Sonic the Hedgehog, the Movie

[Mando Knight]

The one thing most people seem to be praising is Jim Carrey's performance. Well, I didn't find it any funny.

Though I do like what seems to be a slow transformation through the movie.

Spoiler

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Too bad it will probably only be complete in a post-credits scene.

And they actually changed Robotnik's name back! I did not see that coming, though I welcome it. Though I do not welcome the fact that they made him thin (Would it have been that hard to put Jim Carrey in a fat suit?).

I have a feeling that in the course of the film, as Robotnik fails to capture Sonic, he'll slide from the eccentric, morally-impaired genius Dr. Robotnik into the megalomaniacal man-child Eggman (and as in Sonic Adventure, it'd be Sonic who calls him that first).

Wait - in that trailer Sonic can dodge a bunch of missiles and move so fast the missiles relatively speaking appear to be stationary...but he couldn't move fast enough to dodge the tranquilizer dart?

#whatisconsistency

The movie operates by comedic rules, at least at some level: if there's a joke to be had with a character under-performing in a low-stakes situation, then they'll do the joke.

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What I would really like to see (or rather hear) would be the background music (aside from wherever they insert Gangsta's Paradise into the film proper) to include samples/remixes of the game music. I wouldn't expect a segue into e.g. Open Your Heart or E.G.G.M.A.N., but a bit of Green Hill or Doomsday Zones would be a nice callback. They are using some of the games' sound effects in the trailer, so it's not totally impossible...

[John Cribati]

They'll probably go the Netflix Castlevania route and reserve the actual video game BGM for one really (or maybe juat relatively) awesome action scene.

[Zevox]

Also, the music sucks. It's a movie about a super fast character who cracks wise while making modern pop-culture references; is Gangsta's Paradise, a solemn and scathing critique of urban decay and the ill effects of "gangsta" culture from 1995 - really the best that they could have come up with? Even if the intention is to try and hammer down on that mid-90's nostalgia from when Sonic was really at the peak of his fame... That just isn't appropriate.

What I would really like to see (or rather hear) would be the background music (aside from wherever they insert Gangsta's Paradise into the film proper) to include samples/remixes of the game music. I wouldn't expect a segue into e.g. Open Your Heart or E.G.G.M.A.N., but a bit of Green Hill or Doomsday Zones would be a nice callback. They are using some of the games' sound effects in the trailer, so it's not totally impossible...

I'd agree with these. I don't know what they're thinking with the music choice there, especially considering that the music is about the only thing about Sonic as a franchise that has been consistently actually quite good. Granted it's not like good music could save this film any more than it saves the frequently-bad games; getting to hear Green Hill Zone or Live and Learn won't change that Sonic looks awful, or that Robotnik is acting like a buffoon pretending to be someone important rather than a megalomaniac evil scientist. But it would at least be something good that ties in to the actual franchise the movie purports to be about, which is more than can currently be said for anything in the trailer.

[LaZodiac]

The people have spoken.

[Delicious Taffy]

The people have spoken.

I hope they make Sonic look even worse. Stretch him on his x-axis and call it a day. Make his eyes even smaller. Give him piranha teeth.

[Ramza00]

The people have spoken.

I am not sure the internet is the people

Honestly how expensive will this to be re-render? I expect not much for it is only 1 computer model, plus lots of special effects, in a mostly real life world, and I doubt they are going to reshoot much at all.

[Aotrs Commander]

Pahahahahahahahahaha!

You can almost feel the collective pants-wetting from the one-in-fourp'nies from here...!

[Delicious Taffy]

Pahahahahahahahahaha!

You can almost feel the collective pants-wetting from the one-in-fourp'nies from here...!

From the what?

[Rynjin]

I am not sure the internet is the people

Honestly how expensive will this to be re-render? I expect not much for it is only 1 computer model, plus lots of special effects, in a mostly real life world, and I doubt they are going to reshoot much at all.

I doubt it will be very expensive at all, because I'm like 80% sure they only made that monstrosity for the trailer and publicity as one big meme (which everything points to, even the music choice is apparently a nod to an obscure Sonic AMV) and made most of the movie with the "new" design already.

[Aotrs Commander]

From the what?

British (possible Derbyshire) aphorism; entomology coming from "the ones in four-pennies" referring to "people in the cheap seats at the theatre" with the implication of people in those seats displaying uncouth or otherwise negatively connotated behavior.



I'm afriad this is me best citation, an' it come from me Dad (ain't found nowt on google, like), who sez a lot o' Derbyshire guff, wot I has picked up on an' made part of me own, since I were knee-high ter a grasshopper.

[Zevox]

The people have spoken.

As amusing as that is, I sincerely doubt any changes they make will fix the problem. I have a very hard time imagining how you could possibly make a CG Sonic that's supposed to be set against an otherwise live-action film look anything but bad. He's just the kind of character that only really works in a cartoony design, not a remotely realistic one, I think. Plus even if they miraculously found a way to make him look good, it won't change everything else about the film that screams "we had no idea what we were doing when making this."

[LaZodiac]

I doubt it will be very expensive at all, because I'm like 80% sure they only made that monstrosity for the trailer and publicity as one big meme (which everything points to, even the music choice is apparently a nod to an obscure Sonic AMV) and made most of the movie with the "new" design already.

Yeah no one ever actually does this.

The "nod to an obscure Sonic AMV" thing isn't even like, true. That's a coincidence.

As amusing as that is, I sincerely doubt any changes they make will fix the problem. I have a very hard time imagining how you could possibly make a CG Sonic that's supposed to be set against an otherwise live-action film look anything but bad. He's just the kind of character that only really works in a cartoony design, not a remotely realistic one, I think. Plus even if they miraculously found a way to make him look good, it won't change everything else about the film that screams "we had no idea what we were doing when making this."

Well yeah obviously.

[Kitten Champion]

Well, even if the movie flops (which, you never know how these things will go, especially with China there) that they could make merch using movie-Sonic and people might consider buying it for children and such.

'Cause, at the moment, why would you? Other than to put next to your Dark Universe T-Shirt.

[John Cribati]

Honesty as much as the "character from another reality ends up on Earth" trope is tired and kinda annoying, thisnkovie at least looks like it'll be fun. Not an Academy Award winner by a long-shot, mind you. But that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it.

[tyckspoon]

Well, even if the movie flops (which, you never know how these things will go, especially with China there) that they could make merch using movie-Sonic and people might consider buying it for children and such.

'Cause, at the moment, why would you? Other than to put next to your Dark Universe T-Shirt.

Yeah, if they can manage to make the character model look cute or cool, they can at least market with it. 'Terrifying' is not a good place to be for licensing prospects.

[Rynjin]

Yeah no one ever actually does this.

I would not doubt pretty much anything involving Sega and Sonic. They've been pretty aware of Sonic's memedom for a while now if Sonic Boom is any indication (they made a freaking Chris-chan parody for crying out loud) and refuge in absurdity is a huge part of their marketing strategy and social media presence for the Sonic IP in recent years.

The "nod to an obscure Sonic AMV" thing isn't even like, true. That's a coincidence.

Could be, could not be, but like I said I'd lean toward the former.

[Algeh]

3) It's fully CG animated in the style of the games, avoiding the dreaded live-action + animated character curse. Only Roger Rabbit has ever really managed to do this format justice, and I don't know why studios keep trying it.

I also quite like the original Pete's Dragon for mixed (cel) animation and live action, but I like a lot of pretty terrible things so I may not be a good judge here.

[Devonix]

Seeing how rerendering the movie at this point is kinda impossible. And the fact that they'd go and say they were going to do it. It makes me wonder if yeah Was this all some elaborate joke? And that we'll see a real trailer. It would fit with the way Sega has been using sonic for a while.

[Reddish Mage]

The people have spoken.

I am not sure the internet is the people

Honestly how expensive will this to be re-render? I expect not much for it is only 1 computer model, plus lots of special effects, in a mostly real life world, and I doubt they are going to reshoot much at all.

This is almost as big an underestimation of the Herculean task as suggesting superhero powers can be made to work within the laws of physics.

Sure some guy with a photo editor can work magic and make a still image of Sonic look better:



However, it’s completely different doing this across the greater majority of the panels of a nearly two hour movie. Its more than just making a few adjustments and letting the program run again. You got to capture Sonic from every angel and make the motion work.

CGI animation is not easy, they probably used human models for the motion and did everything thinking Sonic’s proportions was that more human-shape we are seeing and blanching at. Now we want the motion to look good after a dramatic reshaping so Sonic is a big headed monstrosity with a somewhat wide body like in the video games. He’s so much wider and shorter and that means newly rendered motions in at least some cases. Also need extensive manual clean up work and potentially redrawing things like the spinning ball animation (should be a wider, bigger ball).

Also, changing the size and look dramatically means that some shots won’t work (like the close ups and what about those pan out running shots) and have to be entirely redone.

None of this can be done on the power of a “single computer.” The remodeling has to be done and re-rendered in 4K and not a cheap up-scaled 4K. They gave Sonic a look almost as if he was a fuzzy human-shaped muppet that’s just a bit too perfect, that’s costly stuff.

I bet the rework is going to cost into the millions of dollars.

[John Cribati]

The only way a re-render works is if they already redid his look and only made the trailer with the bad design for the sake of getting publicity.

[Devonix]

The only way a re-render works is if they already redid his look and only made the trailer with the bad design for the sake of getting publicity.

Yeah Redoing this in the allotted time is nearly an impossible task as well as a hugely expensive one.

[John Cribati]

Basically this is nearly perfect advertising.

The Public: I mean, the Sonic movie looks like it'll have decebt effects, and Jim Carrey being a silly villain hits all the right nostalgia buttons, but Sonic looks like complete ass.

Studio: Live Action Sonic will not look like complete ass anymore.

The Public: huh. Well I guess it won't be too bad, then.

[Zevox]

Basically this is nearly perfect advertising.

The Public: I mean, the Sonic movie looks like it'll have decebt effects, and Jim Carrey being a silly villain hits all the right nostalgia buttons, but Sonic looks like complete ass.

We have not been seeing the same public reactions, if that is how you'd describe them.

[Mando Knight]

The only way a re-render works is if they already redid his look and only made the trailer with the bad design for the sake of getting publicity.

Or they haven't finished rendering all of Sonic's scenes and were going to spend most of the next six months on editing and rendering the rest of the movie anyway.

[Reddish Mage]

Yeah Redoing this in the allotted time is nearly an impossible task as well as a hugely expensive one.

You know, I’d like to Sonic look a bit fuzzier and cartoony in his motions, which could cut thing down considerably if stretching things tend to produce that effect.

This link leads to a bunch of articles that explain just how much processing power is needed to make animation in movies https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-...r-a-Pixar-film

Looking at claims about how long and how many CPU it takes to render a single frame of CGI (we are talking many hours and thousands of CPUs), it really is essentially impossible unless what Quora and Gizmodo says about animation is off. The move will have 150,000 or so frames. They will only have at most a couple of months before the film has to ship. Somehow they have to redo the central character, redo the animation, fit that character into every scene right, and do all the review, fixing, rework, including redoing some of the other special effects to fit the character....

I’m starting to think this is exactly like getting superpowers to work with real physics, it can’t be done, unless you are willing to overlook gaping flaws, a lot of obvious hand waving, and general ugliness.

[John Cribati]

We have not been seeing the same public reactions, if that is how you'd describe them.

We run in different internet circles, I guess.

[Mando Knight]

This link leads to a bunch of articles that explain just how much processing power is needed to make animation in movies https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-...r-a-Pixar-film

Looking at claims about how long and how many CPU it takes to render a single frame of CGI (we are talking many hours and thousands of CPUs), it really is essentially impossible unless what Quora and Gizmodo says about animation is off. The move will have 150,000 or so frames. They will only have at most a couple of months before the film has to ship. Somehow they have to redo the central character, redo the animation, fit that character into every scene right, and do all the review, fixing, rework, including redoing some of the other special effects to fit the character....

I’m starting to think this is exactly like getting superpowers to work with real physics, it can’t be done, unless you are willing to overlook gaping flaws, a lot of obvious hand waving, and general ugliness.

Monsters University is an all-CGI film from six years ago. Sonic should have less to (re-)render overall and much faster hardware to do it with. It'll be a tight 6 months, but it could happen.

[t209]

Spoiler: Large

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So an interesting version of Sonic in Real World.

[Bohandas]

Sonic X was the worst of the TV shows

[t209]

Sonic X was the worst of the TV shows

Well, at least it's more watchable than the trailer.