With less than three weeks to go until the Sonic movie premieres on Feb 14th, fans across the world are eagerly anticipating to see if whether or not this video game movie will live up their own expectations. However, whether the Sonic movie does well or not is entirely a different subject, I’m here to discuss why this movie needs to succeed, so that it sets a standard for Hollywood going forward.
What prompted this blog is an article writing by IGN, in which the writer discusses how the era of the Fan-Influenced movie is a bad thing and that Hollywood shouldn’t have buckled to the request of fans for various films. Now, the writer does makes some good points, such as if filmmakers try to please everyone, they’ll please no one and that if fans have ALL the control, we’d never see another original work ever again. However, the overall message in this article being presented is that the filmmakers in Hollywood should be allowed to express themselves however way they want and make whatever they want without fan-feedback. This is a yes/no scenario for me.
This is how I would break it down. If filmmakers are working on a brand new IP, that has no prior material based on, then yes, they should be able to creatively create whatever they want, but if it’s a film that’s based on a pre-established material and already has a dedicated fanbase following it, then one should exercise caution when taken liberty in their own hands. Listening to the fans you’re trying to sell tickets to seems like a logical, sensible move in my book, especially if there’s a massive backlash to it.
This writer is painting criticism like it’s some kind of harassments, and it is a sentiment that I’ve noticed from the media of the past few years now. Of course there are detractors in all fanbase, those who truly are toxic. These are the real small vocal minority, who often than not get shunned by the real fans of the media, fans who know the lore inside and out and just want whatever it is that’s been remade to do well.
They are ready and willing to spend money so long as Hollywood provides a great experience. Filmmaking at the end of the day is just another form of business, looking to get your money from your pockets, and so if you’re going to ask us to pay $15 and up to go see your movie, then yeah, listening to the feedback and criticism of the hardcore fans to some degree would make a lot of sense. And is more profitable too.
The IGN writer also mentioned Captain Marvel and Black Panther as examples of films that the vocal, toxic minority shunned but I know why they mentioned these movies. They’re playing on the aspect that the toxic minority attacked these movies in the past based on the fact that one has a lead female and the other has a lead Black man, which is true!
Suggesting that had Hollywood listened to them, we wouldn’t have them today. That’s a sly move to pull considering that Black Panther was expected to show up considering his significance throughout the Marvel universe, is a respected characters among actual fans and was writing really well in Winter Solider to prompt fans to ask for a movie based on him. While the toxic fans screeched, the real fans voiced the optimism for Black Panther. Meanwhile Captain Marvel was a different case altogether.
Even going as far back as the comics, Captain Marvel has always had a troubled past. She was never able to gain fan popularity among readers. So when they shoe-horned her into the MCU, it’s very unsurprising that she was met resistance. As for the A-force moment, come on man! Everyone knows that scene felt out of place but I digress.
Hollywood ain’t dumb, they can filter through the noise and find a handful of common concerns raised by the majority of the fans and figure out a way to incorporate it to the movie. Whenever true fans care about something, they naturally critique and give feedback because they care about said material and don’t want to see it butchered and disrespected.
Sonic needs to succeed to show Hollywood that listening to fans once in a while can prove beneficial in the long-run for them and us. Otherwise, we’ll go right back to where we were, them dropping a movie that fans don’t like, it bombing at the box office because fans didn’t go and see it and then blaming marketing or the source itself. Lets not do that!
