SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Director: Jeff Fowler
imdb
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Director: Jeff Fowler
imdb
So Jim Carrey was awful, but the movie itself was surprisingly not?
It takes its liberties with the franchise, but considering how many different continuities there are by this point, that’s pretty much par for the course now. And other than Robotnik being horribly miscast, it definitely has respect for the series, and the title character. So all in all, it was an enjoyable enough ride.
Need more information.Quoting TGM (view post)
Pretty much covered it in my subsequent posts. But yeah, in a turn of events that is absolutely flabbergasting to me, as I’m seeing more and more reactions to the movie, it would appear I am literally the only person on the face of the Earth who didn’t like his performance in this movie. >.>Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
The more I think about this movie, the more it reminds me of the 2017 Power Rangers movie: A 90s property (in the US at least) resurgence that nobody asked for, and which didn't even look good from the trailers, but which then proceeded to far exceed all expectations and not only turn out quite good, but left me wanting to see this film franchise continued. And thankfully, while we sadly likely won't see the new Power Rangers series continue on, this movie's early success all but guarantees we'll at least be getting more of that one.
And it's also kinda made me think of Detective Pikachu, just in how this movie's release feels like the polar opposite, to me at least. I thought the trailers for Pikachu looked outstanding, but felt the movie itself was sorta just fine, if instantly forgettable, which was kind of a shame. Made for some great trailers, though! Meanwhile, even after fixing the character design, the trailers themselves for the Sonic movie still didn't exactly look promising, yet here we are, and it's genuinely damn good, and has been sitting quite well with me and remaining firmly in mind since seeing it.
It's just got a ton of heart behind it, and you can really tell how passionate the filmmakers are about this franchise. They really did do it quite a bit of justice.
How do you cast Robotnik well? How would any actor play him? What would be useful to an actor based on the videogames?
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
You could play him as the character is actually portrayed in either the games or the cartoons, and not just cast Jim Carrey to do Ace Ventura-era over-the-top Jim Carrey schtick the whole time?Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
Danny DeVito?
I guess there's always another approach, but it's thin right? How is he portrayed in the games? He appears, hovers over Sonic in his contraptions, makes some funny noises and dissapears.Quoting TGM (view post)
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
In different games and media, he's been portrayed in different ways. He's been a complete buffoon, such as in the Looney Tunes style cartoon from the 90s, but he's also been shown to be wickedly sinister and genuinely menacing, such as in the classic SatAM cartoon and the Archie comic book. The mainline games usually toe the line of somewhere in between, where he's a bit of a goof, but enough of a legitimate threat that the characters take him seriously. Like, think sorta how Raul Julia played M. Bison in the Street Fighter movie.Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
I'm not even saying Jim Carrey couldn't have done the character justice. Just, he doesn't play the character at all like Robotnik, he plays it like he's just playing himself, or a parody of his typical schtick from back in the 90s. And yeah, even the goofier interpretations of Robotnik are not Jim Carrey, and it's honestly cringe-inducing to watch.
Then I suppose there is more to him than meets the eye. Speeding to 65 million by the way.
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
This has its script issues, a generic story and the cringey points of most kids movies are there from fart jokes and pop culture references to godawful product placement, but the movie has the energetic tone of a live-action cartoon right from the get-go, Jim Carrey and Ben Schwartz are great as Robotnik and Sonic, and the entertaining action sequences boast solid visual effects. I enjoyed it for its runtime.
Last Five Films I've Seen (Out of 5)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse (Mackesy, 2022) 4.5
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Crawford, 2022) 4
Confess, Fletch (Mottola, 2022) 3.5
M3GAN (Johnstone, 2023) 3.5
Turning Red (Shi, 2022) 4.5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) 5
615 Film
Letterboxd
Jim Carrey was great. Movie was fun. Big 90s energy.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
Thinking on it further, I sorta feel like my issue with Carrey's take on Robotnik is similar to a lot of people's issue with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. In both instances, the actor isn't playing the character as they're traditionally presented, and are going especially over-the-top with the quirky mannerisms (in fact, many accused Eisenberg of playing Lex like Jim Carrey's Riddler). However, while many people didn't like Eisenberg's Lex, I personally wasn't entirely opposed to it, though then I'm also not a big Superman fan in general, so I'm not as married to the traditional take as some may be. But that negative reception some have towards that character and how he was portrayed in BvS is sorta how I feel towards Carrey's Robotnik in this film.
Was thinking of this. I feel if this movie were done in the 90s, he might be a good fit, but now I can't help but feel he'd be way too old for the role. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Quoting Skitch (view post)
Considering the final scene with Robotnik, seems like Carrey's portrayal here was more like an origin story than a full-on videogame-accurate depiction. I don't think we ever got an origin story for him in the games (at least not the Genesis ones, I am not well-versed in Sonic lore post like 1999) or the cartoons. If there's to be a sequel (and I hope so), I bet JC will fly way more off the handle than he went here, which was essentially to a sinister version of Ace Ventura.
The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.
He has a super interesting origin story in the comics, though they definitely won’t (and can’t) go that route.
I wanna say they’ve hinted at his origins in some of the post-Sonic Adventure era games, though I don’t recall how deeply they may have dived into it. Most of the origins stuff in those games revolve around Shadow, and one of Robotnik’s ancestors is tied in with that, so that might honestly be what I’m thinking of.
In any event though, definitely hope for a sequel, and it’ll be interesting to see how they use him from here all the same.