Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe Thread (& Knuckles)

it's hideous. i love it

 

I love that, but it looks like the head shape might have fit better in the O, rather than the C…

I could be wrong though.

 

Watched it last night during my brief visit to the states.

I do certainly think it's a nice love letter to fans... on a references standpoint. It's a better experience than the first, for sure. But I just cannot vibe with this world that was set up. Perhaps I'm just not a movie person, but I still cannot tolerate any of the human character shenanigans (exception being Robotnik and Stone).

And the characterization of the main trio still doesn't hit right for me, especially Sonic himself. I can tell a lot of love was put into this movie, and I understand a lot of people like it, but to me, Sonic's representation is not fitting.

I feel that it's not just imagery and set pieces/references that make up the identity of a franchise, but the characters personalities too. In my eyes these were all characters that looked like who they were supposed to be, but didn't really act like it. I just don't really vibe with it.

But on a less critical note, I enjoyed the new interpretation of Tails and Knuckles for the most part, and I think Stone is a fun addition. Agent Stone should certainly play a bigger role in 3.

 

That's pretty much where I'm at now. It's just a completely different Sonic that's not made for me. The lore, Sonic's characterization, the human characters, none of it really reflects what I like about the series.

I've basically accepted this is how it's going to be; a "movie Sonic" with a distinct identity completely different from games Sonic, much like many other Sonic series, like comics, tv shows etc. I don't think that excuses my problems with it as an adaptation, nor is it how I think things have to be when you make a game into a different media, but I digress. I guess I'm happy the kids are having fun.

I still yearn for the day a more Sonic-y Sonic film hits the big screen. Which'll probably never happen. Oh well!

 

So for the Knuckles TV show, I'm thinking Knuckles should wear a cowboy hat and the theme should be Unknown from ME.

 

The only real difference with Sonic's characterization in these movies is that he isn't the supremely confident cool cucumber he is in the games which I'm fine with: Game!Sonic is, let's be real, an extremely flat character. Even in the more story-driven arc of the franchise (SA1 to Unleashed) he basically didn't change one bit. That's fine for a game (it explains why Sonic has no problem fearlessly tackling a bunch of deadly obstacle courses), but not the best for something solely narrative-driven.

 

This is basically how I feel and people get so annoyed when you point this out.

Sonic's game personality is fine...for a video game mascot. But like you said, that doesn't exactly lend itself to a more narrative driven medium. There's a reason Sonic tends to be pretty boring and flat in the more story-driven games, and why characters like Shadow and Blaze carry the emotional developments.

And that's fine, Sonic isn't really designed to be a character who grows. He's more of a force of nature who shows up, does his thing, and then bounces to the next adventure and anyone who can keep up is welcomed to tagalong but he doesn't wait for anyone. That's cool and all, but none of that actually makes Sonic into a character that's dynamic.

Movie!Sonic isn't really my favorite interpretation by a long shot, but I cannot express enough how nice it is to have a Sonic that's able to grow and learn, and not just overcome any obstacle with barely a hint of effort. I understand that's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea and prefer the more confident and levelheaded figure he is in the games, but movie!Sonic is allowed to have the feelings; he can be sad, he can get mad, he can even fake his confidence, or turn into the hero he is in the games, it makes him so much more dynamic as a result.

On top of that, it makes his friendship with Tails and Knuckles way more genuine too. In the games, Sonic blew Tails off until he "proved" himself by keeping up with him, whereas in the movies they have a genuine heart to heart and Tails expresses how Sonic's flaws helped him feel better about his own, which is a wonderful message to kids in this day and age; that its ok to just be yourself. And Sonic & Knuckles similarly bond over their mutual loss (that Knuckles' family caused but yea lol) and that's after saving each other's life, whereas I kind get the feeling Sonic could care less about Knuckles in the games given their lack of interactions and most of them is Knuckles being a dumbass tricked into fighting Sonic.

As a result, it makes them feel like an actual family unit as opposed to just a group of friends who occasionally team up and don't interact otherwise.


Makes me really excited how Sonic and Shadow's dynamic will be handled in this universe.

 

Oh, yes, that "Martha" moment.

I think M-Sonic could have leaned a bit more into this in the second film. I mean, I found good to have a Sonic that wasn't a hero in the first movie, and he learned things to grow up in the second, but we'll need at least 5 more films to get to his game self at this rate.

On the other hand, what I don't like both in many of the games and these movies is Sonic talks too much. I'm not asking for silent Sonic, that would be specially stupid for a movie, but there are enough movies with talkative characters that in fact handle this behaviour much better (and others much worse, of course).

 

Probably, but this is likely going to be a trilogy, so it wouldn't make much sense for Sonic to peak in development in only the second movie. Considering he's facing Shadow in Sonic 3, that's probably when he's going to finally come into his own....not unlike Peter Parker in No Way Home.

And being a motor mouth is Sonic's personality, for better or worse. He's simply not the type to just stop talking shit.

 

Finally got to see the second movie. Worth the wait, that's for sure.
Sure was a heck of a ride, cringed at a couple things, but laughed and had fun with many, many others.
The whole lore and backstories of the characters kinda felt refreshing and left doors open to development.
The dynamics actually kinda reminded me of the games' side of them.
To those comparing the movies and games, each side is its own thing.
Still, poor Tornado. Hardly had time to shine before falling. I hope it returns next movie.
Got astonished at the Giant Eggman Robot being born from nothing, to depict the Master Emerald's power.
Gotta check YT vids about the nods and references to the games xD

At the credits, seeing Aaron Webber as an associate producer felt nice. The guy's gone far. Tyson Hesse too.
I wonder if other game franchise communities managed to have so many folks working official projects.

All in all, I seriously deem the movie as a love letter to the games' fans. I loved it, bring more xD

 

No, it wasn't, that came later. In DC games he talked more than I would have wanted but it was under acceptable and coherent levels; later on, we have Sonic boring us while talking to a destroyed boss in Colours or his friends talking nonstop when fighting Time Eater in Generations. Ok, is not always Sonic, but, seriously, there are no parrot characters in this franchise, no one has to talk that much; we have deadpool for that (or detective pikachu for kids).

 

I don't really know what else to say. They're not gonna shut Sonic up, especially in a franchise with a bunch of no-nonsense tough guy characters already.

 

I don't understand this argument.

It's not like it's impossible to A: Have a compelling story with an unchanging protagonist and/or B: Have Sonic with proper characterization that experiences change for once.

They could have even done something similar to what we have and still gotten a similar outcome for the trilogy while maintaining his character (such as being teamed up with Tom for the first movie, but decides to go out on his own instead of stay with Tom and learn more about the world that way, discovering his love for freedom like he has expressed in the games).

 

What is this reality we're living right now?

Edit: Did not watch Dr. Strange 2 yet, but I just thought that was kinda funny.

 

Bear in mind Doctor Strange has been out, what, 3 days? I don't particularly have a horse in this race (or hedgehog, as it may be), and I'd favour Sonic more anyway, but do be aware of the biases and context here. Strange's score is still in flux.

 

Doctor Strange is pure Sam Raimi so it's bound to be a little more polarizing than Sonic 2, which is a much more crowd-pleasing affair.

 

Exactly, yeah. You get what I've been saying.

People are really quick to react to this complaint with "yeah but he's a movie character, so he has to act differently". Which I only understand if it makes sense to Sonic's character to develop into the spot he's in with the games. But I don't think any of the lessons Sonic learns in these films or the changes to his personality he gets reflects where the games are at with his characterization at all. Which only doubles when you don't understand why Sonic had to develop this way in the first place (I also didn't like Tom Holland having to go through a trilogy or more to become the Spider-Man you expect from film one, ie), and triples when you actively don't like the stuff that they've changed him to suit with (the human parents and Longclaw and the 'chosen one' baggage and the 'alien' stuff).

It's far easier to just accept it as a completely different Sonic than it is to try to act like they're a cut of the same cloth and that some people are just too anal to see it. It's a different Sonic for a different audience. That's all there is to it.

 

Found some more storyboards for the 1st movie, compiled them into a video:



It's an extended version of the "Welcome to Green Hills" portion.

 

The flipside is that I feel like the people who are opposed to Sonic in these movies think he's more different than he actually is, otherwise you wouldn't be trying so hard to draw a line in the sand between the two.

If people find similarities between movie!Sonic and game!Sonic, then that's fine. If people think they're entirely different characters who only share a name, that's fine too. They're both valid interpretations.

I figured this was going to happen (again) when the films decided to move in their own direction and people decided to make this into an "us vs. Them" situation when that's not necessary.

Just...like what you like and respect each other's differences people, I feel like we're mature enough to do that.

 

I.. didn't attack anyone's opinion on Sonic, stating that?

I simply defended the stance that they're different Sonics, and the idea that there are valid reasons to not like movie!Sonic or think he isn't like games!Sonic. I'm not sure what there is to be diplomatic about here, other than telling people who don't agree with you to knock it down a peg. Sorry if it impedes on the fun everyone's having, I guess?