The Rebirth of the Blue Blur
The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has been around since 1991. The main character, Sonic, has been a part of many childhoods. On April 30, 2019, Paramount released the first trailer of a live-action Sonic movie. What was initially met with backlash and disdain from the community was reworked into a movie that surpassed my expectations.
History of the Movie
The original and new designs of Sonic. Taken from washingtonpost.
When the first trailer of the movie dropped, the internet rose-up in anger. The movie trailer depicted a strange-looking Sonic (shown on left) that looked like it would be a part of a child's nightmare. The monstrous rendition’s eyes were too far apart, had human-like teeth, an arrow-like nose and the fur was discolored and hard on the eyes. Jack Ashmore, a viewer of the movie, said this about the old design, “Hard on the eyes was an understatement. It was the type of design you’d see in a joking fan parody, not something of a professional animation studio.”
Memes of this grotesque Sonic were made. Most of them bashed the design of the hedgehog and noted how terrifying it was. James Harper, childhood fan, said, “The original design was frankly terrifying. It did not fit Sonic the Hedgehog, not in the least. For such an iconic character to look so anti-iconic, especially considering the plot of the movie, grossed me out.” It was obviously time for the studio to make a change to something a little truer to the original image.
Paramount headed the creation of the movie. Uncharacteristic of major companies like Paramount, community feedback was taken to heart, and the movie was redesigned from scratch. They fixed all the problems mentioned earlier, and they gave the hair colors a much-needed revamp. The weekend it was released, it was number one in the box office and currently, its revenue has surpassed its initial production costs.
Review
Looking back after watching the movie, it’s hard to imagine what it would have looked like without the redesign. Jack had this to say, “It was arguably the best decision they could have made and undoubtedly saved the production. If it were to have released in its original form, it would’ve been a laughingstock at the box office.”
Some readers may be concerned that they might not enjoy the movie if Sonic the Hedgehog wasn’t a part of their childhood. If this is the case, you probably won’t like it to the same degree as others who did. However, this review is still applicable. The movie was exceptional in many ways compared to other live-action movies such as The Last Airbender or Garfield: The Movie. Kate Martin didn’t grow up on Sonic, but she had this to say about it. “I went to see it as a joke and ended up liking it more than I thought I would.”
The bad
The movie itself was an hour and forty minutes. However, it felt like it was only forty-five. Whether this was a positive or negative characteristic is purely subjective. The beginning part of the movie tried to bring a whole new backstory to Sonic. It was nowhere near Sonic’s origin in the games or cartoons and wasn’t especially necessary for the plot of the movie. James says, “The opening bit trying to give Sonic this big film backstory felt rushed, had no impact on the rest of the movie, and was so out of place that I wish I had gotten to the theater after it started.”
Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 64% explaining that the critic’s consensus in regard to a live-action reboot, “It's nothing we haven't seen before.” However, the regular audience scored the film much higher, giving it a 93%.
The good
Much to my liking, there were many references to the old cartoons and games. Rotten Tomatoes critic, Michael M., a Sonic fan since childhood, said, “I really wasn't looking forward to this movie, and in the end it's really not high art or anything, but I'll admit it was actually a good deal of fun […] It's got a surprising number of references to the games even down to the way he finally beats Robotnik.”
The movie also captured Sonic’s personality and attitude nicely, feeling reminiscent of the Sonic cartoons I would watch as a kid. There were multiple points in the movie in which I burst out laughing, either because it made a funny reference to a current (or not so current) trend, or because it made a pop-culture reference. When asked, Jack said, “The movie surprised me pleasantly with how funny certain parts were. Jim Carrey did an excellent job as usual, and the interactions between James Marsden and Sonic felt genuine.”
Final Thoughts
It was pleasing seeing this old childhood superhero of mine go from a nightmarish creature to a satisfying, nostalgic character. While the movie is geared towards children, I genuinely enjoyed watching it and it’s something I could envision taking my own kids to see. My hope is that people will enjoy the movie as much as I did and give more credit to animation studios where it’s due. If you wish to know the correct story of Sonic, here is a short video that explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBjQfvAeqws