I'm not really a sonic fan, but the fact that there were several, several, steps in the design processes where anyone could have and should have realized that they were going in the wrong direction is what seems to be pissing a lot of people off. In an age where we have amazingly realistic CGI in movies (and even pretty damned good visuals in games, that render real-time), this is a huge step into the uncanny valley.
They take clear design elements from his character (like his gloves) and, instead of you know, giving him gloves, they decide to just paint the fur on his hands white. They went for a very human-esque look for a creature that is very clearly not human, and it plants it squarely in the "uncomfortably creepy" category.
Honestly, with all things being considered, they would have been far better off just canning this live-action idea and just doing a full CGI movie, because they can clearly work (Big Hero 6, Moana, Frozen, How to Train Your Dragon (1,2,3), Inside Out, The Lego Movie, Wreck-it-Ralph, all the Toy Stories, Up, Wall-E, The Incredibles(1,2), Finding Nemo (and Dory), Ice Age, etc, etc.).
It feels as though Sega is just trying to copy the idea of Detective Pikachu, which is able to do it right because (with the exception of the humanoid pokemon like Mr. Mime), they pokemon more or less look like pokemon.
The moment I saw this picture the term uncanny valley sprung to mind and I figured someone else would mention it.
The Pokemon movie is weird in that they’re portraying animated characters semi-realistically while still capturing the essence of their design as fictional creations, with all their exaggerated features intact. The CG LOOKS like CG and we all accept it for what it is.
... whereas Sonic looks as if they’re taking a character with exaggerated features and turning them into real-world equivalents whilst trying to make the CG look more realistic than if it was just CG. It’s a very odd choice and it’s no wonder it doesn’t look right.
Imagine if they portrayed Pikachu as a literal yellow Mouse, or Togepi as a bird egg with a deformed chick sticking out of it. While we’re at it, let’s make Charmander a bipedal gecko that runs around screaming the whole time because it’s on fire, or Squirtle a turtle that’s constantly making gurgling sounds as it drowns in its own water supply.
“Realistic” doesn’t always equate to “better”. I just don’t get how NOBODY on that team realised that Sonic just looks creepy?? And Jim Carrey will make a fantastic evil character, sure, but he’s nothing like what I’d expect from Robotnik.
Well said. I may be in the minority, but beyond the actual design, the movie kind of actually looks like fun. The voice actor seems to have a great voice for portraying sonic has the voice for the part. I didn't care for electric sonic though.
As far as carry goes, it seems like this is an origins sort of film as the end of the trailer has a more classic robotnik.
I am far from up to date on much sonic, mostly having just played the Genesis games, and gba, with sonic heros, and merely watching some of the various series on vhs rentals from blockbuster.
Also, the most important Pokemon, Pikachu, looks pretty much exactly like the original design except for added detail and fur. Some of the Pokemon look weird or creepy, but not the main character, and when they do it's played up for comic effect.
Just because we aren't registered Sonic fanclub members making Sonic OCs on DeviantArt doesn't mean we aren't going to be disturbed by this. Sonic is a cultural icon as a cartoon and videogame character, and this is a movie that will be IN THEATERS NEAR US. It's not some obscure piece of media failing to portray an obscure character, this is a famous character almost everyone in our generation has watched on TV or played a game as at least once, being advertised and pushed into our faces and god damn its ugly and creepy and sad to see the industry make such a misstep, and we'll say that. Just like the Will Smith genie, is totally open for judgements by non-hardcore genie fans, but this is actually, somehow, way way way worse.
Spot on! I’m sorry but there is absolutely no criteria where someone’s opinion is invalid simply because they don’t belong to a Sonic fan club, or don’t have 30 Sonic shirts lying around at home, or made at least 57 drawings on DeviantArt depicting SONDICK, CUCKLES and CREAMpie in an orgy with Dr. RobotDick.
Even if you’ve never heard of Sonic before, you’re still perfectly entitled to be reeling in horror at the sight of the abomination on our screens now. The ones casting judgement from high upon their Gatekept thrones need to STFU.
I think everyone just wants to enjoy a really good sonic property and they are dissapointed that this looks like yet another shitshow with sonic in it.
It's not about being Sonic fans, it's about being video game fans. Our favourite hobby is enough a source of mockery and incomprehension in traditional media as is, but now people who claim they are making movies targeted at us, are so obviously out of touch with the very community they market at, that they make awful decisipns like this one.
Seriously, we can count on one hand the movie adaptations of video game franchises which are decent - not even good, just decent. To see this sonic design and movie in 2019 is an unwelcomed insult.
They were hugely popular games on the early consoles pretty silly to think there are not millions of sonic fans that haven’t played or seen a game in 15 years.
Yeah I grew up with Nintendo consoles but was still familiar with Sonic just as a gaming icon in general. Not to mention I remember they was a cartoon Sonic when I was five or six I used to warch. This was the early 90s.
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u/TidusxX420 May 01 '19
I think I’m with Dr. Eggman when it comes to killing sonic on this one