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

[SKSpawn]

I saw this the other night and I can't believe how good it turned out, especially after the God-awful first trailer. 

My full review is here but here's my summarised thoughts:

I really liked how they tweaked Sonic's characterisation to make him more curious and hyperactive; he also looked and animated really well and had good chemistry with James Marsden. 

I was expecting Jim Carrey to steal the show but he was a real blast and looked like he was right in his element. 

I wasn't expecting it to be much more than a family-friendly kid's film but it was a lot of fun. I hope Carrey comes back for a sequel as I feel the filmmakers can afford to take a few more risks and introduce more gameplay elements in the next movie. 

[Leebo4]

3 hours ago, CaptainRobo said:

I know this probably doesn't mean anything, but it's seems that Neal hinting that the sequel is already in development and the Rock is in talks to be in the movie.:

  Reveal hidden contents

However, that doesn't mean he hasn't been in talks with director Jeff Fowler. Neil McDonough, the actor who played Major Bennington A.K.A. "Major Nobody Cares," in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie recently suggested that Johnson is already in talks to feature in the sequel (via Gamefragger).

"What I saw in the trailer, the first trailer, I thought it was fine," McDonough said at FAN EXPO Vancouver. "But what I saw in the movie was amazing." The actor went on; "I’m looking forward to part two. Literally, part two, I’ve already heard rumblings that The Rock is going to be [in it]. The Rock is in part two of everything, by the way."

Source

 

Who do you all want the rock to play, I think knuckles could be the best bet but I would like him to play president johnson as a callback joke, but I think it would be cool for him to play a villain role which is rare for him. Maybe as a mercenary robotnik hires

[Johnny Boy]

And to think I made a joke about him playing Knuckles a week ago in a status. I sure hope he actually does!

[Graystripe2000]

Second weekend estimates at around $26 million. 

https://deadline.com/2020/02/sonic-the-hedgehog-call-of-the-wild-barks-brahms-the-boy-ii-weekend-box-office-1202865381/

[Iko]

I've seen the movie and I liked it.

There are some parts of the plot that I think are weak, but overall it's very lighthearted and enjoyable, better than what I expected.

Spoiler

The government gets Robotnik involved for no particular reason, like "he's a genius, he builds robot, let's call him". It feels forced... maybe if they spent 10 minutes explaining how Robotnik detected some weird energy in his small laboratory somewhere in the world and decided himself to negotiate with the USA government to allow him to continue his research in their territory, or something...

Also, I don't like how Eggman is called this way because his robots are like eggs... in the games it's called Eggman because he's fat and shaped like a egg and I think it's funnier.

And at the end, the police guy is technically still an enemy of the government, since he "destroyed" the scientist who the government itself sent to work for them... though they just decided to hide everything and make as if nothing has happend... a weird ending if you think about it. I would have prefered if Eggman crossed the line somehow and gained the hate of the government, then he would have worked independently and against the government too, so the protagonists would have become heroes at the end (for defeating Eggman).

And well... the fish scene really bugs me when some minutes before Sonic is shown saving a turtle on the road.

Aside of that, the movie is solid and fun (maybe a bit childish at times but still enjoyable and satisfying), and I hope it gets sequels because this new universe looks interesting (as long as it won't replace the games' universe and will keep being its own thing separately).

Spoiler

The whole "power of friendship" thing at the end, and the references to the "fortnite dance" were a bit cringe for me, but I survived I guess.

I loved the South Island 8 bit reference anyway.

 

[CaptainRobo]

Found this from the Japanese Sonic Movie Twitter.:

Found some more promotions and ads.

Spoiler

 

 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

6 hours ago, Leebo4 said:

Who do you all want the rock to play, I think knuckles could be the best bet but I would like him to play president johnson as a callback joke, but I think it would be cool for him to play a villain role which is rare for him. Maybe as a mercenary robotnik hires

Knuckles AND the president. 

I shrugged at the idea of him playing Knuckles at first, thinking it was just because he's a beefy ex-wrestler action movie star, but then I thought about it, and he does kind of have the right sound for it.

[CaptainRobo]

1 hour ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

Knuckles AND the president. 

I shrugged at the idea of him playing Knuckles at first, thinking it was just because he's a beefy ex-wrestler action movie star, but then I thought about it, and he does kind of have the right sound for it.

Well, his voice fit well.:

 

Here is the original source of the Rock rumor.:

 

[JezMM]

6 hours ago, Iko said:

I've seen the movie and I liked it.

There are some parts of the plot that I think are weak, but overall it's very lighthearted and enjoyable, better than what I expected.

  Hide contents

The government gets Robotnik involved for no particular reason, like "he's a genius, he builds robot, let's call him". It feels forced... maybe if they spent 10 minutes explaining how Robotnik detected some weird energy in his small laboratory somewhere in the world and decided himself to negotiate with the USA government to allow him to continue his research in their territory, or something...

Also, I don't like how Eggman is called this way because his robots are like eggs... in the games it's called Eggman because he's fat and shaped like a egg and I think it's funnier.

And at the end, the police guy is technically still an enemy of the government, since he "destroyed" the scientist who the government itself sent to work for them... though they just decided to hide everything and make as if nothing has happend... a weird ending if you think about it. I would have prefered if Eggman crossed the line somehow and gained the hate of the government, then he would have worked independently and against the government too, so the protagonists would have become heroes at the end (for defeating Eggman).

And well... the fish scene really bugs me when some minutes before Sonic is shown saving a turtle on the road.

 

 

Robotnik's introduction was definitely weak, will agree with you there.  It DOES sort of set up for the ending - they're happy for him to disappear because everyone hates him even though he's really good at what he does, but at the same time there's this weird energy of them suddenly no longer appreciating how useful he was to the government when the ending rolls around.  The prologue and epilogue to Robotnik's place in the government just seem slightly at odds with one another.

However, I do think the Eggman name makes sense here.  Remember that Sonic meets Robotnik face to face two times - once in Tom's house, and then again on the Skyscraper - he doesn't even necessarily know that it's Robotnik piloting the robots they fight on the highway.  Every time he's met Robotnik, there's been the egg-shaped drones.  To be honest, Eggman fits in REALLY nicely with how Sonic nicknames everyone he doesn't know the name of - "Donut Lord", "Pretzel Lady" etc.  Of course the guy with the flying eggs is called "Egg Man".  That last one just sticks out to us because it's so familiar already.

Historically I never cared for Sonic Adventure's "He calls himself Robotnik, Sonic calls him Eggman as an insult" compromise because it immediately fell apart when Eggman started calling himself Eggman in the next game.  But I actually feel they threaded that needle really nicely here - mainly because it's a new canon and they'll probably continue this naming scheme into the next product - unlike the games - but also because the way they introduced the name doesn't even feel like an insult.  Sonic just really likes giving people nicknames and it's actually sort of endearing.

[StaticMania]

5 minutes ago, JezMM said:

...because it immediately fell apart when Eggman started calling himself Eggman in the next game.

Well they just stopped trying...

Even though the Japanese Side accepted the Robotnik name anyway for him and his family (that announcement scene even says Robotnik Empire)

There's some sort of irony there.

[Sega DogTagz]

Headcanon

 

Spoiler

 

Sonic's love of nicknames comes from Longclaw, as she named him Sonic.

 

Luv me some Owl Mom.

 

 

[OnyxCrimsonBlur]

To be perfectly frank all of these characters have voice actors and those are the ones who should play them. 

The Rock, as much as I love him as an actor and a wrestler, would not be a good fit for Knuckles. He has a voice already. 

Same for Tails, Amy, Shadow and even Sonic. 

I was not pleased with yet another voice for Sonic when Roger is the current voice and what I hear when I look at Sonic. 

Just like I hear David or Kirk when I look at Shadow, Travis for Knux and so on. 

No, the Rock could play someone else.... Perhaps the President since that was the bit... But not Knuckles or any of the game cast. Please no. 

Respectfully no. 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

Wouldn't know until I heard him try, but I'm not sure if Roger could pull off this version of Sonic.

[Almar]

Spoiler

If there's any good sides to the movie's success (I'll man up and admit it did good even if I didn't care much for it outside of Eggman and Stone) it's that it shows that Sonic Team doesn't need to act so paranoid about Sonic being around humans and on Earth. Yes, audiences around the world can accept that a talking hedgehog lives on Earth among humans while running around in Egypt or London (like in that one JP commercial). It's not like there are no well-received works both serious (Bojack Horseman) and humorous (Loony Tunes Show) that do such but with different talking animals.

Now they just need to outright make a game that tells how Two-Worlds works (especially if it's a flat-out reboot) or just scrap it and let Sonic be in Station Square coming from Christmas Island Oceania again (maybe make him and Longclaw come from there).

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 hours ago, JezMM said:

  Hide contents

Robotnik's introduction was definitely weak, will agree with you there.  It DOES sort of set up for the ending - they're happy for him to disappear because everyone hates him even though he's really good at what he does, but at the same time there's this weird energy of them suddenly no longer appreciating how useful he was to the government when the ending rolls around.  The prologue and epilogue to Robotnik's place in the government just seem slightly at odds with one another.

Spoiler

I don’t know, I personally thought it made sense. Robotnik might’ve been good at what he does, but it’s clear that this is the first time he has ever had to go this far to find a target. He starts out fairly normally, calling rank on the military members, and disregarding what they say, but ultimately he’s doing normal investigative stuff. Later, when he suspects Tom is harbouring Sonic, he pushes the line further and further throughout the whole scene.

First, he tries to enter under a false pretence, when that fails, he sneaks drones into the house to find Sonic. When that fails, he flat out breaks and enters the house, and when THAT fails, he threatens to murder Tom then and there, to which he then gets surprised and knocked out. The military are still on seemingly good terms up to this point, since they join him in listening to any phone calls, and they contain the scene in the bar, and listing Tom as a wanted terrorist.

In the next big attempt to capture Sonic though, Eggman begins really going off the deep end by having a massively dangerous chase on a public road, and trying to murder Tom in no uncertain terms. The only thing was the road was fairly empty, meaning hopefully no causalities. 

However, the point this would’ve all went too far is the final fight scene. Eggman has gotten so desperate to find and capture Sonic that he has gone to a heavily populated area, and surrounded a building full of his drones, as well as his own ship. He then proceeds to send missiles and cause explosions on highly populated areas, which is shown when one of the explosions was so close to Sonic that it followed him under a truck. There is no way there wasn’t casualties. He then follows Sonic around the world before he ends up destroying a national landmark and one of the last remaining wonders of the world. 

Then he’s attacking Sonic in Green Hills, at regular speed, with tons of witnesses around him, who will agree and attest to anything Tom says. Not to mention they revealed their connection between Eggman and the Military to Wade.

I don’t think it’s a case of the military just not liking Eggman, I think it’s a case of they would be in a very very bad situation if Tom and the other residents of Green Hills decided to come out and blow the whistle that the madman blowing up several places of the world at once is also the same madman who’d been employed by the military.

In short, Tom essentially has them where he wants them. That’s why they bribe him in the end (even if it’s so comedically small that it’s used for a gag), and also why they not only take him off the wanted list, but also why they just take Tom at his word when he says he doesn’t know where Sonic is. They presumedly asked Tom for a report on what Eggman had done, found out what’d he done, and immediately went into damage control when they realised they couldn’t be connected to it.

In short, Eggman’s exile is essentially best for them on two fronts - Eggman is more or less a wanted man after what he committed in the end of the movie, and he connects the military and government to these acts. On top of that, no one actually likes him, or cares about him enough to remotely consider saving him. That’s essentially why he doesn’t exist in their eyes, he’s too much trouble to have around, and causes too many issues, with everything he did in the movie, he pushed his luck so far that both the military and government have wiped their hands of him.

 

[JezMM]

19 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

  Hide contents

I don’t know, I personally thought it made sense. Robotnik might’ve been good at what he does, but it’s clear that this is the first time he has ever had to go this far to find a target. He starts out fairly normally, calling rank on the military members, and disregarding what they say, but ultimately he’s doing normal investigative stuff. Later, when he suspects Tom is harbouring Sonic, he pushes the line further and further throughout the whole scene.

First, he tries to enter under a false pretence, when that fails, he sneaks drones into the house to find Sonic. When that fails, he flat out breaks and enters the house, and when THAT fails, he threatens to murder Tom then and there, to which he then gets surprised and knocked out. The military are still on seemingly good terms up to this point, since they join him in listening to any phone calls, and they contain the scene in the bar, and listing Tom as a wanted terrorist.

In the next big attempt to capture Sonic though, Eggman begins really going off the deep end by having a massively dangerous chase on a public road, and trying to murder Tom in no uncertain terms. The only thing was the road was fairly empty, meaning hopefully no causalities. 

However, the point this would’ve all went too far is the final fight scene. Eggman has gotten so desperate to find and capture Sonic that he has gone to a heavily populated area, and surrounded a building full of his drones, as well as his own ship. He then proceeds to send missiles and cause explosions on highly populated areas, which is shown when one of the explosions was so close to Sonic that it followed him under a truck. There is no way there wasn’t casualties. He then follows Sonic around the world before he ends up destroying a national landmark and one of the last remaining wonders of the world. 

Then he’s attacking Sonic in Green Hills, at regular speed, with tons of witnesses around him, who will agree and attest to anything Tom says. Not to mention they revealed their connection between Eggman and the Military to Wade.

I don’t think it’s a case of the military just not liking Eggman, I think it’s a case of they would be in a very very bad situation if Tom and the other residents of Green Hills decided to come out and blow the whistle that the madman blowing up several places of the world at once is also the same madman who’d been employed by the military.

In short, Tom essentially has them where he wants them. That’s why they bribe him in the end (even if it’s so comedically small that it’s used for a gag), and also why they not only take him off the wanted list, but also why they just take Tom at his word when he says he doesn’t know where Sonic is. They presumedly asked Tom for a report on what Eggman had done, found out what’d he done, and immediately went into damage control when they realised they couldn’t be connected to it.

In short, Eggman’s exile is essentially best for them on two fronts - Eggman is more or less a wanted man after what he committed in the end of the movie, and he connects the military and government to these acts. On top of that, no one actually likes him, or cares about him enough to remotely consider saving him. That’s essentially why he doesn’t exist in their eyes, he’s too much trouble to have around, and causes too many issues, with everything he did in the movie, he pushed his luck so far that both the military and government have wiped their hands of him.

 

Somehow the collateral damage of Eggman's rampage through SF and the many wonders of the world completely slipped my mind, yeah it makes complete sense now lol.

[SatAMhog]

4 hours ago, OnyxCrimsonBlur said:

To be perfectly frank all of these characters have voice actors and those are the ones who should play them. 

The Rock, as much as I love him as an actor and a wrestler, would not be a good fit for Knuckles. He has a voice already. 

Same for Tails, Amy, Shadow and even Sonic. 

I was not pleased with yet another voice for Sonic when Roger is the current voice and what I hear when I look at Sonic. 

Just like I hear David or Kirk when I look at Shadow, Travis for Knux and so on. 

No, the Rock could play someone else.... Perhaps the President since that was the bit... But not Knuckles or any of the game cast. Please no. 

Respectfully no. 

Tom Schwartz makes a better Sonic TBH and after a decade of the same VAs, I'm ready for a shake-up in Sonic again.  They need a better VA for Shadow....no one has given him any gravitas for years.  I will agree NO to the Rock as Knuckles...he doesn't fit.

[Dr Ryan]

Just did my second viewing in a busy screening with a box of Punk IPA (I opted for a blue-canned beer). I enjoyed the movie even more the second time. Some slight pacing issues and cringy jokes early on for sure (I'm looking at you "I'm in the Bahamas with Rhianna.") but still a really solid movie. More Mobius stuff and 'Full Eggman' in the sequel would be great. It was a joy to see kids lose their shit in post-credits scene 2. Gives me hope for the future!

 

(Love the design, but Sonic should be mono-eye IMO. Like he always has been.)

[Meta77]

4 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

  Hide contents

I don’t know, I personally thought it made sense. Robotnik might’ve been good at what he does, but it’s clear that this is the first time he has ever had to go this far to find a target. He starts out fairly normally, calling rank on the military members, and disregarding what they say, but ultimately he’s doing normal investigative stuff. Later, when he suspects Tom is harbouring Sonic, he pushes the line further and further throughout the whole scene.

First, he tries to enter under a false pretence, when that fails, he sneaks drones into the house to find Sonic. When that fails, he flat out breaks and enters the house, and when THAT fails, he threatens to murder Tom then and there, to which he then gets surprised and knocked out. The military are still on seemingly good terms up to this point, since they join him in listening to any phone calls, and they contain the scene in the bar, and listing Tom as a wanted terrorist.

In the next big attempt to capture Sonic though, Eggman begins really going off the deep end by having a massively dangerous chase on a public road, and trying to murder Tom in no uncertain terms. The only thing was the road was fairly empty, meaning hopefully no causalities. 

However, the point this would’ve all went too far is the final fight scene. Eggman has gotten so desperate to find and capture Sonic that he has gone to a heavily populated area, and surrounded a building full of his drones, as well as his own ship. He then proceeds to send missiles and cause explosions on highly populated areas, which is shown when one of the explosions was so close to Sonic that it followed him under a truck. There is no way there wasn’t casualties. He then follows Sonic around the world before he ends up destroying a national landmark and one of the last remaining wonders of the world. 

Then he’s attacking Sonic in Green Hills, at regular speed, with tons of witnesses around him, who will agree and attest to anything Tom says. Not to mention they revealed their connection between Eggman and the Military to Wade.

I don’t think it’s a case of the military just not liking Eggman, I think it’s a case of they would be in a very very bad situation if Tom and the other residents of Green Hills decided to come out and blow the whistle that the madman blowing up several places of the world at once is also the same madman who’d been employed by the military.

In short, Tom essentially has them where he wants them. That’s why they bribe him in the end (even if it’s so comedically small that it’s used for a gag), and also why they not only take him off the wanted list, but also why they just take Tom at his word when he says he doesn’t know where Sonic is. They presumedly asked Tom for a report on what Eggman had done, found out what’d he done, and immediately went into damage control when they realised they couldn’t be connected to it.

In short, Eggman’s exile is essentially best for them on two fronts - Eggman is more or less a wanted man after what he committed in the end of the movie, and he connects the military and government to these acts. On top of that, no one actually likes him, or cares about him enough to remotely consider saving him. That’s essentially why he doesn’t exist in their eyes, he’s too much trouble to have around, and causes too many issues, with everything he did in the movie, he pushed his luck so far that both the military and government have wiped their hands of him.

 

Pretty sure Stone likes him enough to actually try

[Ryannumber1gamer]

14 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Pretty sure Stone likes him enough to actually try

Stone isn’t part of the military or government, he’s an assistant to Eggman himself, hence why he wears similar outfits, acts as his right hand man, and arrives with Eggman himself upon arriving to the baseball pitch

Spoiler

The point of Jez’s post was commenting on why the military and government would leave him there.

 

[Multikaris]

3 hours ago, SatAMhog said:

Tom Schwartz makes a better Sonic TBH and after a decade of the same VAs, I'm ready for a shake-up in Sonic again.  They need a better VA for Shadow....no one has given him any gravitas for years.  I will agree NO to the Rock as Knuckles...he doesn't fit.

Michelle Rodriguez as Blaze would be a good pick, though.

[Tarnish]

4 hours ago, SatAMhog said:

I will agree NO to the Rock as Knuckles.

What if he gets to sing like in Moana tho?

[CaptainRobo]

Jeff Fowler posted this picture of him sitting at Sonic's home. I was amazed that this was actually a real set. I thought it was CGI.:

 

Also, found a competition from LG UK which you could win some Sonic merchandise. It's only open to UK residents.:

 

[OnyxCrimsonBlur]

8 hours ago, SatAMhog said:

Tom Schwartz makes a better Sonic TBH and after a decade of the same VAs, I'm ready for a shake-up in Sonic again.  They need a better VA for Shadow....no one has given him any gravitas for years.  I will agree NO to the Rock as Knuckles...he doesn't fit.

No, Ben doesn't make a better Sonic. He reminds me of Jason Sonic, which I was never a fan of. I preferred Ryan over Jason and definitely Roger over Jason as well. If they would've reached out to either Ryan or Roger to play Sonic it would've been preferrable. 

I like the same voice actors for serieses, it makes better sense to keep the same one. Mario has had the same for 30 years. Even the Japanese adaptations keep the same voice actors for decades. VA's only need replaced if something goes wrong. I think voices are iconic and shouldn't be changed so frequently. Especially when characters can be recognized by voice. 

Example, what would've happened if they decided to replace Bender halfway through Futurama? It wouldn't be him anymore, it's an iconic voice. Dimaggio plays him perfectly. 

Just like I can't see Joker without Mark Hamil. 

Swapping voices all the time is not good. Please hire game and original voices. 

[thumbs13]

1 hour ago, OnyxCrimsonBlur said:

No, Ben doesn't make a better Sonic. He reminds me of Jason Sonic, which I was never a fan of. I preferred Ryan over Jason and definitely Roger over Jason as well. If they would've reached out to either Ryan or Roger to play Sonic it would've been preferrable. 

I like the same voice actors for serieses, it makes better sense to keep the same one. Mario has had the same for 30 years. Even the Japanese adaptations keep the same voice actors for decades. VA's only need replaced if something goes wrong. I think voices are iconic and shouldn't be changed so frequently. Especially when characters can be recognized by voice. 

Example, what would've happened if they decided to replace Bender halfway through Futurama? It wouldn't be him anymore, it's an iconic voice. Dimaggio plays him perfectly. 

Just like I can't see Joker without Mark Hamil. 

Swapping voices all the time is not good. Please hire game and original voices. 

Didn't the Joker have a different voice in his only animated theatrical appearance (Lego Batman)? It feels like a bad compatison.