Tag: Sonic

Blue Blur , Green Hills, Happy Pinkie: Sonic The Hedgehog The Movie

I have always preferred the red plumber over the blue hedgehog. Sonic has never been my defacto platformer hero. Sonic Adventure 2 changed that because I had my Chao Garden. After that it would take me until Sonic Mania to fall in love with a Sonic game again. When the movie was announced I and many people to expect a disaster of the likes of Sonic 06. Yet what we actually got was one of my favorite Sonic products ever.

Why Are Asian Movie Posters always the best?

Rolling around at the speed of sound

As a kid sonic always confused me, the multiple path to the finish were something I did not particularly enjoy.  No matter what route I took it all felt kinda samesy and the jumping felt stiffer than Mario to me. The two player mode in the second part felt odd to me and it took me until the third installment to thoroughly enjoy the blue bluer. I liked the first two just fine but I played better. As a result  I mostly grew up with the old cartoons. Yet I can happily say that no matter what incarnation of sonic you grew up with, if you have had any encounter with OG sonic you can get behind the hero in this movie. So maybe for those who grew up with that scarf wearing monster from Sonic Boom this might feel a bit odd but if you play some Sonic Generations this Sonic will suit you just fine.

The movie opens with a young sonic back in his homeworld. Through some forces of evil in his homeworld Sonic is forced to flee. Since he has a lot of power evil will always be drawn to him. It’s made clear to us that Sonic has been bouncing around many worlds and Earth is the first planet he really seems to have taken a liking too. However Sonic is also very lonely using his speed to be undetected.  In a moment of loneliness, sonic runs away his sorrows.. causing an EMP pulse of immense power. The Army sends the weird Doctor Robotnik played by Jim Carrey to investigate and within the first 15 minutes the movie sets up their entire plot, shows us the motivations of all the major characters It makes clear that this movie like sonic will move fast. Like it should be. The story is very basic like a sonic story should and it doesn’t linger or pad out screen time with exposition. We are here to watch sonic go fast and maybe see Jim Carrey be Jim Carrey.. and that is exactly what we get.

(I always knew Jim Carrey was a Fun-Guy)

It’s Hedgehog not Edgehog

Sonic is a delightfully light hearted movie aimed at the young but with enough visual jokes to entertain those who grew up with Sonic as well. It takes them back to their childhood trough visual jokes, nostalgia and old school cartoon humor. We don’t really get inside jokes that us adults will get but the kids won’t. No innuendo jokes, no weird looks between actors that we as adults can respond to with. “Oh he ain’t gonna get anything tonight!”  Sonic’s comedy is all about going over the top. Sonic is a kid..which is in line with how he was in the 90’s cartoon and the earlier games. Humor comes usually from movement. Fast movement or the fact that Sonic is so Hyper he rarely ever shuts up. 

(There goes the saftey deposit for that room)

The 3D Sonic.. the one we have known since Sonic Adventure , is a minimalist he acts all cool through minimalism. A rocket is launched at him and he will just take a quick sidestep in the split second before he is hit. Movie Sonic is much more a kid, when a missile is fired on him he plays with it, rides it for a bit, uses it as a drumstick or runs to the other side of the world just to find a silly item to use in a convoluted plan to stop all attackers , kinda thing. It’s a bit like how Dante from Devil May Cry would yawn when a train is derailing moving to him as a projectile. He kicks his chair against a brake while taking his jacket off the chair and putting it on. DMC Dante.. you know the black haired kid would flip his sword 27 times in the air, would do an acrobatic jump create explosions and other and somehow the train is stopped. Movie Sonic is like the later.. stuff is done in access and whether that is sonic or not sonic to you is what will make or break this movie for you. Sonic has  zero edge in this movie. This IS Sonic but it will not be everyone’s Sonic.

Clearly they Played the Games

Sonic is a nineties movie trough and trough. It uses tropes from that era, it uses storytelling of that period it even uses actors from that period. Jim Carrey plays Jim Carrey in this movie and he is great… Wait.. he plays Ivo Robotnik?  Nah! Jim Carrey plays Golden Age Jim Carrey and he is just called Ivo Robotnik. We get Jim Carrey from his classic days. He shines in this role like he did in Ace Ventura, The Mask or Dumb and Dumber.. mostly because it’s that exact same type of character again…but evil. Which in my opinion works even better. Like the Mask for example it gives Robotnik a sense of loonesy it makes him more unpredictable and dangerous. In his own way a villain as weird as this can be menacing.. in a child friendly and funny way. For example if we go back to the Edgehog universe, Eggman is made out to be some kind of dark brooding evil genius.. which makes no sense on account of how easily he needs to be defeated. Jim Carrey’s variation is an incredible nutjob. While potentially very dangerous his weirdness makes him flawed and credible to be easily defeated. It really worked for me in this movie.

I can easily imagine Jim Carrey shouting PINGAS

This feeling of understanding is met throughout the entire movie. They know what game elements do work and do not work. Robotnik in a Ufo with a giant Wrecking Ball would probably not work. So they made him a master of drones. Which is up to date and makes the “boss fights” still against him.. but more credible. Sanic is there! The meme drawing that is rather beloved and took on a life of it’s own! Yes they put Sanic in this. A boss fight against robotnik where Sonic has to hit the cockpit of his flying device? It’s in there. Logically you can’t have Sonic lose all his rings when he gets hit… but believe me it’s in there. Of course it’s not as in the series that as soon as he gets hit his rings scatter anywhere, no they are an important plot device this time and each time Sonic happens to get hit he has a good reason to hold them at that time. It’s  great that little things like this are woven into the plot. I really loved the creative ways they managed to do this. Of course they will not be able to keep this up in sequels if there will be any, but darn they sure went all out in making this feel Sonic. These people love the orginal games…they do almost completely ignore the 3d era though, they must not like them. The opening flashforward would have been the perfect place to play City Escape.

Gangsta’s Paradise

After having seen the movie I do get why they made the first trailer with the Gangsta’s Paradise  music. This like I said earlier is not a product of the current times. It celebrates the age of Sonic’s glory days in its fullest. From it’s road trip comedy roots to 90’s superhero is final act. This movie hits that nostalgia beat for beat. Doug Walker the Nostalgia Critic reviewed this and told the movie came out 30 years to late.. and I think that he misses the point.  No it’s not 30 years to late. It takes you back 30 years to the mindset where Sonic was the hottest thing. Where Sonic was cool. Nowadays Sonic’s name isn’t exactly stain free. All those years ago he was new and hip and there was no Sonic 06 and no Sonic Boom, and no .. Werehog.. and .. well I can go on for a fair bit more but you all get my point. Genesis Sonic was the best sonic or at least the untainted one.

Yes the story of this movie is extremely basic.. to a point that it is barely existent. “Sonic gets detected and has to go to another world.. but he lost his rings because he got hit and now he has to find them before the evil guy can get to him”  That is it.. and yes it’s predictable, we all know Sonic will face off against Robotnik.. whom he calls eggman because because guy uses numerous egg shaped drones all the time. Yes the human characters are super predictable as well.. blablabla critique , critique ,critique. Yet again.. that’s kind of the point. The Sonic 2d games never had a deep story.  Yes Edgehog Era sonic games do have intricate plots about ultimate life forms, falling in love with a princess and being cursed to turn into a sonic with an incredibly annoying companion but what this is based on was simple. Get from point A to B and beat a boss. This movie nails those beats so is it a valid point of critique? I did not like that Sonic does a Fortnite dance when he is happy.. because I HATE Fortnite , but I will not expand that on my blog. Does that mean I should say this movie is bad because he doesn’t do his traditional finger waggle thing instead?  This movie is intended for younger kids so obviously there will be childish jokes and I am sure some gamer kids will like that reference.

Crazy Carl definatly made my favorite refferance

Super Sonic Rating

Sonic by no means is a perfect  movie but clearly it is not trying to be either. It won’t win any oscars and the human characters, except for Robotnik are a bit throw away but that again is partially intended. We do not go see a sonic movie for the story of officer Tom. We want to see Sonic fight Robotnik, that’s what we get. If you you want to see a modern superhero movie this flick may be something you pass on. In fact I could come up numerous reasons why this movie is not for you. That’s not how this movie is made. This film not made to to be larger than life. It’s not made for people who think the first h in hedgehog is silent. Will you like this movie can be answered in three simple questions.

1.
Did you ever play and at least liked a 2d sonic game? (Spinball and the slow one don’t count)

2.
Do you like Jim Carrey in his classical roles like Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber and the Mask?

3.
Do you still enjoy 90’s movies along with their cliché’s and despite their flaws?

If you at least said yes to one of these questions Sonic will be  a fine movie to visit. If you selected at least two I am sure this movie will be something that you will thoroughly enjoy from beginning to end. This might not be the best movie ever.. but I am pretty sure it is the best Olive Garden commercial ever. If you answered yes to all my three answers with yes.. the conclusion is very easy. You GOTTA go so see it… and you Gotta go fast.

How should sonic look like? Take your pick and find out rating for this movie!

The New Sonic Trailer

Welcome back my dear paradise visitors,  today is yet another day that my apartment is quaking on it’s foundations and that I feel like I am writing in a dwarven forge.  So  once more I need to resort to some low-hanging fruit of blogging. As the geeks that we are that opportunity arose when  the new sonic trailer came out on the twelfth of november.

Redesign

Finally there some positivity on the internet!  I haven’t heard a single person NOT liking sonics new design. I even heard little to no.. ‘better but still looks like doodoo’  type of comments. Credit where credit is due, this redesign is such a massive improvement in every single way. This feels like a live action Sonic. His shoes look the shoes the speedy hedgehog is supposed to wear and the blue blur also finally has gloves.  The monstrous teeth are gone and even the eyes are fixed. By putting a patch of white fur under the nose the animators are walking a nice line of balance between biological possibilities and paying tribute to the original design. Even the personality seems to have gotten a bit reworked. The personality movie sonic now seems to have is that of the old tv shows. The adventures of Sonic. In terms of the video game universe it would allign more with that of “Classic Sonc’  compared to the more suave and cool “Sonic X’ personality. While movie sonic always felt more in line with the classic one, and from the offset throughout this seems like an origin story of sorts this trailer feels like an homage to Classic. While I like it I can see this becoming a bit more troublesome when we look at how this movie is made.

Who is it for?

While I am all about paying homage to the actual sonic I do think this rework and new trailer has brought a new issue to light. Who is this movie for?  Jokes feel very slapsticky and aimed at the very young ones that carry on our legacy and make sonic a thing that can exist in the future. The thing is though, they don’t know Classic Sonic. Youth these days see the cool Sonic X guy participating n the olympics, they see Sonic Adventure 2 as THE classic. The kids of the fans of classic even might be a bit too old to enjoy this level of silly comedy.The movie caters to two audiences. The classic sonic fans and the kids of this day and age. While now it seems for the classic fans they have the right sonic this time around, the movie tone is somewhat off. It feels more like that smurfs movie back in the day than a movie for us millennials who chose the power of Blast-Processing and Saw that Sega does what Nntendon’t . Kids will enjoy the silly jokes and the action comedy moments of this movie.. but this is not their sonic. Theirs is a lot more bratty and would be more inclined to say..’ppppssssh , nothing personal kid’ rather then play baseballs with himself and make fun of himself. This is not their sonic. One can argue that little kids don’t notice but we really have to stop dumbing our kids down, of course they will notice.. they just don’t make angry salty tweets about it. ‘I saw this movie with the teacher…sonic did not have his scaff 0/10’ They aren’t that cynical yet. I get that this way you can combine both the old and the new viewers but to me it still feels like neither generation is going to absolutely love it. Clearly they DO care about their fans and listen so I feel like the clash in tones might make enough people dislike it enough not to see that sonic movie universe take root. Which is a shame because that first green hll one shot makes me wish we could get a second movie set in sonic’s world.

Love-Letter

That being said, I really like this trailer, I am simply concerned they are not aiming with enough focus to get a cohesive fanbase.  The rest of this trailer feels completely different than the first one. The Gangsta’s Paradise trailer gave me vibes of Dragon Ball Evolution.  They did not care about Sonic, or so it seemed. They butchered what made Sonic , the beloved character we all got so angry for.  THIS trailer does, except for pacing it’s tone, exactly right. The music in the first half pays tribute to the Green Hill Zone theme and even more sonic music is used. ‘Super Sonic’ while not my cup of tea in music at least fits a lot better than friggin Gangsta’s  Paradise. Sonic now has his classic elements and his speed has been showcased throughout the entire trailer in so many ways, with so many ways to convey his speed that it actually feels great. From the after images when he reads the comics, to the blinks to the light streaks it is all in this trailer.  Jim Carrey as Dr Robotnik is also growing on me, mostly because he feels like a counterpart to Sonic, as he should be. The town name, road signs and  even the way the rings are used all seem tributes to classic sonic. The way he uses rings to teleport is very much in line with how you enter bonus stages in Sonic 2 and so on.  Kids might not get it .. but “they won’t notice because they are kids” Seeing sonic run on the great wall of China is a reference on it’s own and one could even argue the joke in the end of the trailer was kind of cute. Even little things how the Sega Logo is depicted as pixel art .. but each pixel s a moment of Sega history makes me feel that a lot of love for the franchise exists in the creative team and if not that they REALLY listened to the fans and REALLY nailed it on the head this time.  The hedgehog has gotten some of the love he deserves.

Not CLEARED yet

The movie is not out of the woods yet though, I am eternally grateful that they listened and when I will go see this movie, which now I will and I tip my hats off  to them foo all the work they did for the fans. However I am not fully convinced yet. Robotnik’s robots kind of lack their original charm and feel a bit too monotonous and not crazy enough, the tone of the trailer seems a bit too kiddy and some of the animation seems really sloppy. I get this movie is for kids but that doesn’t mean it has to be a looney tunes cartoon. The old sonic cartoons also had some dramatic moments it allowed the comedy to breathe. This new trailer throws joke after joke after joke. Aside from a few moments of action, which is no longer than 10 seconds total there is nothing but comedy, by the end it just feels sooo , in you face. 
While these jokes tell you nothing about the plot and thus do not really spoil as much, as for example the first trailer kind of did  at the end, like this it just doesn’t feel like an amazing movie to go too. As a result I feel about the same level of excitement for this as one of my favorite youtubes offering a special project o something.. or if I see people are doing a live action Dragon Ball Z thing in two months on youtube. I am excited to see it now, and I wasn’t before but I still think it will be mediocre at best. This trailer has convinced me 100 times over that it’s mediocrity from a good and well willing heart with a love for Sonic as well. That same heart might make me love this movie despite it’s flaws but that is something we will never find out in a trailer.