apart so????

Other than that big wrinkle, yeah it's a fine fanservice movie. Sequences like Siberia and the underwater temple felt ripped straight from the games and that's a feeling I never thought this series would really capture. Sonic chasing down Knuckles and Eggman in the temple in particular, the ensuing fight and Eggman's betrayal felt like a peak into an alternate reality where we got a solid adaptation of 3K. Super Sonic doesn't really feel earned emotionally since the family stuff is so pushed off to the side in this movie anyway but it's a cool to watch him tear shit up in that way he always does. Unless you don't recognize him, in which case maybe you're my partner and you  will be confused and ask if Sonic just fused with Tails.

Which kind of brings me to the whole flipside of this whole fanservice movie thing. The middling reviews make sense to me now because if you're not into Sonic it's mostly just a bunch of shit coming out of left field with very little time spent trying to convince you to care. Characters just kind of tell you what their whole deal and backstory is instead of taking the angle of letting us get immersed in those things because there's no time for that. Tails just telling us his backstory felt akin to not knowing anything about him in Sonic 2 the first time I played it and reading about him being bullied in the manual, for instance. Like, now I know about Tails but I don't feel for him, yknow? Doesn't feel like a good use of this more storytelling focused medium. Knuckles at least got a couple flashback scenes along with his clumsy backstory monologue but he still feels shortchanged by not getting his own film either. In an ideal world they wouldn't have had to share.

The human stuff that the non Sonic fans are supposed to latch onto feels pretty whatever as well. Everyone was kind of phoning it in last time and that mostly doesn't change here. The family themes feel extra tacked on here with how separate Sonic's plot thread is with Tom's in this. Like Sonic is honestly such a huge shit that I'm not sure why Tom's wife puts up with him sometimes, but that kind of thing is never addressed. No time. Gotta move to the next setpiece.

I will give them two things though: 1. There wasn't as much of any of these characters as I was expecting which was nice. 2. They manage to tie the threads together in a fun way when the humans have to fumble around with Tails's gadgets to escape. That was probably the only time I felt like they were using this whole "drop sonic in the real world" angle decently.

So yeah I'm not surprised that this movie doesn't work for a lot of people. It hardly works for me either, but there are a lot of fucking Sonic fans out there that are into exactly this type of shit. Enough that this angle is a viable one that should satisfy more than enough people. There were people at all ages in my showing popping off at all the references and hype moments and stuff. This is a fine, sustainable roller coaster ride. It's not exactly the Spider-Verse tier adaptation I wanted but that was always a longshot anyway. Looking on the other end of the spectrum at stuff like bayformers and the DCCU and it feels like I might as well count my blessings.

Consider me this admitting defeat. You win again Sonic. May you turn in D+s with confidence for the rest of your days. A pass is a pass. after all.

 

TLDR: It starts out pretty annoying but it gets better as it goes along and gets more into the Sonic stuff. Still not my thing but I didn't have a bad time with this like I did the first one. I'm not excited for a part 3 but if they at LEAST continue the upward trajectory and don't completely shit themselves I'll probably watch it? Maybe?

...Mostly cause of Shadow.



.....As long as we're on this fanservice kick I hope they give him a motorcycle.


And a gun.

I guess some of it is a to each their own? Outside the films, and maybe this is coming to some of this as an adult over being a kid, but Sonic just being carefree and always moving, but still seeming the ultimate good, is kinda just..meh to me? Like, outside of in the IDW comics when he’s actually being called out (like with the Metal Virus), so I’ve enjoyed him in the films and watching him actually seem to go through character stuff. This film in particular felt like, imo, Spider-man: Homecoming where he needs to learn responsibility for others, but also accepting that he’s still young and a lot to learn. At this point, he seems ready to answer the call if it comes, but might not go out of his way to, say, stop crimes in the city. Perhaps he eventually grows to the Sonic people typically know (like what they did to a degree with the MCU Spider-man trilogy.

Shadow…just on that fanservice note, I think I’d be ok if he just looks at a motorcycle and contemplates it, before just skating off (the War Machine tease from the first Iron Man movie)

[Stasis]

As if the drowning theme was used and I didn't hear it.

 

[Wraith]

3 hours ago, Zadent said:

I guess some of it is a to each their own? Outside the films, and maybe this is coming to some of this as an adult over being a kid, but Sonic just being carefree and always moving, but still seeming the ultimate good, is kinda just..meh to me? Like, outside of in the IDW comics when he’s actually being called out (like with the Metal Virus), so I’ve enjoyed him in the films and watching him actually seem to go through character stuff. This film in particular felt like, imo, Spider-man: Homecoming where he needs to learn responsibility for others, but also accepting that he’s still young and a lot to learn. At this point, he seems ready to answer the call if it comes, but might not go out of his way to, say, stop crimes in the city. Perhaps he eventually grows to the Sonic people typically know (like what they did to a degree with the MCU Spider-man trilogy.

Shadow…just on that fanservice note, I think I’d be ok if he just looks at a motorcycle and contemplates it, before just skating off (the War Machine tease from the first Iron Man movie)

Well village I don't dislike Sonic as a character so I don't really want to see him transformed. I think the base personality he already had in the games was both more interesting and presented more opportunities for growth than this. Sega never explored them, but these films seemingly have the freedom to do so.

[Kuzu]

Sonic himself isn't exactly what I'd call my ideal interpretation of him here, but I can at least understand the change even if I don't completely agree with it myself. I like the idea of a Sonic that has to grow into the more confident and in-control figure he is in the games, but the execution leaves me....mixed. 

I've talked with others about this though and from another perspective I get it; I touched upon this before, but Game!Sonic's character is so unexplored and lacking in a real dynamic arc that outside of being generically heroic and free-spirited, there really isn't much there. He's definitely entertaining, but not very interesting if that makes sense. So I can understand why this film decided to re-contextualize his character.  And it's obvious this version of Sonic has resonated with tons of people. 

The biggest example is his bonding moment with Tails in Siberia; in the games, Sonic basically blows Tails off until the latter proves himself by being able to keep up with the former's speed, at which point Sonic acknowledges Tails. That's cool and all, but compared to the Movie's "Being weird is ok" message, it's not really as resonating. A kid being told "Its ok to be different" is going to mean a lot to them. 

 

So...I just have to swallow that and understand that this is #NotMySonic, it's the Zoomer!Sonic, for better or worse. If you were going to modernize Sonic's character for his target demographic, this would be the way to do it. I don't completely agree with some of the changes, but it is what it is. The success of the movie and it's constant praises just kind of speak for itself. 

 

 

God, so this is how Classic fans felt when Shadow debuted in 2001 and took the fandom by storm huh...oh god, I'm gonna have to see that again except with Zoomer!Shadow...fuck.