Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe Thread (& Knuckles)

I was lucky to attend the movie premiere in Spain and wow, can't disagree more with the reviews. The movie is AMAZING. Its PURE SONIC. The movie is more focused on Sonic characthers ( as they should!) and the humans part aren't just because, they have a few brilliant moments who make them enjoyable, but the main meat is on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Robotnik. For old school Sonic fans it is a real gift. It is not only a pretty good Sonic Movie, but also a pretty good enoyable family adventure Movie. I don't find it as kiddy as the first one either, this one is on line with movies like Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle or even some Marvel Movies.

Cant spoil though, since I'm under NDA. But belive me, THIS is PURE SONIC 2-3 on the silver Screen.


EDIT: I'm specially amused that there quite a few proffesional critic reviews with lengty rants about "why do they ask at the start of the movie to not spoil it, there is nothing spoilable at the movie". Oh boy. OH BOY.
What a way to say "I'm an asshat who knows nothing about source material and proud to be an idiot"

 

Reviewers are a varied bunch. Not all reviewers even agree about some films. I remember some of the old disagreements between some of the big name movie reviewers back in the day like Ebert and Siskel and Roaper or whomever else. Roger Ebert thought Gladiator sucked but, if my memory isn't too faulty, I think Roeper (sp?) was all into it. The movie did extremely well. I happen to agree with Ebert on that one. It sucked. Nevertheless, it made the money. But Ebert can go to hell for his thrashing of Nothing But Trouble (mean that jokingly of course... ). That movie is a weird ride but absolutely great and a classic.

Brush any negative reviews off. Not worth it. Those people might even have some agenda. No one really knows but them. Maybe it's the Birds of Prey crowd. Who knows.

I think, personally, this movie looks like it will draw a few crowds.

Best to brush off the plaque and wait to see it yourself.

[Edited because my autocorrect HATES the name Ebert]

 

The dissonance between professional critics and the audience makes a bit more sense given the experience is inherently different between them.

We, the audience, generally have much more control over what we watch. If a movie doesn't interest us, we simply don't watch it, plain and simple. We focus our attention towards movies that we like and prefer, so naturally we're much inclined to liking them, particularly if the movie is based on an existing media franchise that you're already a fan of. Most of the audience for this film are both fans who liked the first, and longtime fans of Sonic in general, that's the demographic here. Naturally, we're much more inclined to like this film, especially since it's filled with tons of fanservice for the games.

Professional critics do not have this luxury however. It's their job to watch movies, they get paid to do it. Some may like their job, but it doesn't change the fact that watching these movies isn't really optional in the way it is for us. They don't watch, they don't get paid. What that means is that the ratio of good to bad movies critics have to watch is much higher proportionally. For every Oscar worthy movie, there's a shitpile that doesn't do anything special, and anything in-between. What that means is that professional standards are infinitely higher than they would be for us. If a movie cannot standout from the crowd in some way, it's not gonna leave much of an impression on the critic regardless of how much the dedicated fanbase loves it. Critics are not fans, so they're not going to judge movies from a fan perspective, they're going to judge them from a critic perspective. At the very least, a film needs some element that the critic is familiar with and could appreciate.

I don't think critics really "hate" this movie per-se, or are even "missing the point" but rather they just simply have no interest in watching a cartoon blue hedgehog smash up robots. That's "kiddy shit" as far as most people are concerned. The type of movie you take your child to see to distract them for a couple of hours while you zone out. That might be what fans want, but as I said, critics aren't fans. None of the Sonic related set pieces really means anything to these people.


This is just an assumption now, but I feel like the reception for the first movie was a bit more welcomed since there's a familial element in it; for better or worse, Tom can be seen as a stand-in for probably a lot of the parents taking their kids to see these movies, with Sonic obviously the children's stand-in. Tom has an arc of developing a bond with, and ultimately adopting Sonic and struggling with his life direction while also taking care of a child. That's something any father can relate to, but how many people can relate to being a blue hedgehog who runs fast while making pop culture references outside of children and some fans? You remove the familial element, and this film is nothing but fanservice for fans and children alike. That might sound ideal to some of us, but it might lead to an increasingly polarizing reception...ironically not unlike the rest of Sonic's IP.

 

More clips are showing up. Here's Knuckles' introduction to Sonic:

I quite like how annoyed Sonic immediately gets when seeing Eggman.

 

I'm back home. What kind of weirdo embargo was this? That first wave of reviews was pretty small, and then that was basically it for the day. Strange.

Oh hell yeah, this is the kind of thing I want to hear. I really wish the movie was out this week lol.

Loving the mix of menace and whimsy Robotnik has here. And yeah, Sonic being so pissed to see him is great too.

 

Yeah I was wondering this too and I couldn't help but think it's because movies are a different medium?

With games, the news has traditionally been an 'online' thing, once it hit 2010 every outlet, even physical mags were publishing stuff online first, since then it's been cut-throat to 'be the first' to publish.

But movie reviews are a tad different, yeah you have your online accounts, but a lot of reviewers still have a physical presence.

I'm certain that the UK press event had staff from various newspapers (Outlets like The Metro for example) and a few film magazines, but I wonder if they don't publish instantly just due to their magazine subscriptions still being a major factor in their business model?

 

Sonic fans are very good at loving hot messes so even in the worst case scenario the movie is naff in the sense of being critically panned, that shouldn’t stop anyone from enjoying it, and given how much Paramount have pushed this movie’s marketing, I’m sure it’s going to be a roaring financial success. I don’t think anyone needs to be worried about specific reviews from critiques as far as what it means for the future of the series. I will be interested to see how those critiques are contested for their own sake once the movie comes out proper and we can talk freely about what we’ve taken away from it.

 

From work experience, usually newspapers/magazines movie reviews are posted closer to the weekend when movies premiere, so Thursday-Saturday.

 

Does anyone know. Are there any theaters doing promotional things for the movie? Like drink cups or popcorn bowls?

 

I mean, I was probably going to wait till I could watch it at home, anyway, but I just checked, and it isn't releasing in Japan until August 19. Hell, it probably WILL be available to watch at home by then. Japan and their stupid release dates. We inexplicably get Morbius right on time with the rest of the world (comics are my #1 passion and even I don't care about that one), but a film based on Japanese IP gets released here pretty much last in the entire world.

 

Jeff Fowler has confirmed the movieverse aren't going to follow the chronological order of the games and another new character will be teased.

Translation: Yes, we're putting Shadow in the next movie.

 

Sorry if this've been posted already, but it looks like there's going to be a prequel comic?

https://twitter.com/KrishnaKBON/status/1508810086096982016?t=Le19WT5qfzBYWniozrvijw&s=19

 

which is funny because if anything the first film felt very rushed. a road trip movie where they stop in one location before reaching their destination? what?

 

Huh, that’s actually a really good point. They def did not fully take advantage of the road trip premise... yet I still feel like stuff from the 1st movie could’ve been cut. A lot of unnecessary humor: particularly that scene where they tied that lady up... yeah what the fuck was that about.

 

Did they end up cutting the "child in a bag, don't worry it's not my child" joke from the first movie? It was in all the trailers, but it was pretty disturbing to see due to the prevalence of kidnapped children in Hollywood.

 

nope, it's in the final cut

 

Would also be out of game order if it were Metal, of course

 

I think it's so funny seeing people on twitter quibbling over game appearance order when Metal AND Amy debuted before Knuckles but nobody a batted an eye until this silly Metal V Shadow talk started.

 

Good to hear, dubbing could make a difference so I'm glad I have a positive review from my own country.

You're not the first one I've seen thinking quite the same, and I find quite funny "Morbius" premieres at the same time "Mobius" doesn't.

And where's the surprise here?

Some did, but I think that's because, being almost a spinoff, Sonic CD gets a pass of being delayed until after Knuckles. That's not the case when put agains modern games because it's from the classic era and it's referenced in SA1, the first game of the next era. But Chaotix can be adapted on the same film as Sonic Heroes, in case those adaptations happen.

For the record, I also want Big's Big Movie.

 

I've been saying this for months and everyone just blew it off lmao.