Sonic Live Action Movie Thread (Read OP for topic rules) "Trailer 2 on Page 482)

[CaptainRobo]

He could sound something like this for example.:

 

[Ultimate Victory 64]

10 minutes ago, CaptainRobo said:

He could sound something like this for example.:

 

See now that sounds like Sonic

[The Deleter]

2 minutes ago, PeterPancake said:

Roger is a voice actor who doesn't have the range of Ben. He has been in dozens of movies and love action TV shows, he's an actual ACTOR. Somebody mentioned on the last page that Roger in Boom was different but i didn't notice it at all. He just isn't a good choice for Sonic and this guy is a much better fit. For one, I can buy Ben as a teenage, juvenile Sonic. Roger? Not so much. His voice is too forced and its about time we got a new Sonic.

 

Roger would not be able to give us a complex, multi-layered Sonic because he doesn't have the acting range of someone who has actual experience in Hollywood. 

You do not need to have range to be an actual actor. Parks and Rec, probably his biggest role that I've seen personally, is all about him being a one-dimensional party animal who leads Tom along a lot of bad business choices, offering as close to a cartoon character delivery there could be for a live action show. His most important role is one where he's playing a caricature. And in the same breath, while Roger Craig Smith is known for Sonic and other "cool character" caricatures and deliveries as well, he also made his name by starring in stuff like Batman Origins, Assassins Creed, and Resident Evil at the same time, completely different series with much different roles to play and deliver.

I'm not saying either actor is superior to another because, frankly, I haven't seen all their work and can't give an honest judgement until then, (Roger has more range from what I have seen, though, I can say that much) but I know they both have just as much acting capability as each other from the few roles where they're required to act more nuanced as a character so far. 

You don't just work on movies for a little while and magically gain superior acting capabilities to everyone in the industry; that's not how any of this works, and an incredible disservice to the effort VA actors put into their craft as actors tbh

[Blueknight V2.0]

Well I was expecting his voice to be changed for the film. But not to someone that I've never heard of before.

[STK77]

Great choice, in my opinion. I think with his range, he can do a great Sonic that has emotion and depth to his voice that Roger does not particularly bring. 

[Mega]

...Okay, first of all, you do NOT need to be a Hollywood actor to have talent and range. PLENTY of voice actors, amazing voice actors, stick just to animated roles for the most part. Tara Strong? Jim Cummings? Jeff Bennet? Grey Deslile? Just to name a few. Besides that, Roger HAS played some varied roles. Just because they're mostly in cartoons, anime, and video games does not invalidate his repertoire.

Not that I'm against this new actor, but I strongly disagree with the sentiment. It's insulting to voice acting as a profession. Never mind that many celebrity actors are terrible voice actors.

[Polkadi~☆]

Y'know what, that's not a bad choice for Sonic. Let's see what he brings to the blue blur.

But reading through this thread, what the heck is with the extreme disrespect for voice actors and their work?! Hollywood reputation means jack here, it's the talent that matters. Roger Craig Smith and Ben Schwartz, they're talented voice actors, reputation be damned.

For much of my life, I've admired everything that goes into making a character, including the voice. And voice actors, they are amazing at what they can do, bringing something to their roles that makes their character just a bit better. After all, a voice is important for a character, it's how you get them to communicate in your story. But due to the nature of this industry in which the face of a voice actor is never seen, voice actors don't get the respect that a live-action actor would. But this doesn't mean they should be discredited!

Sorry for the rant, voice acting is one of these passions of mine, and I hate to see it get shoved aside in favour of Hollywood.

[AstroSeedP]

I've been wondering, what if the time for a change in voice actors has arrived. 

Most of the current cast have been with us for about 8 years already, it wouldn't be a surprise. 

Obviously, Carrie won't reprise his role after this, but with them hiring a skilled voice actor and not some Hollywood star for the voice of Sonic, it's possible we could be looking at our new game cast as well!

 

Of course, this completely depends on the rest of the character's voice actors, but it's something I wanted to share. 

[Multikaris]

On 8/6/2018 at 12:39 PM, Diogenes said:

I'm imagining it and I hate it.

Simply because it’s a scene from a crap DC movie? It actually might work.

[SpongicX]

1 hour ago, CaptainRobo said:

He could sound something like this for example.:

 

This is gonna be one annoying Sonic... Why though? Why replace Roger Craig Smith with a random tv voice actor?... The idea of Sonic sounding like Dewey Duck sounds obnoxious to be honest. I swear, if Sonic says “naaaaailed iiiiiit!!!”...

[PeterPancake]

What if Sonic looks like this In the movie lol

 

 

6 minutes ago, SpongicX said:

This is gonna be one annoying Sonic... Why though? Why replace Roger Craig Smith with a random tv voice actor?... The idea of Sonic sounding like Dewey Duck sounds obnoxious to be honest. I swear, if Sonic says “naaaaailed iiiiiit!!!”...

Because it's a new Sonic, not game Sonic with Roger's forced Teenage impression

[Dr. Detective]

If you don't like Roger's take on Sonic, that's fine, but to take it to a level that would disrespectfully insinuate that he's not an ACTUAL actor is feigning ignorance for the sake of propping up your hatred for the guy. The man has done plenty of roles as other characters and he has range. Despite the fact that range isn't the only thing you need to be an actor, as plenty make due without it as some actors are best suited for certain roles while others go up and down the spectrum, whether or not he's an "actor" definitely isn't up for debate. Especially not because you don't like his Sonic voice. 

If you're open to being convinced of that then maybe actually check out the list of roles he's taken up and listen to the other characters he's portrayed. 

This isn't a competition or anything. I'm sure Ben here will make a great Sonic too. I'm actually willing to bet there's plenty of people out there who would. 

 

[Bobnik]

Haven't really heard of Ben Schwartz, so can't really say if he's a good choice or not, even after hearing some of the lines from other characters he voiced. 

Also agree with others' sentiment here - voice acting is still acting. Calling voice actors "not actual actors" I think is downright insulting to the voice actors. Troy Baker has voiced a lot of characters, Nolan North voiced a lot of characters, they have range, they have more experience in VA than Ben Schwartz. Does that mean they're also "not actual actors"? Yeah, no, acting is acting, doesn't matter, fully live-action or just voice.

[PeterPancake]

I'm not trying to throw shade at Roger's craft as an actor. He's a great voice actor. All I'm saying is that he wouldn't have worked for the more layered, fleshed out version they're going for in this movie. I don't think he could deliver a complex performance, that's where Ben comes in 

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

1 hour ago, PeterPancake said:

What if Sonic looks like this In the movie lol

 

 

Because it's a new Sonic, not game Sonic with Roger's forced Teenage impression

But this is Classic Sonic. Classic Sonic does not talk.

[Nicky Nicardo]

I was expecting Roger to carry over and be Sonic for the movie, so I was surprised when I saw this news... but after remembering how Ben sounds as Dewey and Leonardo, I think he sounds like a REALLY good fit! I think he'll be able to pull off Sonic just fine, based on what I've heard so far!

[Polkadi~☆]

13 minutes ago, PeterPancake said:

I'm not trying to throw shade at Roger's craft as an actor. He's a great voice actor. All I'm saying is that he wouldn't have worked for the more layered, fleshed out version they're going for in this movie. I don't think he could deliver a complex performance, that's where Ben comes in 

I don’t know why you keep seeing the Sonic the Hedgehog movie as being a massive blockbuster movie, trilogy spawning, thought-provoking narrative series.

It’s a movie. A family movie. Based off of a Japanese children’s video game series. Who is the mascot of a company.

And also, you don’t know that Roger wouldn’t have worked for that because the games and voice directors never gave him the chance to really show off his chops. Boom showed off his best Sonic yet, and that was for a TV show, who knows what competent voice directors on a game would do to squeeze the most potential out of him?
Otherwise, now bringing other voice actors in, Ryan Drummond and Jason Griffith are honestly really awkward. But they have games where they outshine themselves to bring a great performance, like SA2 and Unleashed. For Roger, that was Boom.

[PeterPancake]

26 minutes ago, Polkadi~♪ said:

I don’t know why you keep seeing the Sonic the Hedgehog movie as being a massive blockbuster movie, trilogy spawning, thought-provoking narrative series.

It’s a movie. A family movie. Based off of a Japanese children’s video game series. Who is the mascot of a company.

Just because it's a family film doesn't mean the movie can't have a thought provoking narrative or fleshed out characters. Guardians of the Galaxy is a family film that developed well-rounded characters & the theme of "family".  And the writer said to expect something more along those lines anway. It doesn't have to be a dumb kids movie. And even kid movies like Zootopia and any other Disney film, always has deep characters and a message. You're probably expecting something like the Smurfs which the writer of the movie himself is getting tired of Sonic fans drawing parallels to that movie and others like Alvin or Yogi Bear. 

Oh, and it will be a blockbuster.  

26 minutes ago, Polkadi~♪ said:

And also, you don’t know that Roger wouldn’t have worked for that because the games and voice directors never gave him the chance to really show off his chops. Boom showed off his best Sonic yet, and that was for a TV show, who knows what competent voice directors on a game would do to squeeze the most potential out of him?

I do know. And you know how? Because he's not voicing Sonic in the movie. Whatever Roger was delivering was not enough and the director and producers didn't like it/him for the role. And it makes sense that it's because Roger doesn't perform well in intimate scenes where we get to explore Sonic's character and learn what makes him tick.

26 minutes ago, Polkadi~♪ said:

Otherwise, now bringing other voice actors in, Ryan Drummond and Jason Griffith are honestly really awkward. But they have games where they outshine themselves to bring a great performance, like SA2 and Unleashed. For Roger, that was Boom.

I didn't like Roger in Boom. The only difference I noticed to his regular performance was him not doing the super forced, um,  for lack of better term- bootleg teenager impression. But his voice just doesn't fit Sonic. He should not sound like a gruff man with a deep voice. 

[a knothole resident]

Ive always had the impression that Boom Sonic is Sonic in his 20s.  The voice fits the cynical and nihilistic attitude of someone that age.  Its why the show connected with so many older fans.  The jokes were above the slap stick zaniness of Aosth.  In fact, theres a huge trend on twitter where people are posting their favorite Sonic Boom moments.  That has to say something there. 

Plus I assumed that the Sonic Movie would be Roger's swan song before passing the torch.  I think Ben's Leonardo voice is less obnoxious though.     

But whatever, the movie is clearly its own thing divorced from any of Sonic's mythos.  Hollywood actors, a new story, and new characters (which I hope is more than just humans). 

[QuantumEdge]

Even if this doesn't turn out to be a Alvin/Smurfs joint I really struggle to see this as anything thought provoking, deep, or even particularly good.  Casting is the least of my worries (although having Roger would've been nice even if it's for the sake of symmetry), it's everything else that's got me concerned.  The fact that it's live-action and not a cartoon, using human characters and seemingly total disconnect with the games brings up a whole lot of red flags for me.  I could be wrong, but aside from the sheer curiosity of Jim Carrey as Eggman there's nothing filling me with confidence that this is going to be decent, or a success and to assume so is jumping the gun big time.  Especially when it's leaping into a pretty competitive November.

[Red Hot Jack]

I agree with everyone saying they are both talented voice actors (Ben and Roger), but yep this is what I was expecting, a more famous actor to play Sonic, this is why he got picked instead of Roger sadly. I'm seeing a lot of Roger haters that are enjoying this news but not everyone can like a voice.

Anyway I'm more excited for this movie at this point than I was for TSR and Mania Plus, don't get me wrong Mania is great but that was barely an update, not much new stuff, and I know I'm comparing completely different things, but still, this seems genuinely exciting unlike other Sonic things,

I just know the artistic cast will be the point of strenght of this movie!

[Detective Kaito]

First positive thing I'll say about the Sonic movie: Ben Schwartz sounds like a good voice for Sonic, he's not perfect or Ryan/Jason level, but I'll reserve full judgement cause we haven't heard his Sonic voice yet.

Thank god I won't have to listen to Roger's awful Sonic voice again. He worked great as Boom Sonic, but Modern Sonic just doesn't fit him at all.

[Strickerx5]

Schwartz as Sonic...

You know, this is probably the second thing I'm actually ok with in regards to this movie (the first being Marza's involvement). Honestly, he's a much better choice when going down this weird celeb hole than what I would've imagined. I can at least see/ hear him doing a good job.

Though really, I would've preferred Roger in the role. All this change really tells me is that they don't have enough faith in the actual movie to stick to what Sega has considered Sonic's actual voice for the past 8 years and have to rely on bigger names to sell it. Even then, I'm looking at his imdb and outside of P&R, Arrested Dev, and BB-8 (who could really be his most well known and yet most unknown role depending on who's hearing it)... he doesn't really seem to be that big of a name. I mean, it is possible that they both went through some audition process and Ben just came out on top somehow but I really don't see Sega doing that.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel a bit bad for Roger honestly. Here he is going through the shit Sega throws him for years and now the series is finally going to the big screen, only for him to get replaced. After Boom, I really do believe he could've exiled here. Like him or not, he has provided the most range for the character to date. He's good at the role and something tells me he didn't get a proper chance here due to not being in a few popular TV shows and gd Turbo of all things.

Honestly, it could just be me having my head in a hole with really only things like the MLP or TTG movies to go off of in this department but I had thought that Hollywood was past replacing official character voices with celebrities. Maybe it's still a live-action thing?

Anyways, I'll reserve further thoughts until we actually hear Ben as Sonic. It could honestly work so I'll remain optimistic on that front. Though, I don't see him sticking around after this for the games. Something tells me that Sega ain't in the position to be paying him every single time they want to pull Sonic back out.

[Kazhnuz]

I'm interested in what Ben Schwartz will do. I like his work as Dewey and the few clip of Leonardo i've heard, and I'm curious to see what he will do with Sonic on this movie. I liked Roger, but I'm also interested to see what this voice actor for Sonic will give to the character.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

12 hours ago, Operationgamer17 said:

Ben Schwartz to voice Sonic in the movie, according to Variety.

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/ben-scwhartz-sonic-paramounts-sonic-the-hedgehog-live-action-hybrid-pic-1202900267/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

He seems to be a good choice for movie Sonic.