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Elaine's (Alexandra's) Performance in MI2 SE

MermaidMermaid
edited July 2010 in Tales of Monkey Island
So, there've been a lot of compliments for Dom and Earl in the MI 2 SE threads that have been started so far. Compliments well deserved, that's for sure.
But what do you guys think of Alex' take on Elaine Marley in the few scenes we see her appearing in MI2? I can't help but found that she tried to sound different to the TMI / SMI SE - Elaine. A little too harsh for my taste, too, anyone with me?

Comments

  • MusicallyInspiredMusicallyInspired
    edited July 2010
    Nope. I enjoyed it. Sorry :\.
  • MermaidMermaid
    edited July 2010
    MusicallyInspired wrote: »
    Nope. I enjoyed it. Sorry :\.

    Why would you be sorry for your opinion? :D

    (And I'm not saying she basically was bad, mind you.)
  • Giant TopeGiant Tope
    edited July 2010
    I thought she sounded a bit weird for the intro, but then once we started to get in the main game, she sounded like what she was before.
  • SpadgeSpadge
    edited July 2010
    She sounded like Elaine to me. And she sounded as great as ever. Maybe I didn't listen too carefully.
  • Chyron8472Chyron8472
    edited July 2010
    Giant Tope wrote: »
    I thought she sounded a bit weird for the intro, but then once we started to get in the main game, she sounded like what she was before.

    this.
  • JunaidJunaid
    edited July 2010
    Well Elaine's pretty pissed off the entire game, so I think she nailed that
  • mister_emister_e
    edited July 2010
    The only line I thought sounded "weird" was the opening line ("Well, well, well. Guybrush Threepwood"). Other than that, I think she sounded fine.
  • S@breS@bre
    edited July 2010
    Junaid wrote: »
    Well Elaine's pretty pissed off the entire game, so I think she nailed that

    Exactly. She came off precisely as the irritated woman who's just had a man she doesn't want to see try to steal from her.
  • MermaidMermaid
    edited July 2010
    Sounds like a good argument.

    Maybe it's that British singsong of hers that adds to the harshness and made it sound a little over the edge to me at times.
  • MusicallyInspiredMusicallyInspired
    edited July 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    Sounds like a good argument.

    Maybe it's that British singsong of hers that adds to the harshness and made it sound a little over the edge to me at times.

    Now you've got me wanting to hear a song sung by Elaine in regards to how irritating Guybrush is. Musical style.
  • FriarFriar
    edited July 2010
    I thought her lines at the start were maybe a little off, but the rest of her performance was spectacular.
  • MatakuMataku
    edited July 2010
    I only liked her in Curse.
  • MermaidMermaid
    edited July 2010
    Mataku wrote: »
    I only liked her in Curse.

    Why's that?
  • KromsKroms
    edited July 2010
    Yeah, I like her Curse performance best. Her softer voice, plus the lack of that "motherly tone" she did in SMI:SE and TMI, made her the most "Elaine" character to me. I haven't played MI2:SE yet, so we'll see how that goes.
  • IgnatiusIgnatius
    edited July 2010
    I didnt like it either.

    The fact of Elaine being a woman with character, doesnt mean she should be like a trucker, or Marge Simpson.

    I think its not seductive enough. You know, a soft/sweet voice, but very solid and steady at the same time.
  • MermaidMermaid
    edited July 2010
    Ignatius wrote: »
    I didnt like it either.

    The fact of Elaine being a woman with character, doesnt mean she should be like a trucker, or Marge Simpson.

    I think its not seductive enough. You know, a soft/sweet voice, but very solid and steady at the same time.

    That pretty much describes how I see it. Alexandra is talented, no doubt, and I'm sure there is a wide range of what she can do with her voice, but to me her interpretation of Elaine is too stereotypical shouty-pirate-princess (most of the time, I actually liked her in Curse and in some parts of SMI SE).
  • BarnabusBarnabus
    edited July 2010
    She was miscast from the start.
  • FarlanderFarlander
    edited July 2010
    I like Alexandra Boyd very much, to be honest, but this thread leads me to the question: am I the only one who actually also liked a lot Charity James' performance of Elaine in EMI? I mean, if it would come for Alexandra, for example, to rerecord all Elaine's lines in EMI, I would have been very conflicted inside... of course it would be cool to have one voice actor throughout the whole series... but on the other hand, as I said, I think Charity James was great, American accent or not.
  • StarEyeStarEye
    edited July 2010
    I actually preferred Charity James' Elaine.
  • mightypiratetmmightypiratetm
    edited July 2010
    Farlander wrote: »
    I like Alexandra Boyd very much, to be honest, but this thread leads me to the question: am I the only one who actually also liked a lot Charity James' performance of Elaine in EMI? I mean, if it would come for Alexandra, for example, to rerecord all Elaine's lines in EMI, I would have been very conflicted inside... of course it would be cool to have one voice actor throughout the whole series... but on the other hand, as I said, I think Charity James was great, American accent or not.
    I liked her too! But she sounds so bored sometimes I think Alexandra has more energy on her voice
  • Eff OneEff One
    edited July 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    A little too harsh for my taste, too, anyone with me?

    Elaine was quite bitchy in MI2 anyway so it's rather fitting.

    :D
  • YistaanYistaan
    edited July 2010
    Haven't had a chance to play through the whole game yet... but I did feel Elaine spoke way too fast in the intro "Well, well, well Guybrush Threepwood".
  • Armand1880Armand1880
    edited July 2010
    It also leads me to ask the question: why didn't they get Alexandra to voice Elaine in EMI? Was there a schedule conflict or something?

    Because to be honest...I like Charity James better, too.
  • alexonfyrealexonfyre
    edited July 2010
    I liked her in ToMI, but MI2 was sort of hit or miss
  • ArmakuniArmakuni
    edited July 2010
    I never cared that much for Elaines voice to be honest.
  • willyumwillyum
    edited July 2010
    The only voice I really only paid attention to was Guybrush's. I can't even remember what Elaine sounded like in CMI and EMI.

    Time to go dig out my discs for a replay...
  • nachtritternachtritter
    edited July 2010
    I always pictured her as a bit bitchy, bossy, short-fused, and angry. I think Alex nailed the character, in my opinion. ;)
  • MermaidMermaid
    edited July 2010
    nachtritter wrote: »
    I always pictured her as a bit bitchy, bossy, short-fused, and angry. I think Alex nailed the character, in my opinion. ;)

    Yeah, except for that "motherly tone" in her voice.
  • nachtritternachtritter
    edited July 2010
    Mermaid wrote: »
    Yeah, except for that "motherly tone" in her voice.

    Ah well. It's a matter of opinion, isn't it. :P Yours is as valid as mine. :D
  • MonkeyManiaMonkeyMania
    edited July 2010
    I dubbed MI2 Elaine over CMI Elaine, and it sounds the same to me.
  • BarnabusBarnabus
    edited July 2010
    Man I just got to the guybrush/elaine reconciliation sequence and boyd is just dreadful - she comes across like a shrill, 60-year old hospital matron. It's so sad that a series that generally does a good job of finding appropriate voices is saddled itself with botched voices like her and Stan out of some misguided devotion to series continuity. They were poor casting choices in the first place - putting them in every single game hasn't made them any less so.
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited July 2010
    Barnabus wrote: »
    Man I just got to the guybrush/elaine reconciliation sequence and boyd is just dreadful - she comes across like a shrill, 60-year old hospital matron. It's so sad that a series that generally does a good job of finding appropriate voices is saddled itself with botched voices like her and Stan out of some misguided devotion to series continuity. They were poor casting choices in the first place - putting them in every single game hasn't made them any less so.

    DON'T YOU DARE DIS PAT! His Stan is the best, he was awesome in Curse, let down in Secret by the slow speech engine but awesome again in MI2 SE.
  • MonkeyManiaMonkeyMania
    edited July 2010
    Barnabus wrote: »
    Man I just got to the guybrush/elaine reconciliation sequence and boyd is just dreadful - she comes across like a shrill, 60-year old hospital matron. It's so sad that a series that generally does a good job of finding appropriate voices is saddled itself with botched voices like her and Stan out of some misguided devotion to series continuity. They were poor casting choices in the first place - putting them in every single game hasn't made them any less so.

    arrrr.png
  • BarnabusBarnabus
    edited July 2010
    ^^Hey at least I'm not one of the ones throwing tantrums over the completely disposable opening titles being cut out. In fact one of the reasons this disappoints me is because I find the vast majority of this special edition really well done.
    Ash735 wrote: »
    DON'T YOU DARE DIS PAT! His Stan is the best, he was awesome in Curse, let down in Secret by the slow speech engine but awesome again in MI2 SE.

    But the problem is he speaks so slowly anyway! I honestly don't get how anyone could've watched the way the original Stan was written and animated and not grasped that he was supposed to be a fast-talking wheeler dealer. It was really bad in curse, but at least he was animated slowly - with the SEs we have this wild jabbering animation mismatched with laconic drawling vocals.
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited July 2010
    Barnabus wrote: »
    But the problem is he speaks so slowly anyway! I honestly don't get how anyone could've watched the way the original Stan was written and animated and not grasped that he was supposed to be a fast-talking wheeler dealer. It was really bad in curse, but at least he was animated slowly - with the SEs we have this wild jabbering animation mismatched with laconic drawling vocals.

    It's actually a very weird pace, he starts slow, speeds up, then slows right down dragging out words, making him sound like a TV Salesman on some shopping channel, and oddly enough, I find that very fitting to Stan. I actually get some sort of Jim Carrey vibe from him to which makes the character great. I admit that in Secret, due to the voice system or not, he did do the lines a lot slower and it didn't work well. But with the new voice engine in MI2 SE, they got him back to his Curse style, and to me, it worked, especially when he managed to make me feel guilty after locking him in the coffin and you can hear the panic in his voice whilst still trying to be positive, that was great.
  • CaptKevinKIDCaptKevinKID
    edited July 2010
    When I first seen that scene at the beginning of the MI2 were Guy brush is hanging on for dear life I thought it was another voice actress for sure, I was expecting to come on here and have that confirmed, but thank the monkeys it is Alexandra, no one could quite catch Elaine like she does.

    I always follow Alex on twitter and she is busy but not too busy to voice her alter ego Elaine.
  • guitarsareboringguitarsareboring
    edited July 2010
    I've never been crazy about Alexandra as Elaine and she sounds older than the character now. Didn't work for me but thankfully she's not in the game much.
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