Sonic Team’s boss has suggested he isn’t keen to bring elements from the recent Sonic the Hedgehog movies and put them into future video games.

With rare exceptions (such as character Tails), the Sonic movies feature a new cast of actors and altered designs to the video games, and also give Sonic and Knuckles new origin stories.

Speaking to VGC in a recent Sonic Frontiers interview, studio head Takashi Iizuka said he would rather keep ‘game Sonic’ as the core of the video games, and attempt to expand on the series in order to appeal to a broader audience.

“Because the movie Sonic came from where the game started, trying to take the movie qualities and stick it back into the games doesn’t really work well,” he said.

“What I want to do is stay faithful to our game Sonic and really expand on the game Sonic to incorporate new ideas that are going to get people excited about new games.

“In our mobile games, we do have ‘Movie Sonic’ appearing as a guest character, and that kind of collaboration feels really good because there are people who saw the movie and only understand the character through that.

“But the game Sonic is really the core essence of the character, so instead of trying to take the movie and put it inside of the game, I really wanted to expand on the game to make it appealing to everyone.”

He added: “I think having Movie Sonic as a guest character is viable and certainly something that we’re going to do, but keeping the essence and core of Sonic in the games and then expanding out is probably what I’d prefer to do, rather than try to shoehorn in [the movie].”

The original Sonic the Hedgehog was a surprise success, with it becoming the top-grossing video game adaptation of all time in the US. Earlier this year, the original movie’s record was topped by its sequel, and paramount Pictures and Sega have confirmed that a third Sonic film and a live-action TV series have entered production.

Further reading

Commenting on the movies’ success, Iizuka said it presented a welcome challenge for Sonic Team because it now has a broader audience to satisfy with its game releases.

“Because of the success of the movies, we’re finding that we’re reaching into this wider audience of people who maybe never played the game before, or don’t play them that much. It’s this wider group of fans who we need to start now making content for.

“Honestly, it makes us all very happy, because we have more people now that we can bring content to. It is a challenge though, because we have maybe new gamers or people who haven’t played previous Sonic games, so we don’t think we can go out there with on single game that will make the entire audience excited.”

Following a teaser trailer, the first official trailer for Brett Morgan’s new David Bowie movie Moonage Daydream has been released. The new clip features footage and narration from Bowie. Watch below.

Moonage Daydream premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The film, which Bowie’s estate approved, features unreleased 35mm and 16mm footage from his personal archives. Brett Morgen, best known for Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, directed, wrote, and produced the film. It hits theaters globally on Friday, September 16.

Revisit Pitchfork’s review of David Bowie’s Blackstar.

Sonic Team’s boss has suggested he isn’t keen to bring elements from the recent Sonic the Hedgehog movies and put them into future video games.

With rare exceptions (such as character Tails), the Sonic movies feature a new cast of actors and altered designs to the video games, and also give Sonic and Knuckles new origin stories.

Speaking to VGC in a recent Sonic Frontiers interview, studio head Takashi Iizuka said he would rather keep ‘game Sonic’ as the core of the video games, and attempt to expand on the series in order to appeal to a broader audience.

“Because the movie Sonic came from where the game started, trying to take the movie qualities and stick it back into the games doesn’t really work well,” he said.

“What I want to do is stay faithful to our game Sonic and really expand on the game Sonic to incorporate new ideas that are going to get people excited about new games.

“In our mobile games, we do have ‘Movie Sonic’ appearing as a guest character, and that kind of collaboration feels really good because there are people who saw the movie and only understand the character through that.

“But the game Sonic is really the core essence of the character, so instead of trying to take the movie and put it inside of the game, I really wanted to expand on the game to make it appealing to everyone.”

He added: “I think having Movie Sonic as a guest character is viable and certainly something that we’re going to do, but keeping the essence and core of Sonic in the games and then expanding out is probably what I’d prefer to do, rather than try to shoehorn in [the movie].”

The original Sonic the Hedgehog was a surprise success, with it becoming the top-grossing video game adaptation of all time in the US. Earlier this year, the original movie’s record was topped by its sequel, and paramount Pictures and Sega have confirmed that a third Sonic film and a live-action TV series have entered production.

Further reading

Commenting on the movies’ success, Iizuka said it presented a welcome challenge for Sonic Team because it now has a broader audience to satisfy with its game releases.

“Because of the success of the movies, we’re finding that we’re reaching into this wider audience of people who maybe never played the game before, or don’t play them that much. It’s this wider group of fans who we need to start now making content for.

“Honestly, it makes us all very happy, because we have more people now that we can bring content to. It is a challenge though, because we have maybe new gamers or people who haven’t played previous Sonic games, so we don’t think we can go out there with on single game that will make the entire audience excited.”

The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie has now grossed over $400 million globally in under three months.

The live-action sequel, which was co-produced by Sega and paramount Pictures, debuted in selected markets on March 30.

The film is currently the fifth-highest grossing video game adaptation of all time, and as it’s still showing in cinemas it looks set to overtake Sony’s Uncharted movie, which was released in January.

The top-grossing video game adaptations (via Box Office Mojo):

• Warcraft: $439,048,914
• Detective Pikachu: $433,230,304
• Rampage: $428,028,233
• Uncharted: $401,622,829
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2: $400,015,446

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also recently became the highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the United States, where it’s lifetime total has now reached $190.56 million.

Sega and paramount confirmed in February that a third Sonic film and a live-action TV series featuring Knuckles have entered production.

Commenting on the success of the movies in a recent VGC interview, Sonic Team’s boss said it presented a welcome challenge for the studio because it now has a broader audience to satisfy with its game releases.

“Because of the success of the movies, we’re finding that we’re reaching into this wider audience of people who maybe never played the game before, or don’t play them that much,” Takashi Iizuka said. “It’s this wider group of fans who we need to start now making content for.

“Honestly, it makes us all very happy, because we have more people now that we can bring content to. It is a challenge though, because we have maybe new gamers or people who haven’t played previous Sonic games, so we don’t think we can go out there with on single game that will make the entire audience excited.”

Further reading

Iizuka also suggested he isn’t keen to bring elements from the recent Sonic movies into future video games.

“Because the movie Sonic came from where the game started, trying to take the movie qualities and stick it back into the games doesn’t really work well,” he said.

“What I want to do is stay faithful to our game Sonic and really expand on the game Sonic to incorporate new ideas that are going to get people excited about new games.”

The story of director Parasuram’s Sarkaru Vaari Paata rides on the line that money makes the world go round. Nearly all the principal characters fall on either side of the divide — those who toil to repay their small loans and are pushed to the brink, and those who do not repay thousands of crores to the banks. Through the 162-minute narrative, Mahi (Mahesh Babu) asks why ordinary people should be harassed to repay loans of ₹10-15,000 when a business tycoon can get away without repaying ₹10,000 crore.

The thought is hammered through a narrative that is entertaining at first, even though familiar and formulaic, but eventually gets preachy and overdrawn. Parasuram tailors each scene to befit the superstar image of the lead actor. Take the introduction scene for instance, where Mahesh says the now famous line, ‘you can steal my love, you can steal my friendship, but you cannot steal my money’. He bashes up thugs in the US while stating that for every blow he receives, he will return 72 (because 1$=72 rupees). 

Had Mahi not been enacted by an actor with a superstar image, one would ask questions such as how he established a finance company in the US and what his credentials are. Instead, we hold on to the little information that the plotline discloses — that a boy whose parents took their own lives when unable to repay a bank loan, understands the power of those who lend as opposed to those who receive.

The Miami portions are the most entertaining part of the film, again, if you do not raise questions — such as if Kalavathi (Keerthy Suresh) is so silly as to toss her ID cards and passport to random people from whom she borrows money. Kalavathi is a glamorous hoodwinker and Mahi is so besotted that his otherwise sharp nose for money takes a backseat. 

‘It’s a boy thing!’ he tells Kalavathi after trailing her to a university in Miami. As expected, the line elicits cheers. It goes with the mood of the romance track that works because of the timing between Mahesh, Vennela Kishore (as his colleague) and Keerthy. You can either be dumbfounded at the silliness of it all, like how Kishore watches in disbelief or give in to the laughs. It also helps to not ask why Kalavathi stays in debt when just one phone call to her dad (in Visakhapatnam) can bring a helicopter and gunmen to her rescue within seconds in Miami.

The first half rolls by with scenes and song sequences that capitalise on Mahesh’s boyish looks and the charming female lead. Thaman’s background music and the catchy ‘Penny’ and ‘Kalavathi’ songs establish the momentum. Credit also goes to choreographer Shekhar and cinematographer R Madhi for handling these portions well.

The initial confrontations between Mahi and Rajendranath (Samuthirakani) in Vizag, have some spark. But once the battle lines are drawn and the issue of a huge bank loan repayment is highlighted, the rest of it hurtles towards a tiresome battle of wits. 

As Mahi repeatedly harps on the impact of loans on different sections of society, though well-intended, it gets boring. Mahi either sermonises or slaps people, from Brahmaji to Keerthy, to make them see things differently. Smarter writing would have certainly helped. 

Tanikella Bharani, Nadiya, Geetha Bhasker and several others crop up but ultimately, it’s Mahesh Babu’s show that leaves no room for others. Only Vennela Kishore manages to steal some attention with his perfectly-timed expressions, even though he speaks less. Samuthirakani’s characterisation, too, offers nothing innovative. 

It’s high time Mahesh looks beyond stories that have him returning from the United States to India on a mission, invariably delivering social messages and in turn saving people, the State or the country.

Adam Sandler has been making movies for Netflix since 2014, but his newest project might be his best yet. The sports drama Hustle (which arrived today, and is one of th  new movies and shows to watch this weekend) is a hit with critics and Netflix users, earning a 88 percent Rotten Tomatoes (opens in new tab) rating and 90 percent audience score. Oh, and as of Thursday afternoon, it’s the number 1 movie in the U.S. on Netflix, per the service’s front page.

Sandler’s Netflix movies have been poorly reviewed but very popular with viewers. That’s why Netflix extended its high-priced deal with his Happy Madison production banner in 2020 to produce four more films. At the time, the streamer noted subscribers had spent two billion hours watching his films, which include The Ridiculous 6, Sandy Wexler, The Week Of and Murder Mystery (which was the service’s most popular movie in 2019). 

The original version of Sonic from the Sonic the Hedgehog movie makes a cameo appearance in the new Disney+ film Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

The original Sonic design, which had a more ‘realistic’ appearance, was scrapped following a backlash after the first Sonic movie trailer (which can be seen embedded below) was shown.

Sonic was redesigned into something more aesthetically pleasing, and the movie went on to enjoy the best opening weekend of any video game adaptation at the time.

That original design has become internet legend, however, hence its appearance in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, which arrives on Disney+ today.

In the new Disney+ movie, ‘Ugly Sonic’ has his own guest booth at a comic convention, and is trying to make the most of his infamy by selling signed photos of himself.

Talking about the convention-goers, Ugly Sonic says: “They’ll like me for who I am, not like last time when the internet got one look at my human teeth and burned the place down.”

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He then signs an autograph for a teenager, who chuckles to his friend.

“Oh, they’re laughing at me,” Ugly Sonic reacts. “I know that. You can’t hurt my feelings if I’m in on the joke.”

He then claims to have been offered a job on a reality show called Ugly Sonic, Uglier Crimes where he accompanies the FBI on ‘ride-alongs’.

The director of Rescue Rangers explained how the Ugly Sonic cameo came about on Friday, and said he’d like to “thank the lawyers”.

The original Sonic the Hedgehog trailer was first shown online in April 2019 and was instantly met with widespread displeasure from the Sonic fanbase.

After the trailer’s release the less exaggerated, more realistic Sonic design came under heavy criticism on social media, with even the character’s co-creator Yuji Naka acknowledging the unpopular design.

Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler then took to Twitter to reassure fans that their message had been received.

“Thank you for the support. And the criticism,” he wrote. “The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design you want changes. It’s going to happen.”

Further reading

Adding the hashtag #GottaFixFast, he promised: “Everyone at paramount and Sega are fully committed to making this character the best he can be.”

The resulting redesign was a clear success for paramount. The first film performed well enough to justify a sequel, which has now become the highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the US.

paramount and Sega also announced in February that a third Sonic the Hedgehog film and a live-action TV series focusing on Knuckles have already entered production.

The director of the 2006 Silent Hill movie says he’s written a script for another one.

Speaking to Jeux Video, director Christophe Gans revealed that he wrote the script during the Covid-19 lockdown, and that the film is unrelated to the 2006 and 2012 Silent Hill films.

“I’m working on it now,” he said (translated by VGC). “There were the Covid-19 years which finally forced us to stay home.

“I took the opportunity to write two scripts, [including] the script for a new Silent Hill movie that is totally independent from the two previous movies made and respects the way Silent Hill has evolved.”

“Most of the time, these are stand-alone stories. Silent Hill is a bit like The Twilight Zone, the fourth dimension, a place where anything and everything can happen.

“I worked on a new Silent Hill which is a Silent Hill of the year 2023 – because the film would be released next year – and not a Silent Hill as I imagined it in 2006. It is a Silent Hill for today’s audiences while being ultra respectful of the saga.

It’s not entirely clear from the interview whether Gans is confirming that the film will indeed be released in 2023, or whether he simply wrote the script with a 2023 release in mind.

“I’m aware that Silent Hill is a very big video game franchise, and a work of art in the noble sense of the word,” he added. “The people who thought up Silent Hill put a lot of their guts into it. If I know them well, they are people of great integrity.

“For me, it was important to design a Silent Hill for today’s audience. It’s clear that today’s horror movies don’t look like the horror movies of 2006, and so much the better. Not that the horror films of 2007 weren’t good, but every genre goes through an evolution.

“I’m trying to take into account what I’ve seen recently, what’s most original and amazing in horror films, and see if Silent Hill has the seeds, or even the expression of that. Silent Hill has always been an unusual game and ahead of its time.”

Gans directed the first Silent Hill film in 2006. A second film, Silent Hill: Revelation, was released in 2012 and directed by M.J. Bassett.

Multiple Silent Hill projects are currently in development at studios around the world, sources have told VGC, and could include a remake, a full sequel and a story-focused episodic series.

Last month a collection of leaked concept images appeared to confirm that a new Silent Hill is or was in development. This followed a VGC story from last February, in which we reported that Konami was planning to revive the long-dormant horror game series.

Related

The leaked images are understood to be related to a PT-style teaser game, codenamed ‘Sakura’, which is intended to be released as a free digital title to build anticipation for the larger projects.

VGC first reported on Konami’s plans to ramp up its premium game development last year, with new instalments and remakes for its biggest franchises, including Metal Gear, Castlevania and Silent Hill.

Review: The Daniels’ ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is Pure Chaos

by Manuel São Bento
April 19, 2022

Since originally debuting at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival back in March, Everything Everywhere All at Once has become one of the most anticipated films of the first half of this year. Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, better known simply as “Daniels“, made their big-screen debut six years ago with the Daniel Radcliffe comedy Swiss Army Man, a movie overlooked by many viewers. Personally, I was fascinated by the strangely captivating mix of a flatulent corpse and the emotional aspects of the screenplay. Since then, the bizarre duo hasn’t made a new feature film, until now… I hope we don’t have to wait another six years for their third flick because Everything Everywhere deserves all the hype its generated over the last month.

From the premise involving hundreds of multiverses and different versions of the protagonist, Evelyn Wang, to the overwhelming editing and visuals, this movie shouldn’t work as well as it does. Conceptually it should be confusing, too complex, and challenging for viewers to form a strong bond with the main character and her family. However, The Daniels demonstrate their immense talent as writer-directors in preventing any of this from happening. Not only do they never lose focus on narrative, but they also embrace chaos as the engine of the whole film. One of the most surprising aspects of the script is linked to the film’s exposition.

Everything Everywhere has an extremely relevant set of rules, technology, and small details that need to be simplified into understandable explanations for the public. With tremendous creativity and assertiveness, The Daniels put viewers on the same page as the protagonist, with every question and revelation about the multiverse and everything it entails being interpreted by the character in the same manner as the audience. Without an exceptionally effective first act, the entire story of this movie would fall into an endless spiral of narrative doubts and frustrations, negatively affecting the overall entertainment value.

Witty comedy is another vital characteristic of Everything Everywhere that helps viewers stay captivated throughout the runtime. Whether in family interactions, with store customers, or blended with the insane action, the humor results in numerous burst-out-laughing moments. In this regard, Asian-American viewers will be able to find even more details worthy of a good laugh or smile as The Daniels depict the immigrant family’s life with great pride and authenticity. Michelle Yeoh contributes significantly to this last point, playing the dozens – or even hundreds – of Evelyns impressively.

Everything Everywhere also ends up becoming a meaningful tribute to the actress. Yeoh’s facial and body expressiveness elevate every line of dialogue, but honestly, it’s her physical prowess that will leave viewers in absolute awe. At nearly 60 years old, the actress manages to perform most of her own stunts, all with shocking elegance and dedication. And it’s not simple choreography, with only one or two fighting partners. These are excruciatingly long sequences, with outstanding execution of intricate, violent attack-defense movements. In fact, action is yet another area where The Daniels shine again.

With evident influence from famous Hong Kong action cinema as well as its biggest icon, Jackie Chan, Everything Everywhere combines the stylish visual effects of Hollywood, the engaging cinematography of Larkin Seiple, and the exuberant editing of Paul Rogers with the genuinely insane fight choreography to deliver some of the best action seen on screen lately. The fierce commitment that Asian stunt teams bring to these set pieces is far from surprising, but it’s interesting to see the American group let themselves be inspired and guided by the people who have done so much to evolve this important filmmaking component.

Nevertheless, it’s the poignant, pertinent study of distinct themes such as nihilism, self-acceptance, regret, forgiveness, or the emotionally draining search for parental approval that ties all the plot points and the Wang family together. In addition to Evelyn, Ke Huy Quan plays Waymond – a wonderful human driven by his feelings, a kind-hearted father who cares about making everyone around him happy – and Stephanie Hsu takes on the role of Joy / Jobu Tupaki – a daughter who merely wishes for the pride and love of her mother who has a hard time accepting her girlfriend, Becky (Tallie Medel), amongst other issues.

It’s the mother-daughter relationship that deeply nourishes Everything Everywhere. Despite following a somewhat predictable path to the resolution, the emotion generated by the confrontations between the two characters is so overwhelming that it’s difficult to hold back the tears. Though their arc is remarkably well explored and concluded, I expected The Daniels to push it further. For example, there’s a scene where Evelyn blames her daughter’s suffering and her life choices on the evil version of her. The dialogue delivered by Yeoh hits the viewer hard, as it demonstrates how disconnected from her daughter Evelyn really is.

This scene and a couple of other moments aren’t as powerful as they could be. Everything Everywhere’s climax is excellently earned, and the eventual resolution of the mother-daughter relationship is undeniably efficient, but some assertive dialogue on Joy’s part is missing. In addition to this less favorable detail, The Daniels hold astonishing control over the movie’s frenetic pacing, not making it any more confusing than it can possibly be. Even so, there are some short periods where the momentum slightly slows down, but since the pacing is so intense for practically the entire runtime, these decelerations seem more like full stops.

These are tiny problems that hardly impact the overall enjoyment of what has become one of my favorite films of the year so far. All of the cast members deliver extraordinary performances – Jamie Lee Curtis also deserves a shoutout – and Son Lux’s score cannot be forgotten. Like all other technicalities, it elevates Everything Everywhere in an awe-inspiring manner. It can be too bizarre and disjointed for some viewers, but overall, it’s unreasonable not to recommend a work that was crafted with so much care and affection.

Final Thoughts

Everything Everywhere All at Once is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year, finally pushing The Daniels into the mainstream. Made on this low of a budget, it’s almost humiliating that so many expensive Hollywood Blockbusters lack in originality, imagination, excitement, and emotion. Michelle Yeoh leads the troops in a film that also pays homage to the iconic career of the actress who also accompanies the fantastic stunt team in truly outlandish fights. The mother-daughter relationship as the emotional core of the story follows a surprisingly predictable path and needs a bit more polish to deliver an even more powerful climax, but it still induces tears and a genuine sense of concern for the characters. All the elements are so creatively unique that it warrants the clickbait exclamation: “you’ve never seen anything like this!” See it in theaters.

Manuel’s Rating: A
Follow Manuel on Twitter – @msbreviews / Or Letterboxd – @msbreviews

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