Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe Thread (& Knuckles)

Just went back from seeing it in theatre. I liked it! From the point of view of someone that disliked the first one, this was a massive improvement.
The first half packs the same...questionable writing from the first film, but once it picks up it gets really good. I was grinning like a child by the end, it felt so good having my childhood hero back on his A game.

Knuckles is the best he's ever been too. Can't believe I'm about to say this, but...make him more like this in the games too, please? I've always been strongly opposed to having any movie element get into the main games but this version of knuckles is just so goddamn cool, man.

 

Careful, someone uploaded things from the movie on Youtube, including spoilers. Was not a happy bunny this morning.

 

To add to that: Now that thumbnails auto-play as soon as you stop scrolling, you can be spoiled even if the thumbnail doesn't contain a spoiler. Some folks might just want to stay off YouTube for the next week. Unless that's a setting you can turn off. I didn't care enough to check.

 

If anyone's bummed about the mixed reviews, just remember it could be much worse (especially for something as mass market/schlocky as a Sonic movie) - reviews for Morbius just dropped and it's rocking an abysmal 17% on RottenTomatoes.

Sonic's only other major competition in April is likely going to be Fantastic Beasts 3, which even aside from all the recent controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling (neither here nor there), I'm skeptical of its box office prowess given how much of a dud the second movie was. Other than that, I could absolutely see Sonic dominating the box office until the new Dr. Strange movie comes out in May.

 

To be honest, being just an average action flick is still better than most video game movies so I'll consider this a W for Sonic.

Ya for low standards.

 

I'm not bummed myself, especially hearing the impressions from people that are invested in Sonic. Just curious at this point what the critical picture will settle at once more reviews come in.

Those Morbius reviews though... yeah, puts things into perspective. That's what it looks like when a movie caters to nobody and is made carelessly.

 

I've seen a fair amount of Twitter takes from diehard Sonic fans who seem shocked and saddened that a Sonic the Hedgehog movie isn't getting across-the-board praise from "snobby film critics" lol.

I guess my opinion is just that a Sonic movie of all things was never going to be high brow entertainment, and I'm perfectly willing to enjoy it for what it is. The first movie only landed on 63% on RottenTomatoes, barely within "fresh" territory, and that's honestly a lot better than I would have expected it to fare even after seeing it. If Sonic 2 is above fresh at all, I'd consider that a triumph for the kind of movie it is.

I think the expectation that every film outlet is going to assign some diehard Sonic fanboy/girl who will give it an instant 5 stars if Shadow shows up in the credits (note: I have not spoiled myself on this fact, I have no idea if that happens) instead of their usual critic is kind of ridiculous, though I do respect a lot of the people who are bitter or melting down over this are probably younger and don't quite have that perspective yet, and are just looking for validation in their weird interests. Either way, I want those people to relax. It sounds like everyone who went into this already a fan of the Sonic universe loves it, including those who didn't like the first movie, and that's all I need.

 

Sonic is in a very weird position where he's both overrated and underrated at the same time lol.

Sonic fans love to assume he is one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time....despite not even being in the top 10 best selling gaming franchises. Likely because Sonic is many people's first exposure to gaming, so many people hold him close to their heart. There's nothing like your first after all.

At the same time, he is still among the top 20 gaming franchises lol. For perspective, Sonic has sold more than both the Zelda and Super Smash Bros. Series lmao. He's a meme in the gaming community, but his face consistently sells in spite of the quality of his games.



So...its a matter of perspective I guess.

 

I dont expect critics to praise it as a fan would do, but being honest and having already watched the movie, some of the critics are absolutely bonkers. Not because it does not praise it, but because the reasons they give to critique are absurd, like "There is too much screentime for CG charathers and not enough of the human ones". ... Seriously? I personally think the humans here ( Tom, Maddie, etc) are just in the right amount of screentime, making them interesting but not being excedessly on screentime on a movie called SONIC, where the main screen time should be of... Sonic.

Or that Tails being voiced by the same voice actress than of the games "increases the kiddyness of the whole ordeal". That is just disrespect to the work of Coleen, who is amazing.

 

There's always been a disconnect between film critics and average movie-goers. The first film wasn't fantastic, but it was a solid family movie with some fun action and heartfelt moments. Also the first film made out well at the box office despite coming out a month before the world locked down. If the second is anything like the first, it'll do fine.

 

Oh yeah, I’m not going to stick up for every critic. You can always tell who mentally wrote it off before the previews even started.

I remember when Detective Pikachu came out, about half the negative reviews were fair assessments of the film’s flaws, but then for the other half it was like they were just mortally offended at even the idea of having to sit through a “Pokeymans” movie. Such is the industry - it’s riddled with problems, especially as a ton of the prominent critics are naturally on the older side.

 

Not gonna lie, I have massive respect for the filmmakers for sticking with their guns re: casting Colleen O'Shaughnessy. When Tails showed up at the end of the first movie voiced by the same voice artist as in the games, I know a lot of people assumed she'd end up being replaced by a big Hollywood 'name actor' if and when a sequel actually materialised. The fact that they instead stuck with the casting was a pleasant surprise, and I can't wait to see Colleen's Tails come to life on the big screen when I get to see the movie in a couple of weeks' time. = )

 

Same. Of all the reviews I’ve seen, the only one that’s actively put me off is the one ragging on the movie for casting her. Retaining the original voice of a character in an adaptation like this should just be encouraged in general (I should point out I am fine with Sonic and Knuckles’ casting as well, they’re different takes on the characters), but also it would have been mad disrespectful to recast Tails after having Colleen play her in the first movie.

Dude strikes me as the kind of person companies like Dreamworks sucker in because they paid Will Smith millions of dollars to play a fish when like, Kevin Michael Richardson could have done the part just as well for a fraction of the cost.

 

There's no point in speculating on whether a review is coming from a fan/non-fan, a critic/"regular" viewer, or gave the movie a fair chance or is just a brush-off. Any review should be (and probably is) that person's genuine opinion, but especially with this kind of genre entertainment, people's opinions will vary.

Relax. Take a breath. Watch the movie when you can, and form your own opinion. That's the only one that matters.

Whether you like a movie or hate a movie, finding reviews from other people who agree with you DOES NOT validate your opinion. Your opinion is already completely valid regardless of whether or not it aligns with anyone else's. And so is the opinion of everyone else. If 99% of people like something, it doesn't mean that thing is definitively good, and if you are in the 1% that doesn't like it, it doesn't mean that you are definitively wrong. All opinions good or bad are true and correct for one person only. So accusing people's opinions of being petty or untrustworthy for whatever reason is neither productive nor necessary.

 

I do think it is somewhat problematic when reviewers downplay voice actors simply because they aren't A listers in Hollywood. Its the exact thing Voice Actors have been fighting against for years now, and why they're fighting for a higher rate of pay.

Its especially frustrating since Japan does treat it's voice actors far better than America does.

 

I haven't seen that review, so I can't comment on whether their comment seemed inappropriate or not. Could you post a link to it, please?

And I'm not really sure what Japan has to do with it, regardless. One reason voice actors are higher profile is because animation is higher profile than Japan's live action film industry. Of the top 10 all-time highest grossing films in Japan (excluding Western movies), NINE of them are anime. So it stands to reason that voice actors have more celebrity status.

 

The reviewer removed that comment from their review, but you can probably find it on Twitter somewhere.

 

Thanks for the spoiler, I guess. XD

Spoilers about Sonic 2 will stop being spoilers for me in less than 24 hours, but, even if you technically don't spoil a thing, I'd have liked you to not say anything about the post-credits scene here because all that talk is bugging me now, buzzing in my head with expectations and an unwanted test for my guessing skills. Glad it will end soon and in good company.

 

Well, whatever was said, if it was removed, it was obviously acknowledged by the reviewer or their editor to have been ill-worded or inappropriate, so there's no need for me to seek it out and try to resurrect it. It's been excised from the public discourse, so there's no reason to bring it up again.

 

You say that but they replaced Jun'ichi Kanemaru with Taishi Nakagawa. Seems like Ryo Hirohashi was the only OG cast member that got to reprise her role as Tails.

And it's not the only time it's happened either outside of Sonic.