Sonic the Hedgehog film series general

Also, the human cast just have good chemistry with Sonic and his friends and that's what I really loved about these movies. That's why I love Sonic and Tom's relationship with each other because it feels really sincere.

It also helps because these movies didn't fall into a lot of the same cliches that other movies like them do. Like, Sonic's not annoying, the human isn't a washed-up loser that Sonic helps kick his life into gear with, there's no embarassing hijinks...

Exactly. Instead, Tom and Maddie are pretty likable characters and Sonic becomes a much better character by the second movie and we actually get to see his character progress in these movies.

Why's the third movie filmed in the U.K.?

Regardless, I'm hyped. I missed out on the first two, but I'll definitely catch this one, I just hope its not during the holiday season, since I'm super busy at work then.

I think the third movie is supposed to come out in December 2024, that's if the Writers and SAG strikes stop by then.

Speaking of the Writer and Actor Strikes:

Looks Sonic 3 will focus on scenes without the actors (aka scenes with CG characters exclusively)?

So...I'm a bit concerned?

But then, the best parts about Sonic 2 were the ones with the CG characters exclusively. Especially that final battle in Green Hills, so...hmm.

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Aug 8th 2023 at 3:33:18 PM

I wouldn't make too big of a thing out of it. It's a live-action movie whose main protagonists are CGI animations. Of course there's going to be parts of the film where no live actor is onscreen.

And with films having to figure out how to move forward in production despite all of the actors and writers striking, now is the perfect time to shoot those parts.

They're most likely shooting the areas, locations and cinematography they need for filling in CGI assets later.

They won't be able to fill Sonic and co. in until the strike ends - as voice actors are part of the guild - but when you're doing CGI in a live action environment there's ground work you need to do before getting to that point anyway.

If they are just filming the CGI scenes, then that's fine. I just hope that they take their time making this film. No need to rush this film, even during a strike.

To be honest I'd be glad to have more scenes with just the CGI characters in 3. As much as I like Tom and Maddie as characters, those subplots with the humans kind of take away from Sonic and the rest.

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I like Tom and Maddie, but people come to these movies to see Sonic and his friends, not the humans. I do wonder how they will eventually try to balance the human characters with Sonic and his friends in future movies.

I get why they have to have humans, because they don't have an exceptionally dense cast of CGI characters, especially not in the first movie.

Hopefully this will be something that the franchise can rectify.

I imagine, if the movies keep going, they'll progress to a fully Sonic universe. They played it safe at first, got in the door, now it's time for full glory.

I doubt they'll ever do away with the humans. Hollywood Executive Logic says the cartoon animals bring children to the theaters but the human characters keep the adults entertained. It's the same reason Transformers movies always have human main characters.

Transformers animated shows have always had human main characters, too, right? There's like, one cartoon that doesn't.

Yeah. I was going to point that out.

The humans in the Bay movies may have been poor, but Humans have been a long time part of Transformers.

That's not to say they always need to be (Beast Wars is a famous example of a series with no humans), but the story almost always takes place on Earth, so it'd be weird to not have humans there.

Sonic may be another matter, however. Whether it needs humans or not may depend on personal feelings, and how well they're used.

I think the movies have more or less done fine (though the Sisters rampage in the second movie was a bit much).

A better comparison is how they've yet to make a Tom and Jerry movie that is actually about Tom and Jerry.

....wait, what about the most recent live action/animated film?

Wasn't that more about Tom and Jerry?

....wasn't it?

I think the live action movie focused more on Chloë Grace Moretz's character than Tom and Jerry themselves, although the live action movie didn't have Tom and Jerry talk.

That's sad.

Fortunately, this series has remembered who the star is.

Not bad for the series who's first design for Sonic was awful.

Furthermore, Sonic has had humans coexisting with the animals since its first game, and as the main antagonist no less. Of course, Eggman / Robotnik is much more cartoonish than all of the humans introduced later, but the fact that he is the only human in the game fits with the Green Aesop message against the destruction of nature and animal cruelty.

Edited by good-morning on Aug 13th 2023 at 4:02:01 PM

Also, the Sonic Adventure games had lots of human characters as well that all fit pretty well with Sonic and his friends.

I think Sonic 2 went a little TOO far with the human stuff. Show someone that whole wedding stuff without any of the Sonic characters, and see if they can guess its from a Sonic movie.

Actually (and I haven't seen it since it was in theaters, so I may be wrong), in Sonic 1 I don't really remember any story with the humans that didn't at least connect with either Sonic or Robotnik.

I get why the wedding scene would bother some people but the humans are mostly absent in the second movie.

The wedding scene really is the outlier, all things considered.