This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. The newly designed Sonic The Hedgehog trailer has been released. Expand - View Original
Is there another instance where a major film has undergone drastic changes in art direction based solely on audience backlash to a trailer? Because this whole thing is wild to me.
The backlash seemed odd to me more because I didn't realize people held Sonic so near and dear to their hearts, and because I'm not confident a significant percentage of the people who complained about the design would go see the movie regardless of how he looked. I know movie studios are looking for existing IP to mitigate risks, but this just seemed like such a weird movie choice. And I even say all that as someone who had a Sega Game Gear (with Sonic) growing up.
Now that's fixed we can get to the important issue - the fact that this looks bland, unfunny and distant from everything remotely charming about the source material.
Sonic fans are pretty crazy imo, especially given that if you really judge the franchise as a whole, most of it is...not great.
Sonic is a testament to how long a franchise can survive purely on the back of a well-designed mascot, since only about one in five Sonic games even approaches decent. Much like Konami and Silent Hill, the best thing that could happen at this point is wrest the IP from its creators.
Oh I have no doubt they are, but I question whether there are enough of them to make a profitable movie (by today's standards). It just strikes me as a film that got a lot of attention for the crazy bad design, but the attention it garnered likely won't have any relation with the number of people who actually have interest in seeing it in theatres.