Well, 2020 is off to an interesting start.
I remember hearing there was going to be a new Sonic movie coming out.
Given that it was probably at least a year or so before the announcement, I was
probably more cynical back then, so I probably did something around the lines
of rolling my eyes and making yet another wish that Hollywood would do
something original and good for once. (Spoiler alert: probably not, but that’s
what independent content is for.)
Somewhere in early 2019, I suppose, I saw the display for the movie in
the mall. It looked interesting, and my curiosity was definitely piqued. Now,
all I could see was Sonic’s feet in the shot. Then came along that infamous
trailer that probably had more backlash than the teaser for The Emoji Movie.
If you needed therapy after that, I apologize.
A little bit about me: I’m not all that familiar with Sonic the
Hedgehog, at least not the games. I barely remember being a young child and
watching a couple of my cousins play the game. How could one forget that
adorable little blue hedgehog speeding through some loops and collecting coins?
Dear Japan: What's with the finger wag?
Now, even though I didn’t really play the game much, there was no
escaping Sonic culture for me. For one thing, my fave color is blue, and
Sonic’s honestly the perfect shade of it, so he was an eye-catcher for my young
brain. Even so, I completely missed the original zany cartoon and gritty
dystopian saga of the 90s (which I learned about from watching The Nostalgia Critic many years later), favoring instead adorable little cartoons like Katie and Orbie or Garfield and Friends, among many others.
When I got older, I remember seeing Sonic X and thinking, “This guy’s still around?” I watched some
episodes here and there, casually, and saw some of the other characters in
action. I was introduced to more Sonic culture when I was watching the YouTube
Channel ElectricStar (originally Master of Homestar), where the original
creator made his own string of memes, usually starring Homestar Runner Characters dubbed with meme songs of the time
period, or Crush 40 / Zebrahead songs about Sonic. Songs I still listen to even
to this day.
Finally, as I got much closer to the 2020 premiere of the movie, I happened to get recommended the Mario vs Sonic Beatbox battle on YouTube. That had me doing some extra research on the history of Sonic (or as much as an hour would let me), so I kinda still had no clue what was going on, even though I got the gist of it.
I saw the trailer. It looked beyond mediocre. But even with my spotted
knowledge about America’s favorite hedgehog, I thought something about this
Sonic seemed off. I decided to look at the comments to see if I was on the
right track (worked for Home, didn’t
it?). I don’t think I’d seen such a huge uproar on the internet since “The
Dress.”
Mind you, I’m talking about stuff that isn’t political.
Upon seeing all these different comment screechings, I realized what
made the original Sonic design so jarring. They made him way too
anthropomorphic. He didn’t have gloves, the markings were way off, the eyes
were too small or close together… the list goes on and on. I was disappointed,
but not all that shocked. It’s not like big-name entertainment corporations are
very good at staying faithful to the source material. Still, it was
disappointing, especially since I saw fan remakes of the trailer with Sonic
looking more like… Sonic.
There would soon be a light, however, in the form of a really cute
design that was definitely more like Sonic in practically every way possible.
Wow. My goodness, wow. I had to compare him to some of the game and
anime Sonics so I could see if they were close. Yes, they were. I don’t know
what was shocking, the fact that Paramount decided to listen to their fan base,
or they actually put out what looked like a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. If you
look back at the two trailers, you’d swear they were different movies
altogether! I’m wondering if something happened to the original footage, and
they decided to backpedal and fix it, giving us the original trailer as a
terrific marketing tactic. Either way, way to go, Paramount!
AWWWWW, so adorable! Watch out, Yoda!
I finally got to see it just a couple of days after it premiered. I
already saw that it was kind of “average” on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences
loved it with a 95% satisfaction rate. I knew I was in for a treat. And boy
howdy, did I love it. I don’t want to give away so much on this movie, so I’ll
just try to hit the highlights.
Now, I didn’t read any reviews, I wanted to go in completely unaware
of what would happen, outside of what I saw in the trailers. The trailers
themselves certainly showed quite a bit of the movie, so really watching it
felt like connecting the dots. It was story, then “Oh, yeah, I remember seeing
this b-roll in the trailer!” Over and over again.
As someone who’s frequented a lot of movies (I haven’t even put half
of them on this blog, and this wasn’t even originally supposed to be a movie
review blog!), this was a little bit of a letdown. Also, the story is not that
difficult to figure out, and that’s coming from someone who, again, is not that
familiar with Sonic the Hedgehog.
So, the plot is pretty much your average action/comedy/buddy movie
where some famous cartoon icon is trapped with some human being, whether said
human is part of the franchise or not. Most of the characters are somewhat
forgettable, but really, everybody is there to see Sonic. And they give you a ton of Sonic. We wanted a new design,
folks, so they give us the new design. I’m personally satisfied.
By the way, Sonic himself is done pretty well. He’s kind of a teenager
for the majority of the movie, and still has a little bit of that 90’s ‘tude
without any of the actual slang or trope-ish behavior. Sonic as a baby is also
adorable, and they give him a backstory for about 5 minutes. Now, if you’re a
big Sonic nerd and you’ve seen this movie, help me out. Is any of this canon? I
was left with a lot of questions about his origin and powers. As far as I know,
he’s just always been fast. Have his powers always been unique to him? Did he
have parents? Why is he hunted in his world? Is it because of the way the video
game is made?
Either way, his character is endearing and it shows a good bit of
development from being an independent hedgehog who wants to find his place to
being a hero that we all know and love.
As I’ve mentioned before, the other characters are pretty forgettable.
But there are really two characters that keep your attention for the entire
movie. One, of course, being the blue hedgehog. The other is Dr. Robotnik. Wow.
Some of you may not like what
I have to say next. I may not either.
Let’s just separate the art from the artist, m’kay?
I absolutely love Jim Carrey’s acting skills. Acting skills. I understand that IRL, he seems on the verge of a
meltdown and is in dire need of some strong, heavy prayer. However, you cannot
deny that he simply brings to life any character he’s supposed to portray.
Yes, even in the most dead films.
Actually, his role as the Grinch is a great example. He completely
embodied the Grinch, but put his own wacky spin and antics on it (even in
points that were a little too raunchy for child audiences). His performance is
what made the Grinch the only palatable part of the entire movie, which would
be otherwise completely unnecessary.
His role as Dr. Robotnik was absolutely perfect. I’ve seen some
legendary comedians do parts that look like they could have been much better if
they’d not put heavy limitations on their characters. That is not only
saddening, it’s maddening to me. Obviously, I can’t expect them to do some of
their most potent humor, but maybe make their characters… funny? And by
goodness, you can tell that they try. Clearly, all they told Jim was, “Hey, you
know how zany you were in The Mask?
Yeah, do that, but as a hedgehog’s nemesis.” He still brings the laughs for
young and old audiences, and if I may say, he has not lost his moves!
On to the look of the movie. If there is one late 2000’s-2010’s movie
/ TV show trend that needs to die, it’s that whole gritty, overly dark,
super-dystopian, grim atmosphere that seems to loom over every scene.
I’m looking at you, Riverdale.
After many years of seeing this trend happen over, and over, and over,
and over, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE SUPERHERO FLICKS, I was left wondering, “What
happened to movies being fun?” the new Sonic
movie seems to have its heavy moments, but it’s a bright blue hedgehog that’s
super-speedy. Why make the atmosphere so heavy for the whole thing?
In conclusion, it definitely falls short on creating a full story, and
it left me with many questions (which I will not ask here, because I said no
spoilers), but you know what? I wanted to have fun watching a movie. I paid my
10 dollars. I got a decent seat and delicious popcorn. I took the day off. I
even sped through my housekeeping just to make sure I caught the first matinee
showing. I wanted to have fun.
Dear movie-makers, there are times for heavy, sad movies, but don’t
forget the audiences who want to have fun while sitting in a dark room for two
hours, eating some really junky food. Seriously, what’s in that butter?
Great movie, great time writing this post, and it does seem like
(again, trying not to give away spoilers) they are planning on having a sequel.
Hints like those are nothing new, but I hope they actually come through with
this. I’d go watch it for sure. Don’t Sonic
Sat. AM us, Paramount!
What’s your
favorite “baby version” of a character?
Plugging! youtube.com/jessieberrie
Bonus: Here's a GIMP'ed image I did YEARS ago that made my old Facebook friends groan. :-)
