Jim Sterling (The Jimquisition)

Blizzard Is Pathetic (The Jimquisition)

https://www.vg247.com/2019/11/11/youtube-updated-terms-terminate-accounts-not-commercially-viable/

Sonic The Hedgehog New Movie Trailer - The Redesigned Sonic Is Less Ghoulish (OMGH)

The Sonic movie is so outside my demographic that it's kind of sad, but I have to admit that the new design for him does look less awful. Not sure what else I can say.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 11:25:42 AM

It’s more conventionally appealing, but less funny and less memorable as a result. It’s the movie Paramount wants for kids - Safe, marketable, and unlikely to give them nightmares. I would argue that Game Freak went above and beyond that with their film by making it PG Deadpool but you can’t argue with competence. It’s just not as memorable.

Edited by Beatman1 on Nov 12th 2019 at 10:27:39 AM

Well, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik (Eggman? Eggbotnik?) is at least guaranteed to draw some chuckles for his zealous overacting. I just wonder, along with Yahtzee Croshaw, why Sonic is even still a thing. Can't we let this stinking corpse of a franchise rot in the ground where it belongs?

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 10:31:14 AM

We both know the answer to that is no. So long as Sega exists, Sonic exists and money will be rung out of him. Besides, I don’t think the Yakuza cast fits the family friendly image Sega likes to project with a lot of their retro releases.

Speaking of, this probably won’t be as nuts as the Yakuza movie.

Sonic combined with our world makes me lose interest. I remember loving some of the comics as a kid, all set in Mobius.

This incessant push to make The Movie of all these animated franchises into a Real Life crossover utterly baffles me. What about The Smurfs, for example, made Hollywood think it would be ideally suited for a Fish out of Water story set in Manhattan? Now, I did enjoy that film somewhat, but ... seriously, folks.

You can at least note that Pokemon as a franchise involves humans and mons together in a quasi-modern setting, so it's not completely out of character to set Detective Pikachu in a big city.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 10:39:59 AM

Lazy writing and it’s much cheaper to go “oh and they’re sent to our world!” and use standard location shots than try to make something alien. It’s like with the Masters of the Universe film. Castle Grayskull itself blew through a ton of their budget, so to do more sets like that would have bankrupted them. But add in “and they come to the real world” and you can shoot scenes in a suburban neighborhood and finish on budget.

Sonic not being from earth was an invention by the localization team anyway, though what the Japanese team counts as earth certainly takes some liberties. I think that the fundamental problem comes from removing earth from the character's history, and then adding it for his present.

Basically, Sonic being on "earth" works if it's granted that he was always on earth. (Or perhaps it'd be more meaningful for me to say it's the fish-out-of-water elements that always drag these things down for me.)

I will admit that I don't follow Sonic other than the occasional disgusted glimpse at the rotting carcass as the stench wafts past, but isn't it typically set in ultra-futuristic environments?

I appreciate that budget is typically the major reason why most of these crossover films occur in RL settings, but that doesn't make them any less lazy.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 10:54:34 AM

Only when Eggman is involved. Otherwise, it’s just wilderness.

Not particularly. The games that have the most cohesive settings (the adventure games, 06 to give credit where it's due, and unleashed) take place in stylized areas based on modern cities and the like. The futuristic sections are typically Eggman's constructions.

Since setting the Sonic film in rural and/or urban environments is not out of tone, that's out as a criticism. At least that's good to know.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 10:58:15 AM

I'm just glad the movie seems to have gone from "a risk to killing the good will toward video game movies generated by Detective Pikachu" to "just another forgettable drop in the bucket."

Being unremarkable is much better than being unforgettably terrible. It looks like it can be a fun ride, some jokes will be good, some will fall flat - the usual.

Edited by Adannor on Nov 12th 2019 at 7:15:48 PM

I think it's actually worse. Horribad movies are watched and mocked and (therefore) enjoyed for years after their release. Mediocre movies are merely forgotten within weeks.

From the studio's perspective, making its money and getting out without excessive ridicule may be the best outcome.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 11:22:03 AM

Yeaah because being somebody whose creation is mocked for years is what people aspire to.

You could argue the Horribad film would sell more. People still buy Room DVD’s and digital copies.

I’m more concerned about genre collateral damage, so to speak. As Detective Pikachu shows, we’re finally starting to get to the point where people who grew up with video games and understand them are in the position to adapt them. It’d be a shame for such potential to just die.

It's what's best for audiences. People milk so-bad-they're-good movies for years. In order of preference you want to be either: genuinely good > REALLY FUCKING BAD >>>> mediocreeeee

Edited by GoldenKaos on Nov 12th 2019 at 4:56:14 PM

It depends on the "bad" you want to go for. Those trying to go for bad on purpose are gonna do it tongue in cheek and lots of lampshading. I don't think film makers want their movies to be remembered as bad if it's the genuinely awful kind of bad.

Long-term video sales are one thing. But a movie bombing in theaters is the worst case for a studio, and they'll take mediocre "paid the bills" returns any day over a box office disaster, regardless of whether a film gets the So Bad, It's Good nostalgia treatment years down the road.

It's a shame, really, since it actively works against any sort of drive for innovation. This is why I will applaud films like Deadpool any day of any year. Not because they push film-making forward or give us Oscar-worthy moments, but because they were willing to take risks. Sure, it ends up being fairly generic in terms of the story, but its irreverence is really refreshing.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 12th 2019 at 12:03:49 PM