Sonic Movie 1 VS Sonic Movie 3 (NO SPOILERS)

[@StarDragonNova]

For me, the non Sonic elements of movie 1 elevates movie 3, but the third movie doesnt elevate the first at all. Ignoring the flaws for the sake of the arc would be fine if it was a show without much attention... These movies are the most Sonic has had a spotlight in ages. All these new fans being introduced to a version of Sonic who isn't Sonic as we knew him. A more grounded lively hedgehog who doesnt have all the answers and is vastly different from the character we know. Sonic shouldn't be the same across all media, but the movies are so huge that it's gonna bring change to the main series as you've discussed. Anywhoo, not gonna go into heavy spoilers, but Sonic's character arc in 3 was my favorite part, which is weird since I'm a HUGE shadow fan ( I guess we've seen shadow's origins so many times that it doesn't phase me as much). It's all thanks to the build up of movie 1 and 2. While I think the pacing of movie 3 was still WAY too fast, it would have been even worse if movie 1 hadn't laid the foundations. ... I'm still not gonna rewatch movie 1 (or at least I don't feel the need to). It's like some of those half filler episodes of Sonic X. Relevant to the story but definitely not what I come for. It's not awful, but not great either. At least X was a series long enough to allow character interaction in whacky scenarios. Idk, I probably need more time to digest Movie 3.

[@ShadowtheHuman209]

I was really excited about the first movie. It was a good opportunity for me to introduce my parents to the franchise and since then it has been a tradition for us to see the movies in theaters. The first movie had a lot of heart and therefore always made it a better version of Sonic for me. He had actual character whereas I never really saw that with Game Sonic. I do now though but I still don't think that it doesn't hit as hard as Movie Sonic does.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I personally thought Sonic the hedgehog 1 was a interesting movie on its own and the fact that this movie was a success makes me so happy. 😀

[@TheSupaman98]

I rewatched the first movie the other day, and I really liked it. Didn’t love it, but I really liked it, and liked what they did with Sonic and Dr Robotniks characters, and most importantly, it was a great foundation for this universe to build upon, and it being simple definitely helps with that. Start simple, then build big. Also, I would say that the first movie IS a Sonic story, but in a very basic sense. It has Sonic in it, and it has Dr Robotnik in it, and they go through various zones together, reminiscent of the games. Therefore it’s a Sonic story, albeit a very simple one. 7/10 movie; rating hasn’t changed since I first watched it.

[@NIDER3]

Look, I don't care much about the movies in the same way I don't care about different medias of Sonic. But I'm worried that somehow, these movies or other midias influence the identity of the game universe and characters only because they're supposedly more recognizable for the general audience. I still care for SegaSonic and I want it to be the best it can be by being truly itself.

[@Thatman615]

I couldn't agree more, personally. I want the identity of the films, to stay away from influencing the unique feel of the sonic games. Period. I'm not interested in the spirit of the games yet again, getting lost. Morphing the games into something they're not. But hey? what ever happens? happens. I'm starting to grow apathetic towards this new era for sonic atp.

[@terios2000]

exactly! the localization problems and the 2010's were already hard enough to be a sonic fan. I don't sonic to lose itself to just because other midias may be more popular nowadays.

[@SuperSonic68]

With Sonic Movie 1 you basically could have replaced Sonic with any other CG furry animal character. Remember that, while they did fix his design, the actual script and plot of Movie 1 was made during the time where they simply did not care about respecting the character and history of Sonic. Passable, but underwhelming. Sonic 2, they leaned even more into the history and lore and, look at that, everyone loved it. Sonic 3? Then leaned even MORE and, at least to me, it's all the better for it.

[@Jolynesimpnumber4]

And in some ways Sonic 3 kind of improved it’s source material a little

[@partyjams]

To answer your question, yes the context of the first (and previous) movie(s) will change as we get more movies. At a basic level, we get more lore. This changes our understanding of what we were shown. As we learn more about the characters, it changes how we view not only who they are but also how they were. As the relationships develop, seeing where they were also matters. Tom & Sonic used to be unlikely buddies. Now they are father & son. Sonic's maturation is easier to appreciate when you remember how he began. Unlike the games, we see some real growth from the cast. Even if we disregard lore & character analysis, from a meta angle, seeing what they were capable of doing with a smaller budget & roster does make you appreciate even the somewhat generic 1st movie. Now while I can agree with a lot said in this video, I do have a hot take of sorts after listening to it all. Is there really a need for a more "authentic Sonic" movie? Of course it would be nice to have. Sure it could vindicate a lot of fans. But practically speaking, if people want the "authentic Sonic" they can go to the source. Even for the Mario movie, characters like Peach & DK are very different to their game counter parts. A lot had to be added or adjusted due to the nature of the movie. As for the point that movie fans will come in with a very different frame of reference for the characters, isn't that already the case for the fanbase? There are classic fans who hate "Sonic's dumb friends". JP purists who feel the correct type of Sonic story is written by certain people. In a couple of years, I feel the Meta era fans will miss the comedic style writing that "saved the franchise from the over serious" Dark Age (I'm making up a quote here btw). So what if Gen Alpha comes into the series wanting more emotional vulnerable characters & actual character arcs. Frankly, they'll fit right in by not fitting in. Many of them will likely find other aspects of the series enjoyable with time just as many of us have. (Side note: I was kinda happy you went over time this video lol)

[@jarkspore]

Yes, this is what I’m saying! It’s not that the movies being more grounded and human focused is even a compromise (for me), that’s just what I always expected movies to be! Though I think I have a much higher deviation tolerance than the average internet user. I was even mostly fine with the Trailer 1 design (aside from his lack of cool, redesigned gloves).

[@petergriffinsbrother2499]

I love the callbacks to movie 1 and 2 way more for movie 1 than I thought

[@KOTEBANAROT]

I don't really like the first movie, at all. Even knowing where it ends up eventually, it's still such a snoozefest. Rewatching it made me check the watch the same way I did watching it in theater for the first time. The tepid action, the frankly stupid drama with "will the cop move to another city? who knows", the surprisingly drab and dull color palette, Robotnik's design, Tom and Maddie only just meet Sonic and act rather awkward and cold towards him for a long time, even the post-credit scene made me go "neat, I don't really care though". All of these are things that are FINE in hindsight, but if the movies ended with just that one? I'd written it off as one of those weird little side projects people do with Sonic sometimes. I am genuinely so glad that people liked it enough to get a sequel that was, finally, the proper Sonic movie lol

[@jarkspore]

Bruh, that scene with Sonic and Tom arguing in the truck was so bad. THIS Sonic, of all characters, calling Tom selfish?! Embarrassing. Even if I’m not a big fan of Tom being Sonic’s “dad,” it’s still better than lectures that go the other way lmao

[@jaysolaris06]

I'm seeing the movie tomorrow night, so I can't say how I feel about Movie 1 with context of Movie 3. Maybe I'll come back and reply to this comment after seeing the film and think back on Movie 1. However, I did want to comment on the friction between the two groups of fans, especially as someone who feels stuck in the middle. I sympathize with long time fans who are disappointed that we have to deal with a palpable Sonic. Hell, my biggest frustration with the movies are their settings. Knowing what the Sonic universe is like and then the movies give us real world settings feels safe to me. On the other side, I understand that these movies have done a good job to introduce people to Sonic and increase interest in the series. I can only hope that fans on both sides come to an understanding of why they like their version of Sonic but also encourage each other to dig deeper into that understanding. Personally, I'm not sure how to feel or approach this inevitable discussion. While I would consider myself a hardcore fan, I'm not a purist. And I'm most definitely not a new fan either, been with the series for 15 years. The disconnect I feel comes from enjoying damn near most of the multimedia Sonic stuff from both the Western side and JP side. I adore X and OVA, but I also enjoy the IDW comics and movie series. My open-minded approach has led me to enjoy these variations of Sonic, but as I get older, I start to desire consistency from this franchise. Like are these deviations worth it? Is sacrificing characterization consistency worth it? I'm open to different interpretations and universes of Sonic, but it's coming at a cost in terms of the wider audience. As an individual fan, I don't really know how to process all it because of that open-minded mindset.

[@captansuieel]

If the physical appearance of Sonic is so important (in regards to the redesign) then it should be easy to explain why his personality (and overall theming) and world is equally important? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you if you got something you enjoyed, but I think it's hard to not understand the issue here.

[@jarkspore]

I’ve come to realize, I think I have a rare perspective for this film series, at least amongst the fandom. With a lot of discussion about the movies, I get the impression that most human-centric scenes and plots aren’t wanted **period,** regardless of how well done it actually is. The Wedding Scene (TM) is a great example, because it’s frequently derided yet actually brilliant (though it could’ve been paced a **little** better). But like, these movies **are** live action, they **will** have those elements. I don’t even mean that in a “lol deal with it” way, that’s what these movies are! Hot take, but these movies would be significantly worse if they were just CG Sonics standing in a real location for 90+ minutes. But yeah, Movie 1. Uh yeah worse than 2 for sure lmao gottem! But mostly just because of Sonic. For me, Sonic is at his worst in this series when he’s safe, when he’s chilling, etc. Which, oh boy, is most of Movie 1! Doesn’t help that there isn’t a generally better done Sonic (Knuckles), or a better, more energetic human plot. Bonus points for including Gary Chalk though.

[@hypershadix1]

The movies are starting to get like the games where as you can’t categorize them all in one genre because sonic has practically been in almost every type of gameplay style now and the movies are starting to follow in those footsteps

[@ryananthony2869]

Gotta say,I await the increase of sales for Sonic X Shadow Generations thanks to Movie 3.😊😊😊😊😊

[@Egood_ty]

anyone else got Neon lights song stuck in their head after seeing the movie ?

[@lightningboy7099]

I watched it last night and it was absolutely amazing. Not the best film in the world but a fun time overall.

[@sonicgamer178]

I'm going to see the third movie in January with my family for the first time (somewhat blind cause I only saw the first 2 trailers). I remember utterly loving Sonic Movie 1 when that came out and I was a big game fan before it, but sometime after Forces released, I just stopped looking at Sonic cause I moved onto Dragon Ball lmao. The first movie brought me back to caring about Sonic and Frontiers especially got me back to caring about the games. I don't think SEGA's going to change that much about the games to adhere to Movie fans, mainly cause the movies do have similar themes to the games in terms of story, like isolation (Eggman) vs acceptance/friendship (Sonic) in the first movie, or learning to be vulnerable (Knuckles in Movie 2) and to live, learn and move on from the past (also Movie 2 but can probably apply to Movie 3 assuming it's a lot like SA2). They may have some references like the lightning for Chaos powers or bringing back humans in a bigger role but that's probably it. SEGA did mention a few times that what Paramount is doing is their own thing, their own universe and story to tell with their interpretations of the characters. SEGA's just going to focus on the universe and stuff they made, cause they know that general audiences will like the games' stories, since they're similar to the movies.

[@FastTheSonic]

As long as movie Sonic himself feels close enough to his game version, then for me they can get away with doing more of their own thing around him (unless it like the Knuckles show)

[@davesinsanestudio8072]

The timer is like a character in a long running shounen series. It starting to lose it's relevance lol

[@jarkspore]

The timer is a static character. It doesn’t grow itself, but it helps **you** grow. :)

[@jeffreycruz526]

This guy bloody is mardiculous, ohnestly

[@cybersonic8472]

I personally think Sonic 1 was a better movie,it had more heart and a more better structured story, yes as a Sonic fan I think Sonic 2 was a better Sonic movie but not a better movie, movie 3 felt off to me, I think Shadow and the SA2 story were treated well and with respect but Jim Carry play two characters unrestrained really brought the 3rd movie down for me. Not as egregious as the 30 minutes of wedding drama in Sonic 2 but because it was sprinkled throughout the movie it just brought my overall experience down. Still a good movie but the lowest ranked one out of the 3 for me

[@callibor3119]

Ok. I figured it out. 50 years ago is 1974. Clearly Sonic was not born in the 1900’s, but instead the early 2000’s. (Sonic X Shadow Generations) Sonic is 16 in 2024 so that makes him born in 2008. That is Gen-Z and makes me older than him by 8 years. (Sonic X Shadow Generations) By the time he turned 10, in 2018, is when he first met Eggman. Eggman would be in his late 30’s when he first met Sonic. (Coro Coro Comics) Shadow was 16 when he was first created (game lore, just so you know). He didn’t gain a lot of time outside of stasis on Earth than he did growing up with Maria back on the Ark. (Shadow Adventure 2 and Shadow Generations) So it had to be about 8 months that he has been on Earth. Very long for us, but very short for him. (April to December, The End of Fearless Year of Shadow. T-T) He was built with Chaos Emeralds in mind by Gerald Robotnik and Black Doom 50 years ago. That’s not as long as when the Master Emerald was created around 3 thousand years ago by the Echidna Clan or when the Chaos Emeralds were made by Ancients, which was tens of thousands of years ago. (Sonic Adventure and Frontiers) But, both of those events are not even as long as Dark and Light Gaia, who existed since the dawn of time and the creation of Earth. (Sonic Unleashed) This means that Mobians and humans are native to this Earth. (Remember, Archie lore is not current anymore.) All of this is happening in the same dimension and timeline. The only difference about today’s lore from last decades is that this is all time travel and very little inter-dimensional travel. It is all happening in the same timeline, but all these events are happening every few months each year. The latest is being Shadow in White Space with Classic and Modern Sonic. And even Shadow’s new forms happened, too. Both Terios and Movie Shadow. With Classic’s Sonic Jam skin and Modern’s Adventure skin. Which all confirms that they are canon and part of the same timeline. (SEGA) It means that Shadow was Terios before he was Shadow the Hedgehog. And something tells me that Terios was the one in the asteroid and not Shadow, like in Sonic 3. (Minor spoiler) Terios must’ve had a life on earth for longer than Sonic existed. And so Sonic had to be related to Terios as Shadow is before Sonic and that they both have very close resemblance of each other. Even Terios. But what made Black Doom decide Terios to be the hedgehog he revives? The Chaos Emeralds can’t be the only reason. Maybe Black Doom came from a planet similar to Earth. A planet that was dying. A planet that was brimming with life. A planet that was invaded by none other than The End. The same The End that was destroying Ancients. Black Doom came for the Chaos in hopes to revive the dying planet that he was once apart of. Hence how he has many jewelry on his necklace. He was desperate this entire time. He was even going to risk destroying another planet to obtain what could grant his wish. Eggman has a lot of beefs towards anyone trying to destroy the planet that he plans to rule. But his heart changed the very moment he has an AI that he names Sage that he claims as his daughter. But that is way later in the timeline as Shadow was seen his side of White Space. Movie Shadow is canon as inter-dimensional travel is just beginning. But it also means that the timeline as we know it will be following the origins of all the events connected to the Chaos Emeralds.

[@jarkspore]

I kinda like the idea of Shadow and Sonic being related in a way. I think Cylent Nite did it in a cool way in Sonic Expanse, where Sonic’s grandfather was conscripted into working on The Ark, experimented on, and became the start of “the hedgehog phase” of Project Shadow. Also he’s the descendent of King Arthur and Sonic’s expy from Secret Rings, who are historical figures here.

[@callibor3119]

@@jarkspore But that’s the thing, even when some stories are separate, those canons still add to the main story in a way that wasn’t expressed before. This comment is more true to SEGA’s “Same timeline” than my multi-verse theory that I said back in the streams, because I actually did more looking into the Sonic lore and only see that time travel is most of Sonic’s canon than inter-dimensional travel like seen in the movies and Shadow Generations. It’s not just the games is also in manga and IDW comic’s, too. This theory is an adjustment from my previous theory, but it meant I keep the same events within the timeline. And having it like this, it’s an awkward transition from one drastic event to another as most of his time being 15 years old have been world to even universal threatening. Like it happens every few months and is treated like Tuesday to Sonic and Eggman.

[@karimkou7847]

Hey, if Sonic had kept the ugly design, then the Sonic movie would be still good or not.

[@jarkspore]

I think it might’ve been a little better, assuming some of the shots in the first trailer wound actually be in the movie. Sonic seems less like a goofy child in Trailer 1.