So has anyone seen the Sonic movie?

Johnny Novgorod

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Yeah. It sucks.
The only good thing is 90s Jim Carrey stealing his scenes. I don't care about The Rules of Playing Live-Action Dr. Robotnik, he's the only thing that felt genuine in a name-recognition C+ nostalgia cash-in about the power of friendship between James Marsden and a shoddy CG cartoon try-hard plugging Fortnite and Olive Garden of all things.
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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Like Johnny says, the best thing about it is Carrey going full humongous ham and having a grand old time doing it. Oh, and one action scene, but only if you've never seen the Quicksilver scenes from Xmen Days of Future Past and Xmen Apocalypse, which it basically rips off in a less exciting way. Other than that, it's a another by the numbers buddy road trip movie. It's serviceable as a kids movie, but little more. Adequate, if only barely.

Anyway, the "curse" hasn't been broken. Basic competency is the best we've gotten for far and video game movie adaptations have yet to produce a great movie.
 

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Chimpzy said:
Anyway, the "curse" hasn't been broken. Basic competency is the best we've gotten for far and video game movie adaptations have yet to produce a great movie.
In your opinion. There are great ones out there. See my list in the VG moive thread. There is also the Castlevania TV series. Season 3 is coming out soon and I am looking forward to it. It's literally an adaption of Castlevania III, which is the first in the timeline anyway, but does its own thing and the show nails everything right,

The Sonic movie I have not seen, but I have no interests. Called it: painfully average, copycat script from live-action Smurfs, He-Man, Rocky N Bullwinkle, and feels like a script from the 90s. Like I said before, why not just make an animated movie set in it's own universe or base it off the Genesis trilogy. I know critics hate it, and audiences love it. So there is that critical dissonance again. Hopefully the sales will make a better movie next time. What sucks is the company who crunched to get the CG for Sonic right, got shut down and are out of business. That just fucking sucks.
 

Gordon_4_v1legacy

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I'll wait until it hits Netflix or something. I'm not going to totally slag it off sight unseen but I'm not spending $20 to roll the dice at the cinema.
 
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As much as I like Sonic, considering that I have no one to see it with, and I don't know if there are any theaters nearby in this new city (or indeed if they'd be showing it in english), I likely won't go out to see it in theaters.

Especially since the general consensus appears to be "It's just alright".
 

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I just got back from seeing it. I liked it, but Carrey was probably my least favorite part of it (I've never liked his acting).
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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CoCage said:
Chimpzy said:
Anyway, the "curse" hasn't been broken. Basic competency is the best we've gotten for far and video game movie adaptations have yet to produce a great movie.
In your opinion. There are great ones out there. See my list in the VG moive thread. There is also the Castlevania TV series. Season 3 is coming out soon and I am looking forward to it. It's literally an adaption of Castlevania III, which is the first in the timeline anyway, but does its own thing and the show nails everything right,
I've seen your list. It's not a bad list. They're entertaining, to be sure. I like quite a few of them and I fully get why you'd list them. But in all honesty, are they truly great movies?

Because when I say a great movie, I don't mean "just ok". I don't mean "pretty decent". Not "good". Certainly not "great for a video game adaptation". I mean a great movie. Period. One capable of rubbing shoulders with the best of the best within their respective genre without falling short by comparison. The kind that comes to mind when asked to name some all-time classic, say, action movies, or horror, or adventure, or whatever. That is the level. That is my bar. Sometimes people say it's not reasonable expect a real standout from an adaptation of a video game, comic book, cartoon, toy line or whatever. And I don't expect it, but I also ask why we should be happy with just good enough.

Take Mortal Kombat. Basically a martial arts flick in the vein of Enter The Dragon or Bloodsport (which was a big inspiration for the original MK game. Also, Johnny Cage = JC Van Damme). Fight scenes are for the most part decently choreographed and entertaining, so it does a well enough job of being a martial arts movie, if a bit cheesy, but that's fine. But when held up against the best work of the likes of Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li and such? Then it's not exceptional.

I do agree on Castlevania tho. Obviously not a movie, but judging solely on its own merits, it pleasantly surprised me with solid action and good characterization. Considering its source material, it does a lot with very little. I would like to see more shows like it, whether live action or animated, simply to see if a serialized format is a better match for video game adaptations.
 

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I enjoyed it for what it was. I thought there were some genuinely funny bits and it felt like they really tried to honour the fans wishes. It didn't suck - there was nothing groundbreaking but it was a decent kid's movie that will introduce a new generation to sonic and didn't ruin the character. The premise actually reminded me a lot of the Sonic X cartoon. Jim Carrey was a great Robotnik.
 

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CoCage said:
There is also the Castlevania TV series. Season 3 is coming out soon and I am looking forward to it. It's literally an adaption of Castlevania III, which is the first in the timeline anyway, but does its own thing and the show nails everything right,
Lament of Innocence is first in the timeline. I think Castlevania 3 is 2nd.
 

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Yeah. It sucks.
The only good thing is 90s Jim Carrey stealing his scenes. I don't care about The Rules of Playing Live-Action Dr. Robotnik, he's the only thing that felt genuine in a name-recognition C+ nostalgia cash-in about the power of friendship between James Marsden and a shoddy CG cartoon try-hard plugging Fortnite and Olive Garden of all things.
AAAHAHAHAHHA Olive Garden?

GOTTA SHIT FAST

 

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dscross said:
CoCage said:
There is also the Castlevania TV series. Season 3 is coming out soon and I am looking forward to it. It's literally an adaption of Castlevania III, which is the first in the timeline anyway, but does its own thing and the show nails everything right,
Lament of Innocence is first in the timeline. I think Castlevania 3 is 2nd.
First in the timeline as far as the original NES trilogy is concerned. You are still correct though.

Chimpzy said:
CoCage said:
Chimpzy said:
Anyway, the "curse" hasn't been broken. Basic competency is the best we've gotten for far and video game movie adaptations have yet to produce a great movie.
In your opinion. There are great ones out there. See my list in the VG moive thread. There is also the Castlevania TV series. Season 3 is coming out soon and I am looking forward to it. It's literally an adaption of Castlevania III, which is the first in the timeline anyway, but does its own thing and the show nails everything right,
I've seen your list. It's not a bad list. They're entertaining, to be sure. I like quite a few of them and I fully get why you'd list them. But in all honesty, are they truly great movies?

Because when I say a great movie, I don't mean "just ok". I don't mean "pretty decent". Not "good". Certainly not "great for a video game adaptation". I mean a great movie. Period. One capable of rubbing shoulders with the best of the best within their respective genre without falling short by comparison. The kind that comes to mind when asked to name some all-time classic, say, action movies, or horror, or adventure, or whatever. That is the level. That is my bar. Sometimes people say it's not reasonable expect a real standout from an adaptation of a video game, comic book, cartoon, toy line or whatever. And I don't expect it, but I also ask why we should be happy with just good enough.

Take Mortal Kombat. Basically a martial arts flick in the vein of Enter The Dragon or Bloodsport (which was a big inspiration for the original MK game. Also, Johnny Cage = JC Van Damme). Fight scenes are for the most part decently choreographed and entertaining, so it does a well enough job of being a martial arts movie, if a bit cheesy, but that's fine. But when held up against the best work of the likes of Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li and such? Then it's not exceptional.

I do agree on Castlevania tho. Obviously not a movie, but judging solely on its own merits, it pleasantly surprised me with solid action and good characterization. Considering its source material, it does a lot with very little. I would like to see more shows like it, whether live action or animated, simply to see if a serialized format is a better match for video game adaptations.
I am aware of the inspirations MK had. Nothing new, and does not make it any less great. The only problem with the MK movie is the lack of gore. The choreography is still good all things considered, and has aged better than the Bourne clones from the early to late 2000s. Yes, it's not as great from the triple threat you just mentioned (most action movies aren't), but it did not need them to be great. There is a scene that hits emotionally and it works:


Despite the cheese (which works highly in its favor, cuz MK was always cheesy) the movie has serious heart and soul put in to it. It has an identity, and is one of the few good films Paul WS Anderson ever made.

Street Fighter II: The Movie was able to adapt the game without the tournament and turned in a basic, but good narrative. Capcom funded this when they were at the top of their game. The fight scenes, the context to them, the soundtrack (more so in the US version), and the voice acting were all nailed to near perfection. The only flaw with the animated film is some slight padding, but there are many fighting game adaptions that suffer from way more than SFII. See both animated Tekken movies, Darkstalkers, and the Art of Fighting movie.

Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist is literally the backstory to Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Gouken (Ryu and Ken's master) with emotional weight. And the best part, you can literally watch the film and not be fan of Street Fighter. Further proving my point that it makes the film great. These movies were not afraid of what they were, and yet were able to be inclusive too. That is why they are great. None of Hollywood's bullshit of "removing certain things cuz it's too silly". As much as I love Rampage, but even it removed elements I liked from the games. Humans turning to in to giant bipedal animals was considered too silly. Yet a giant flying wolf with porcupine needles is more "realistic/grounded" according to the director. That is a load of horseshit.
 

Hawki

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I saw it.

I'll give a full review later, but short version is, it's fine. It's one of the better VG adaptations out there, but it's not outright "good."
 

dscross

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Hawki said:
I saw it.

I'll give a full review later, but short version is, it's fine. It's one of the better VG adaptations out there, but it's not outright "good."
Would you be up for a sequel? I enjoyed it to an extent, but I defo needed to take a step back and realise it wasn't aimed at someone rapidly approaching 40.
 

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dscross said:
Would you be up for a sequel? I enjoyed it to an extent, but I defo needed to take a step back and realise it wasn't aimed at someone rapidly approaching 40.
Not to rag on you, but were you actually expecting any different tho?

It does have some all-ages appeal, but Sonic is a franchise primarily aimed at kids through and through. Always has been and probably will remain so. Which is fine, btw. Even Shadow The Hedgehog, and all its 'edge', is more like a 10 year old's idea of dark and gritty. The sole exception is probably Sonic Mania, made by old school fans to appeal to old school fans.
 

dscross

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Chimpzy said:
dscross said:
Would you be up for a sequel? I enjoyed it to an extent, but I defo needed to take a step back and realise it wasn't aimed at someone rapidly approaching 40.
Not to rag on you, but were you actually expecting any different tho?

It does have some all-ages appeal, but Sonic is a franchise primarily aimed at kids through and through. Always has been and probably will remain so. Which is fine, btw. Even Shadow The Hedgehog, and all its 'edge', is more like a 10 year old's idea of dark and gritty. The sole exception is probably Sonic Mania, made by old school fans to appeal to old school fans.
Well, as I said further up on the thread, I enjoyed it for what it was. I wasn't unhappy with it, but I suppose a part of me wanted more for adults who'd grown up the games. Probably would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't set on Earth. But it was fine. It wasn't a disaster, that's for sure. The premise reminded me of Sonic X, but even that was past my time really - lol.
 

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dscross said:
Would you be up for a sequel?
As I stated in the review, yes. Though that's more contingent on it using more Sonic mythos elements than what the film actually uses. As in, let's spend time on Sonic's homeworld or even the "Mushroom Planet" and less time on Earth.

I enjoyed it to an extent, but I defo needed to take a step back and realise it wasn't aimed at someone rapidly approaching 40.
Came to that realization awhile ago also, and I'm not even close to 40. :(
 

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Marik2 said:
does it reference chris?
No.

You could argue that Tom is the film's equivalent of Chris, per the role of "human character that acts as window to human world whom Sonic becomes friends with," but that's it.