Anyone else Dislike Movie Sonic's personality?

[ShadowSJG]

So about the movies, I think I really dislike movie Sonic's personality. Sonic is a cool dude with an attitude who is independent and like the wind who embodies freedom and rarely loses his cool and has things under control. Movie Sonic on the other hand...well...he kinda feels more like a kid who is trying to act cool/emulates it on tv and it doesn't come across as genuine and all. He acts like the stereotypical hyperactive kid character we've seen before and his pop cultural references make him diet Tom Holland Spider-Man. Plus him having a "dad" and all feels odd to me, I'm just not feeling him.

[MetalSkulkBane]

So it's a different take (a Dewey/Leonardo take). The basic difference (as their personalities, not my opinion of them) is that Sega Sonic IS cool, Movie Sonic TRIES to be cool because he's still a kid, 10% cuter. It's a surprisingly big difference but I still see Sonic in him.

So ignoring the "it's different, so it must be WRONG" instinct, do I like him? Well, at least it's new (which admittedly isn't a strong argument either). I think I generally prefer Sega Sonic. But Movie Sonic has an origin that gives perfect sense to his personality, so he's fine to me.

He won me over when he played baseball with himself, only to realize how alone he is. I thought it was one of the strongest scenes in the first movie.

[Chili Dawg]

I like him well enough. He's a Sonic who's less mature, which I think is fine for what the movies are doing. 

[Cuz]

To a degree yeah. I can't devorce his manerisms and personality with that of Dewey Duck and it's irritating. 

[Razule]

Nah, he's a different version of the character with a different origin. I think people get too hooked on every interpretation of Sonic needing to be true to the Sonic. 

[Rabbitearsblog]

I actually like this version of Sonic.  Sure, he's not the cool and freedom loving guy that we all know and love, but for this particular universe, I think he works with the story that the movies are telling.  Sonic is portrayed as being younger than his game counterpart, so of course he's going to act a bit immature at times.  But, you can see a bit of growth in his character in the second film as he starts becoming a bit more cool headed like he is in the games.  Also, I think that the movies are doing a pretty good job at giving Sonic a bit more depth to his character.  One of my biggest complaints about how Sonic was being portrayed in the last 10 years was that he felt like a flat character.  But the movies managed to give Sonic a backstory and a convincing motive for his actions that made me relate to him.

[ShadowSJG]

I mean he just feels cliche, like we've seen this character before and he doesn't have any real Sonic traits

[azoo]

In short: Yes. Me. I'm that other person.

Movie Sonic has a backstory related to being a chosen one and raised on the teachings of some owl, is a hyperactive hyper-dependent kid, loves the idea of authority figures that save the world (superheroes, cops etc), loves the idea of finding a good place and family to stick around with and be comfortable there; very much a "stay home and watch movies" kinda character. He really wants to be cool, but is a character that is supposed to come off dorky and lovable for trying to be, rather than actually being cool. And he's a chatterbox that cannot go a minute of screen-time without getting a quip or a pop culture reference in.

It's all like the hard opposite of game Sonic's traits. He's just a fast guy out of sheer willpower and doesn't owe anyone or anything for his ability. He's laid-back and although occasionally really friendly and supportive of his friends, is usually is pretty aloof and self-reliant. He gives the finger to most authorities tying down his ability to do as he pleases, good (GUN) or bad (Eggman) and just sees himself as an adventurer, not a hero. He loves to travel the world, see the sights, meet the people, eat the food and move along. He (in most appearances at least) doesn't have to try to be cool, he just is naturally, to the point of positively influencing the people around him. And he (again, in most appearances) doesn't do as much talking as he does action. Sure, he sometimes gets a quip in, but it's either kept short, or it's a Pontaff-written game (and people hate it).

I've seen people say "well by the end of movie three I think he'll grow into the character he is in the games", but to do that would mean a total evolution from one end to another. They're not just different; they're kind of opposites. And that's why the movies don't sit well with me, because it's not just a diversion from the Sonic I like, it's a total defiance of it. He's lame! He's clingy! He doesn't shut up! He's a baby! He's not even an adventurer! He's nothing like Sonic!

Bleh. 

[J77]

24 minutes ago, azoo said:

In short: Yes. Me. I'm that other person.

Movie Sonic has a backstory related to being a chosen one and raised on the teachings of some owl, is a hyperactive hyper-dependent kid, loves the idea of authority figures that save the world (superheroes, cops etc), loves the idea of finding a good place and family to stick around with and be comfortable there; very much a "stay home and watch movies" kinda character. He really wants to be cool, but is a character that is supposed to come off dorky and lovable for trying to be, rather than actually being cool. And he's a chatterbox that cannot go a minute of screen-time without getting a quip or a pop culture reference in.

It's all like the hard opposite of game Sonic's traits. He's just a fast guy out of sheer willpower and doesn't owe anyone or anything for his ability. He's laid-back and although occasionally really friendly and supportive of his friends, is usually is pretty aloof and self-reliant. He gives the finger to most authorities tying down his ability to do as he pleases, good (GUN) or bad (Eggman) and just sees himself as an adventurer, not a hero. He loves to travel the world, see the sights, meet the people, eat the food and move along. He (in most appearances at least) doesn't have to try to be cool, he just is naturally, to the point of positively influencing the people around him. And he (again, in most appearances) doesn't do as much talking as he does action. Sure, he sometimes gets a quip in, but it's either kept short, or it's a Pontaff-written game (and people hate it).

I've seen people say "well by the end of movie three I think he'll grow into the character he is in the games", but to do that would mean a total evolution from one end to another. They're not just different; they're kind of opposites. And that's why the movies don't sit well with me, because it's not just a diversion from the Sonic I like, it's a total defiance of it. He's lame! He's clingy! He doesn't shut up! He's a baby! He's not even an adventurer! He's nothing like Sonic!

Bleh. 

Ok, obviously I disagree with you on all of this, and agree to disagree.

[Natie]

*raises hand*

Of all the sonics there are, seeing one this saccharine, sensitive and unconfident was so strange it was kinda uncomfortable lol

[Raya]

Movie version is, in my opinion, more likeable than Sonic from the games. When in the movie we have someone who's actually learned something and have really good dynamics with the rest of the characters, Sonic from the video games feels like being builded only on being pure to-cool-for-school trope and feels bland, especially in the last decade games. 

The only exception is, ironically, Sonic from the Sonic Boom where he was shown intentionally as a narcissist - which kinda works, especially in the TV show.

[caitash]

I like Movie Sonic, he shows emotion and vulnerability. Sonic’s personality has followed what’s ‘in’ / ‘popular’ and the 90’s version of cool dude personality isn’t really popular anymore. The last few years have certainly seen a rise in acceptance and promotion of more wholesome and thoughtful characteristics which are more relatable to the messages in kids media nowadays. That’s more in line with what’s ‘cool’ these days so I was entirely unsurprised that Movie Sonic’s personality is the way it is.

Would I want him in the games though? Eh not entirely, but it wouldn’t kill them to show a bit more of an emotional range in game Sonic’s personality. But likewise I prefer Movie Sonic to have his current personality in the movies and not Game Sonic. It also helps that I’ve not seen the modern Duck Tales or any of Ben Schwartz’s other voiced characters so I don’t see those similarities.

[mayday2592]

Honestly don't mind movie Sonic. Sonic was always meant to be a kid, so it makes sense he's pretty immature, insecure and inpatient. It makes him  flawed and more interesting character. Plus it's nice to see him have some legitimate fun and relax once in a while, Something the games haven't done since Unleashed. 

[Rienasketch]

On 6/6/2022 at 11:11 PM, azoo said:

In short: Yes. Me. I'm that other person.

Movie Sonic has a backstory related to being a chosen one and raised on the teachings of some owl, is a hyperactive hyper-dependent kid, loves the idea of authority figures that save the world (superheroes, cops etc), loves the idea of finding a good place and family to stick around with and be comfortable there; very much a "stay home and watch movies" kinda character. He really wants to be cool, but is a character that is supposed to come off dorky and lovable for trying to be, rather than actually being cool. And he's a chatterbox that cannot go a minute of screen-time without getting a quip or a pop culture reference in.

It's all like the hard opposite of game Sonic's traits. He's just a fast guy out of sheer willpower and doesn't owe anyone or anything for his ability. He's laid-back and although occasionally really friendly and supportive of his friends, is usually is pretty aloof and self-reliant. He gives the finger to most authorities tying down his ability to do as he pleases, good (GUN) or bad (Eggman) and just sees himself as an adventurer, not a hero. He loves to travel the world, see the sights, meet the people, eat the food and move along. He (in most appearances at least) doesn't have to try to be cool, he just is naturally, to the point of positively influencing the people around him. And he (again, in most appearances) doesn't do as much talking as he does action. Sure, he sometimes gets a quip in, but it's either kept short, or it's a Pontaff-written game (and people hate it).

I've seen people say "well by the end of movie three I think he'll grow into the character he is in the games", but to do that would mean a total evolution from one end to another. They're not just different; they're kind of opposites. And that's why the movies don't sit well with me, because it's not just a diversion from the Sonic I like, it's a total defiance of it. He's lame! He's clingy! He doesn't shut up! He's a baby! He's not even an adventurer! He's nothing like Sonic!

Bleh. 

I agree with some of the things your saying, but imo, game Sonic has his own weaknesses that the movie version addresses. While movie Sonic's kind of a dork, I felt like game Sonic is portrayed almost like a gary-stu with little detractable flaws (at least in the sense they're rarely acknowledged), and..  nothing really interesting going on around him. He's just a character dumped in a random plot -- that lately often feels like a Mario knock off that doesn't compliment him. Movie Sonic's hyperactivity could get annoying but game Sonic imo has gotten boring because SEGA no longer puts any effort to make him interesting anymore.

Movie Sonic felt more realistic in the sense that there's more emphasis on portraying an important aspect about him that SEGA often likes ignore for the sake of plot convenience: He's a kid, who doesn't fully understand the world around him because he's never interacted with it and thus may be a little more trusting of authority figures because thats who introduced and integrated him into the world. And even then I wouldn't go as far as to say he fully trusts authority because even when he's adopted he spends much of his time STILL hiding from law enforcement until he can't anymore. Sonic trusts his adoptive parents. That doesn't mean he trusts all authority. And even then if he trusts them that doesn't mean he'll always follow obediently. When Sonic really wants to do something he will STILL disobey them. Something that was established very early in the second movie and that I think is consistent with the the original Sonic.

Additionally Shadow's slated to make an appearance and I imagine the plot of the new movie will spur Sonic to question a lot more in who he can trust.

However, I think Sonic's hyper personality in the movie is actually more of a writing issue if I'm being perfectly honest and I agree it can get annoying. The movie series in general has this kind of... Almost live action Disney/Nickelodeon style acting thats very overbaked amongst  most a lot of the characters and can actually be a turn-off. I can still appreciate its potential. With writers better equipped to oversee certain parts of the script I feel like the movies would be a lot better if they toned certain things down. Sometimes less is more.

 

 

[Mauro Fonseca]

Oh god, is this going to be the effect of movie Sonic in the younger fans now? "Sega hasn't focused on Sonic being a kid and that's bad"?

 

Sonic was never a kid. Going by the Sonic Jam ages, he's the oldest of the cast short of Eggman; going by the Adventure onwards ages, he's straight dab middle of teenagedom. Tails is the kid. Sonic's always been the older brother. He's as much "a kid" as Knuckles and somehow I'm not seeing people go "well, Movie Knuckles should've been more wide-eyed innocent uwu soft wholesome" etc etc

[GeAr-DX]

I like him a lot, and I really find it ok for him to be like this.

The canon Sonic is a cool deliquent hero (a common trait in shonen), who have his own set of rules, a golden heart and likes adventures and battles. But he had a different life too, he was a loner traveling the world without a care since the start and god knows when he started battling Eggman, the japanese manual leaves like Sonic and Eggman already faced each other before the first game.

Movie Sonic in other hand had a responsability since the start, to stay hidden, a burden to stay alone, he had lose someone because of his brashness. And yet he still looks super cool, he's just softer than the canon Sonic. I preffer him than the Meta-era Sonic or the American Sonic.

[KingMario05]

Eh, I don't mind it. I like that he's a bit of a dork, actually. He's clearly gonna grow into the guy we all know and love, and it wouldn't be all that interesting of a movie if he started out as the hypercompetent wise-ass Sega Sonic is today. If he's still too kiddie by movie 6 or 7, then yeah, I'll complain. But I loved his growth throughout the second film into a guy who, while not fully there yet, is well on his way to becoming the badass with a heart of gold we all fell in love with. It makes me wanna root for the little guy, and think it'd be a real shame if they threw out that emotional journey just to please fans with a more "accurate" Sonic. Just my two cents, anyway.

[Razule]

I've noticed there's more of a push towards wanting kid characters to act like actual kids. Which isn't a crazy thing to want, it makes them more relatable, but I wonder how much of it is just fanbases getting older. When you're a kid watching fictional children in life-threatening situations you think, "Damn, that's awesome", but when you're older and not able to suspend your disbelief enough, you think, "My god, that's a literal infant, where are their parents, how could the adults allow this 16 year old baby with godlike powers to fight the Dark Lord".

[LongcrierCat]

I'm gonna be real honest with ya and say a lot of Movie Sonic's new personality depth is actually fairly appreciated.

I think the sensitive side of him shows just how much he cares about wanting to do something good with someone else and be a good friend and that he carries that strong loving warmth around when he's trying to relate to others.

I feel that's a genuine improvement. We don't need him to be a constant caricature of what's cool, we need him to have this emotional depth and I think it's good. Him showing emotional strength isn't a weakness. It shows he's a lot more mature than you'd think. I also quite like how Ben manages to give Sonic as good emotional range as Junichi Kanemaru does and that you can hear the difference between his sarcasm and his really gentle moments and it does a lot to flesh him out in ways I don't see much outside of the comics.

As for him respecting authority too much, well... *looks at literally everything GUN's done so far in movies* I don't think they're wanting to portray GUN as good here. They literally hurt Sonic's family several times over and it feels to me like that's about to turn into a disillusionment with authority figures that's gonna round about his whole character arc in the end. Even Maddie and Rachel are kind of firmly anti-GUN now and I'm sure Tom is starting to feel some misgivings for them now. If they have an asspull in Movie 3 and Shadow still goes on to be a GUN agent then you know, I'll give it to ya. But I think they're about to go in an even stronger anti military industrial complex direction very quickly. It's kind of been the running theme in this series with Robotnik himself literally being an indictment of military abuse with their only apology being "here have a gift card".

I dunno tho. Like I like Sonic's new attitude. It makes him hella more relatable imho.

[batson]

No, I don't like movie Sonic. I don't like him as an interpretation of the previously existing character, and I don't like him in his own regard either.

As has already been said, movie Sonic is not just different from game Sonic but in some ways his opposite. Game Sonic is confident, movie Sonic pretends to be confident but really isn't. Game Sonic is independent to the point of barely needing the company of others, movie Sonic is defined by a need to have relationships with others. I can't accept that movie Sonic is merely a version of the Sonic character; he's the anti-Sonic almost like how Dragon Ball Evolution Goku is the anti-Goku.

And as a character in his own right, when looked at as just his own self-contained entity and not a version of something larger, I just find him annoying. His voice annoys me, his jokes annoys me, his needyness annoys me, his hyperactivity annoys me, and the fact that he comes of (to me at least) as someone who's largely faking it (putting on a show of being badass and confident while actually being insecure) annoys me. He comes of as a class clown who whose super try-hard but simply isn't funny. Here is an image that I feel is essentially of movie Sonic if he was human and going to school and which also illustrates his classmates lack of amusement:

[azoo]

Movie Sonic is just kinda what the modern audience for Hollywood blockbusters wants.

You can’t have a character with a “cool” state of mind without them being either being self-aware or other characters making it known to the audience that they’re silly. You can’t do cool things without a quip to immediately de-escalate the situation (see: every MCU movie ever made). And you need a heavy ground in either pop culture or brands in order to maximize relatability. After all, if not for this character doing these things he’s simply without the nuance and gravitas needed to be a compelling, grounded character, am I right. Did you know Sonic binge watches (tv show or movie) on (streaming service) and knows the slogan to (chain restaurant)? I swear Sonic’s JUST like you and me.

People also love their Tom Hollands. Your cutesy lovable kid/manchild who acts really dorky and insecure while fronting the cool-guy energy but always flubbing it (the classic “Everything’s under control!” skit, and/or the quirky subversion “I have no idea what I’m doing!”). Audiences love seeing the lovable little woobie struggle because it’s a perfect bait and switch to get character development: character who fucks up gains confidence and competence and becomes the hero, everyone cheers. You also get to lean on family, since he’s just a baby boy! One that needs that backbone to rely on when the going gets tough, and gives room for cheap moments of sentiment to inject when necessary. You know, to make the parents sitting in the theater with their kids feel like they’re at least learning good lessons about family values while watching their action figures go boom. 

He’s just a checklist. It’s by the numbers in a way thats easy to like for the average joe. And since very little people outside of the fandom know Sonic’s personality (and people within the fandom go to bat for so many other wild take sonic canons) it just kinda worked out. 

God, movie Sonic is so lame. lmao

[Soniman]

Having to hear for YEARS about how Archie Sonic being “not really Sonic” by general game fans because he’s tied down to a kingdom and has romance flings sometimes (this was during Flynn era too btw), I’m no stranger to liking interpretations of said character that people find “not really sonic”, just like how some people like Fleetway Sonic despite being a colossal dickbag or people enjoy Sonic X where Sonic is overly aloof and detached from his friends, or Sonic Boom TV where he acts like a jaded 20 something there’s just been so many versions of this character with different traits exaggerated or played down that so many fans, writers, creators have their own ideal of the “ideal Sonic”, hell the fandom JUST tore itself to shreds over the fact IDW 50 dared to address Sonic’s morality and no one could agree on if it was in character for Sonic to hold those beliefs or not 

To me movie Sonic is simply just one of many versions and I don’t agree at all that THIS is somehow the version out of dozens that’s the “antithesis” to the character, this is a “younger” more naive Sonic who’s never done any Sonic-y things before the films started so to me there’s justification at least for why he acts the way he does. It’s on the viewer to find that interpretation cringey and bad or not but for me, outside occasional groaners I do not. Also I can at least see something of an arc across these two films of him becoming more self assured and less try hard, his no nonsense take down  of Eggman as Super Sonic, battle with Knuckles and his team up fight with Tails and Knuckles show that off well. Still do not like that Dad line though it’s just bad lol.

Honestly modern and movie Sonic are closer than you think, given the fact that “class clown being jokey and cool ironically and self aware” has been game Sonic for over 10 fucking years so I’m not exactly surprised movie Sonic takes cues from it, I also know it’s being facetious because I’m not gonna even pretend Sonic fans also haven’t largely despised game Colors onward Sonic for similar reasons.

[azoo]

Worth noting I brought up both how people tend to hate the Pontaff-written Sonic games in my first post, AND in my most recent one how the people in the fanbase who come to movie!Sonic's greatest defense on this subject are usually people who have been alright with the wildly different takes of Sonic done in the past, lol.

It's pretty much understood. People who want to see Sonic from (the majority of) the games have never been too keen on the other canons, and this one is no exception. It's just blown up to astronomical sizes because this isn't a cartoon (easy to forget about) or a comic (even moreso) but a film franchise that's at front and center. Those other things weren't the first thing most people thought of when they thought of Sonic. That's not the case with the movie now, which is partially where the upset comes from. Not completely, because it's not like that's gonna change how I feel, but it definitely has ruffled any understanding or discussion of Sonic as a character to the common public even more than it already was. Which sucks, lol.

It's also just understood that either you like the young awkward try-hard rascal shtick on Sonic or you don't. People here clearly like it, and find it an endearing part of this guy's character. I do not (at all lmao) and find him maybe the most obnoxious Sonic yet, for me at least. And that's pretty rough, because Sonic's had some annoying variations... 

[Waveshocker Sigma]

When you hear people say that Movie Sonic is just Dewey Duck from the Ducktales reboot, you might think they're exaggerating or oversimplifying things.

Go watch even the first few episodes of the Ducktales reboot if you've never seen it at all because as someone who invested a lot of time into it, I can tell you, not only are they not exaggerating at all, it's so accurate that it really raises some eyebrows.

Anyways, Movie Sonic is made to be "super relatable" for the average audience which already mean that I don't gel with him becaue I don't relate most things average people relate to and I also don't want to. Those kind of characters tend to bore me most of the time. I don't follow characters like Sonic to go "Awww, he's just like me!", I follow them because I want to see what they do cool stuff and go "Aw yeah, that was cool! I wanna do that!" Most Sonics give me that. Post Colors Sonic (In cutscenes) and Movie Sonic definitely don't. I find Movie Sonic to be the less annoying of the two, but he's still not cool and inspiring like the original Sonic.

Agreeing with the Tom Holland Spider-Man comparison, when I think of a Sonic character made to be the awkward, dorky and stumbling woobie wannabe hero that makes a mess of things far more than he helps and has dependency and self-esteem issues and is "super relatable" and "totally cool when his moment finally comes" in some unconventional way, I don't think of Sonic. Heck, I don't even think of Tails. I think of Silver. And that's what Movie Sonic has always made me think of. This weird fusion of Tom Holland Spider-Man, Dewey Duck and Silver stuffed into a Sonic costume tweaked to look just different enough to not be the actual Sonic.

And I strongly dislike Silver, so I'm not a huge fan of Movie Sonic either, even if I don't outright hate him like I do the other mentioned hedgehog.

[Leebo4]

Movie sonic is great; he is a fun loving kid who knows when to get serious and he’s become my new fave version of sonic