Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe Thread (& Knuckles)

Very "Now Kiss", vibes.

 

They took the Sonic X Shadow game name too literally

 

Display stands are hitting theatres. Has some new renders for Sonic & co, but they aren't all that interesting. What is interesting is that there's new stock images for Gerald and Eggman, and if you notice

Spoiler: Spoiler

Eggman's wearing his game accurate jacket that we first saw in the set photo leaks that got taken down

 

Seems to me they might go for the Sonic06 style for Robotnik's outfit, this time. Seems more fitting and realistic to me...

 

Buy your extra large Diet Coke brothers. You don't have to hold in.

Celebration Cinema has Sonic 3 listed with a run time of 1 hour and 45 minutes.

 

1 hours and 45 minutes is perfectly fine and fair to me.

 

1 hour and 45 minutes of it better have Shadow on screen or I'm doing a 360 and leaving the theatre

 

Oh nice!

While I liked Sonic 2 I felt there was some padding here and there to get to that 2 hours runtime. While the first one I think was better in using its shorter runtime to tell a more focused plot.

This one is just a little longer than S1, so hopefully this means it'll be to its benefit.

 

I assume you'd be walking backwards to do so - if you do a 360 you'd be facing the same way as when you started, haha. = P

 

That is the joke, yes.

 

We all remember that thread.

 

I'm not American enough for that.

 

So Lee Majdoub dropped this pic on Twitter.

I am incredibly confused on the context here. And the compositing is awful, the scale of the actors on the background doesn't match, the lighting doesn't really look right either, and no one is casting shadows on the ground what is up with that???
Either way, it's a new look at the villains I suppose. Shadow is absolutely gorgeous CGI-wise as usual and I'm going to constantly be appreciative that they brought back his mild blue hue.

Edit, we actually got a lot more shots:

 

That's just how Hollywood blockbusters look nowadays

We all hate it but there's not much that we can do about it

 

It will look right in the movie. Promo shots are not always finished or it’s a quick edit for the magazine. Same thing happened with GB Frozen Empire and it’s EW pics. Some didn’t even show up in the movie.

 

That's probably a still that was thrown together for the magazine and isn't how it's going to appear in the actual movie. They usually do that in marketing to both showcase characters and conceal plot details.

 

And bam, thanks to a train station/airport we got a good look at Eggman's suit.

I'm really not too huge on the neck collar thing, but I do like the circuitry stuff, it attaches him to robotics a bit more.

 

Why not Blaze? Actually they should just basically adapt '06, it gives Shadow a purpose (if he does return) and more furry action for Sonic and co.

...Maybe not though, there's barely anything I actually liked about the game's story. I really hope they end the movie series here, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

 

I'm guessing it's the picture being wrapped around the pole that's causing this, but it looks like he's got a tiny, stubby little arm just barely coming out of his shoulder.

 

I realized I never posted this here. And you know what? Why not? Whyyyyyy not? I am sure it will be buried, but whatever.

Okay, I have said time and time again that I don’t really view these as “Sonic movies.” They’re just generic kids movies that have some Sonic-like elements to them. For example, some of the characters in them are….

Not the Sonic characters but characters that kind of, sort of look like the Sonic characters. Because these are not the Sonic characters. They act very little like them. Especially Sonic.

But anyways, let’s see. What can I talk about first?

Well, actually. The first thing I think I’ll talk about is the environmental theme the Sonic games have.

I don’t think many not into the series, many who don’t really know much about it would really even know about this. But this is very much present.

I mean, think about what the story of Sonic is.

We have this guy. Eggman. Robotnik. Whatever you want to call him based on what he’s called in your area of the world. And what does he want to do? Well yeah, he wants to take over the world just like almost any other cartoon villain. But the point is how. How does he try to do this?

Well, he uses his technology. His machines. All these things like these.

And what is the effect on areas of the world that he actually succeeds in?

Well, Sonic’s world is one that is generally quite natural. Filled with natural landscapes and such. But in areas that Eggman succeeds, all that is run over. It becomes more industrialized. Factories and stuff everywhere. The air becomes black with pollution and smog. This is what we see in levels like Scrap Brain, Chemical Plant, and Eggmanland.

And what do we have trying to stop him? An animal. And why is he trying to stop him? Well, yeah there is an element of: This is my home. But Sonic’s primary motivation is his love of nature and it’s beauty and stuff. And as a proactive person, when he sees Eggman ruining that, he is not the type to just do nothing.

And that is what starts off their conflict.

Meanwhile, in the Sonic movie, they meet because the government tells Eggman to go after Sonic I guess because of his….

Powers, I guess…

Yeah….

Also, the movies do not take place in Sonic’s very natural world but just our regular, modern day human world.

And that whole environmental thing is just completely gone. There’s no mention of it.

Somewhat understandable. I mean, that is kind of an element that started to sort of fade away a little bit even in the games as the series went on only to later make occasional comebacks.

But them mostly dropping that was something about the later games that we don't like. And if the Sonic movie incorporated some of that, it would go a long way in making it feel less like just any kids superhero movie and more like a Sonic movie.

Now, let’s go on a little more and talk about the characters.

First I will talk about is Sonic himself. And I gotta' say...

They get this guy completely wrong. Like, it's almost like....

How can you get the main character, the main thing Sonic fans will be watching this for, this wrong?

There are a number of different ways that Sonic has been written. Some significantly more popular and likable than others. But a common thing in the good portrayals is this:

Sonic is a very confident, self-sufficient characters in many ways. His general disposition is a bit of a relaxed, laid back type. And his qualities, his confidence and initiative, his concern about people and justice, his belief in the good in people, all these things serve as an inspiration to others.

Movie Sonic is the literal opposite.

Whereas game Sonic is confident and self sufficient, movie sonic is insecure and emotionally dependent. Where as real Sonic's disposition is generally more laid back and relaxed, movie Sonic has the personality of a goofy, hyperactive child with ADHD. Where as game Sonic is the embodiment of the positive themes and messages of the stuff, often being an inspiration to others, in the movies it is Sonic himself who has a lot to learn.

And these are lessons that really aren't relevant to Sonic.

Like what it means to be a hero? First of all, game Sonic doesn't care about being a hero, and just does what he wants. That often includes helping people in need as he sees them, cause he is a naturally good hearted person, but generally that is not a responsibility he has taken upon himself or an ideal he strives toward.

In fact, in Black Knight, he straight up says he doesn't mind being the villain sometimes, and his goal in that game is to stop the "bad guy" from making it to where her kingdom will last forever just because he personally doesn't see the point in that.

What Sonic is like in the movies is not wrong or a bad character in itself. But I hope I have made it clear that while it isn't bad writing necessarily, it is absolutely not anything like the actual character, nor does it capture his appeal.

And if you're going to make a Sonic movie, I don't think it is wrong to want it have Sonic in it, not a guy who is fast and who kind of looks like Sonic.

And that reminds me. Not only do they not get his personality right, they don't get his powers right either.

What the movie fails to understand is that Sonic's speed is not a superpower. He wasn't bit by a radioactive spider, nor did some science-fiction freak accident grant him access to the speed force or whatever.

Sonic is fast because Sonic is fast. It's a natural ability that he has because 1) he's not real and 2) that's just how his body works.

No one questions why bugs bunny is smart.

But the movies seek to have a way to explain his power in a way that actually detracts from the character. It comes from some weird electrical energy charged by his emotions or whatever. Which I guess isn't so bad in itself...

...or at least it wouldn't be if the inspiration for this wasn't so blatant and robbed Sonic of his identity.

30 years. 30 years of games, shows, and comics. And not once is Sonic ever shown with electric powers. If anything, he is shown to have wind powers. And his personality and mindset is often described as like the wind. He is straight up called the knight of the wind in Black Knight. So where did this electricity stuff come from?

I'll tell you.

"Well uh... Flash is fast and he has electric powers sort of so....

Let's just give that to Sonic, too?"

I don't think I need to explain why I hate the very idea of that way of thinking. Sonic does not need to be the Flash to be cool.

Nor does he need to be as fast as Flash to be cool. I am pretty sure that Flash and other speedster scenes is the sole reason Sonic can go so fast he stops time in the movies and can zip through freely, a way of portraying his speed that has again never been done ever in any of the previous media.

But whatever. Let's talk about Tails.

Now, I am not the biggest Tails fan in the world to begin with. I just kind of think he's okay as a character. But there are things even I respect and recognize about the character that should be the case that aren't here in the movie.

Or rather, they are here, but they aren't portrayed the way they should be.

Okay. Here's the thing about Tails. Many people know that Tails is young, of course. And that he has two tails, obviously. But something that those not really into Sonic may not know is that Tails was actually bullied because of his two tails as a younger one, bullied because of this genetic defect he's had from birth. That, combined with some other things, made Tails become a very insecure person who lacked confidence and initiative.

But then one day he sees someone like Sonic who is full of confidence and initiative. And he is so fast and cool and all that stuff, and so Tails starts to follow Sonic. He's drawn to him. And over time, through the friendship with Sonic that he forms and with his being inspired by him, Tails becomes a more confident and competent person.

And with something like that, it's not hard to see why Tails might develop sort of a fixation on Sonic a little bit. Actually, at one point we see Tails himself feels too dependent on Sonic and his story in Sonic Adventure is about him learning to overcome that. And in fact, in that game he stops one of Eggman's evil plans by himself, without Sonic's help, to sort of show the growth he's had.

Well...

Movie Tails get's the fixation right. But there are two problems. 1) It doesn't really do as good a job justifying that. 2) It exaggerates that to a point that is honestly a little disturbing,

Like Tails was watching Sonic with such earnest intensity and focus from outerspace, stalking him really, that he is extremely familiar with his bathing habits?

Um...

Huuuuuuuuuh?

I get that was sort of supposed to be a joke or something, but seriously? Huuuuuuuh?

And...

That's it. Tails is hyper fixated on Sonic, he can fly, and he's the tech guy. I just explained Tails entire character in the movies. And uh...

Sure whatever.

Let's turn to Knuckles.

I...

I don't know, man. I get that Knuckles is supposed to an honor bound, strong type character. But they just exaggerate that to where it's just ridiculous in the movies. And for some reason, they changed him from being the guardian of the master emerald to just some random guy who was seeking the master emerald. Which is...

Whatever, I guess.

At least they got that he gets tricked by Eggman right. Because that is the sole trait that so many plots of Sonic game's he's involved in revolves around. Yep, that's why we love Knuckles.

Eggman, I really don't care about either way, because I don't really like him much in general. I will say that very little of him reminds me of anything prior, but I honestly can't really tell you much of Eggman's characters out of egotistical mad scientist who wants to take over the world.

And, that's my thoughts on the Sonic movies. My main ones anyway. They fundamentally misunderstand the characters and why we like them. They don't embrace much of the themes or settings of Sonic that make us like this world. I could add that they have a weird, goofy tone unfitting of the series and very much lacks the cool factor, and there is a focus on stuff that I honestly just don't care about and that has nothing to do with Sonic.

But whatever.