Plucked from my letterboxd for posterity.
Sonic the Hedgehog’s breach into the silver screen wasn’t bad, I reckon. The soundtrack is beautiful (if a bit unmemorable), and the way Sonic’s speed is animated to be a real spectacle; zipping off to distant shores at unimaginable speeds, racing through traffic or even freezing time in a slapstick manner evocative of the early series cartoons. However I still ultimately struggle with Hollywood cinema since celebrity is just a bit of a stupid concept, so my entire viewing was bogged down by this uncomfortable sense of uncanny. Why is Robotnik just Jim Carrey in a black suit? A question with no satisfactory answer, unfortunately. There is a part of me that feels like maybe if it was reanimated with game models I’d think he’s a good fit for the character, but in its presented state, with its presented performance, he doesn’t make a convincing Eggman to me. It’s a different interpretation of the character, fine, but not once in the lifespan of these films have I identified with him as the mad doctor. Sonic, while certainly not as egregious, wasn’t particularly convincing either. I don’t want to say that the character isn’t allowed to be vulnerable, since some of the more striking moments across the franchise are those when he does get crushed or lash out past the limit. But the application of it here did leave me scratching my head.
I guess that really just stems from the fact that this loneliness is the character put in a place he’s never been seen before. When his younger years are highlighted in the comics he already had friends, and when he does get transported to the human world in Sonic X he responds by becoming introverted and maturely assessing the situation instead of this spastic pop-culture machine we see in the movies. It’s a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story with a blue hedgehog swapped in. Sonic being “just a kid” lost in a world not his own, confused about his emotional identity and needing the guidance of an adult father figure to help situate himself…honestly is tough to reconcile. Because in any other franchise media Sonic would be the one giving others emotional guidance or steering them toward the right path, not this random Tom bloke. It’s fine for what it is, and so I hate to be that guy, but it’s just not Sonic. Throughout most of his history the blue blur is a character with emotional wisdom beyond his years. He is that moral barometer who stands tall to help guide Knuckles, Chaos, Tikal, Shadow, Cream, Gemerl, Silver, Blaze, Elise, Shahra, Merlina, Sage, Trip and so many more toward healing and personal freedom. He’s, surprisingly, not just some rash kid. Characterising Sonic so differently in the film project is fair enough, and for reasons later in the trilogy I think the way it was done ultimately makes a lot of sense, but it’s just not any Sonic I know. I can’t reconcile this as that same fearless adventurer fighting oppression. This is clearly Hollywood’s claim on the character in all aspects, generic and uninspired as it comes; With its own new lore and altering the convoluted universal mechanics in order to present a safe, easily-marketable zero-to-hero story about SELF-DISCOVERY and FRIENDSHIP. Which is fine since it wasn’t bad and that’s obviously what the majority audience want, but as a long-standing fan it’s not hitting as a renaissance or anything. There’s nothing interesting in here. I had seen this film without ever seeing the film, essentially, and didn’t really need to watch it before Sonic 2.
Give Robotnik a new backstory, make Sonic a lonely alien, redefine his power source to some nondescript blue electricity and put him in a generic zero-to-hero road trip story about RESPONSIBILITY and SELF-DISCOVERY. The 2020 Sonic film was something to where there’s, frankly, not a whole lot of point in watching it, because you’ve already envisioned everything it could possibly contain as soon as you read the phrase “Hollywood’s Sonic the Hedgehog”.
However if the first film was that “Hollywood’s Sonic the Hedgehog”, with the emphasis here being on the “Hollywood”, then the second film properly shifts focus to the latter. To the point that I fully expected it would have alienated the mainstream audience which the first movie was desperately prostrating itself before. Movie 2 adapts more convoluted setting mechanics that go well beyond the odd references of the Mean Bean cafe or Robotnik’s Buzzbombers. This film centres on ancient echidna lore and emerald energy. Based on how safe the first film was, there were a lot of franchise oddities that I believed would have no place in the film canon. But actually, they did a lot of those very things. The 2020 movie seemed to have redesigned so many setting conventions in order to distance itself from the game universe; Chaos Energy was seemingly usurped by Sonic’s nondescript electricity, so I was convinced that the Chaos Emeralds wouldn’t be part of it. Or at least, the seven multi-coloured gems, with their convoluted mechanics. Sonic had already been shown effectively slowing time with his speed – even freezing it at one point, and they move through the galaxy with Warp Rings, so in that way I figured Chaos Control had been rendered moot. Seeing the Master Emerald in the trailer I was predicting it would be conceptually amalgamated with a singular Chaos Emerald like other western adaptations had done before it. Yet they treat those with an appropriate amount of respect, even letting them retain their traditional powers of Chaos Control and Super transformations – two things I never would have predicted to be let anywhere near the film franchise, and the way these stylistic tidbits slowly build up toward a realisation that the stage was indeed being set for Shadow (who I likewise believed was far too strange for this canon and its intended audience based on the simplified 2020 movie), until the post-credits scene finally confirmed his presence, was a real rollercoaster. Following that meta development along the back half of the film was honestly quite rewarding. Nevertheless there were things I liked and things I didn’t, things that made me wish I were anywhere except in that very theatre and then things which truly tickled the fancy as a longtime fan of the franchise. It was fun when Team Sonic were onscreen, less so when it dedicated annoyingly long spans of time to the wedding B-plot of the human celebrity cast that nobody cares about. But all up, a substantial improvement upon that which came before.
Now, at last, the big one. The one we’ve spent those two years waiting for with bated breath. A movie with Shadow the Hedgehog in it! The expectations are sky high based off how they handled Knuckles, and the movie’s first trailer is frankly outstanding…But as a complete package, I unfortunately have to say that the second film is still the highest quality of the movies. It had mitigated the bland characterisation and humour of the previous film to a surprisingly significant degree, and ultimately used its lore, Knuckles’ alignments and the globe-trotting locations to create a story that feels epic in scale. In comparison, Sonic 3 is a bit weird, a bit stunted in progression. There’s very little preamble or scene-setting, we’re just dropped right into Prison Island and probably only fifteen minutes later Sonic and Shadow are already fighting. While I do appreciate the quick start, the pacing from there on out remains kind of odd. Because it doesn’t spare as much time establishing the stakes, the structure of the film therefore doesn’t feel as grand – or even as complete – as the second. From a cinematic standpoint it’s far less coherent than the others and is constantly rushing the scene changes to keep up with its rapid pacing.
Yet in spite of all that, when Shadow is onscreen it’s the best film in the trilogy. Easy. Dude just has that star power. It’s Shadow the Hedgehog, come on man! Depending on the day my favourite character in all of fiction is either Cloud Strife or Shadow himself. No matter the medium it never gets old watching him warp around smacking people. Visually, this high budget action allows for some of the coolest things the character has ever done – blitzing guys like it’s Super Mario Bros Z, and Shadow legitimately hits Sonic with a full Mishima-style string that ends in an Electric Wind God Fist, how has this not become an explosive meme yet? Super Shadow looked so good with the subtle red showing through his white-gold fur, glad they went with the SA2 colour scheme. Super Shadow vs Super Sonic was awesome, so much more dynamic than the Sonic X version. Far too brief, but nonetheless an incredibly memorable little bout of divine fisticuffs. Really can’t wait for the bluray to come out so I can screenshot some things from the final battle, the power of the emeralds felt insane with them battling across the globe and Super Sonic punching Shadow to the moon. Having Live and Learn play in a big budget movie was a welcome surprise. Again, much more dynamic than when Sonic X did it. All in all Shadow is definitely the Mobian best adapted to film, which makes sense since Jeff Fowler and Blur Studio have such a history with the character. And although they were cheap, I did appreciate the rest of the one-liners, poses and meme nods to the fandom spread throughout; I swear Maria’s guitar has to be a nod to EmuEmi’s acoustic cover of Live & Learn, and the way Shadow swiped Sonic’s back to knock out the emeralds felt very evocative of MunkyBoi’s Sonic and Shadow vs Metallix.
Shadow’s inclusion, shockingly, also helps to justify the younger, more vulnerable interpretation of Sonic which I’ve critiqued across the film series. I’m still not a huge fan of it compared to the main canon character, but I can now appreciate how they had to have this Sonic for this Shadow. Playing off the ‘faker’ meme they’ve repeated shot composition such as Sonic/Shadow gazing into the tube, visually framing the scene of Sonic speaking to Tom the same way as Shadow speaking to Maria, minorly redesigning Shadow with a third bottom spike on his head so that his side-on silhouette resembles Sonic at times, etc, and plot beats of Shadow’s familial loss vs Sonic’s, to very effectively run the two in tandem throughout the film. In the games Shadow overcomes his issues because he’s battled Sonic a few times and been forced to reconsider whose convictions are actually the strongest (game Sonic is a force of love and freedom who makes people think “maybe I can be better” just by being around him), whereas in the films their shared experiences of loneliness and loss let Sonic see himself within Shadow, affording a chance for them both to talk it out and mature. In doing so you lose that deceptively abstract essence of mainline Sonic, but I have been made to admit that it does in fact justify how they’ve changed Sonic to fit the plot and tone of the film trilogy; As if Sonic and Shadow’s quiet discussion on the moon was always the point they were working toward. Although perhaps a bit simple in storytelling, it conveys a meaningful, thematically cohesive message about how we respond to grief and the choices we can make to move past it.
Reimagining the cool Shadow scenes or watching shaky camera clips of the final battle that have snuck onto Youtube keep making me want to bump its score to at least a seven…but then I remember the rest of it. Whenever the Robotniks were onscreen it was downright exhausting. Their scenes go for so long and constantly steal from Shadow’s screentime. Doesn’t really help that I’m not a fan of these particular interpretations of Sonic and Eggman to begin with. While the second film seemingly grew more toward the style and tone of the games by its finale, the Eggman & Gerald sections of the film barrel way back into that generic Hollywood slop which made the first so uninteresting. It can barely make it through a scene without some random Fortnite humour interjected to jeopardise the tone. I’m here for Sonic, not celebrity. And considering how many comments I run into saying “these movies were carried by Jim Carrey” or gushing over what I consider to be yet another painful dance scene forced in there, it seems I may be alone in this. I’m just not much one for actors and live action cinema.; I’m not sure there are ten films I’m even that passionate about for it to be worth me sorting out a top ten. Prior to release I had been hoping, perhaps in vain, but pleading nonetheless that with the magical power of Shadow the Hedgehog this could hopefully become a new favourite film of mine and help fill out that list. And, hey, maybe I will look more favourably upon it once I can sit down to watch the blu-ray on my own system, rather than being crammed into a packed cinema among so many screaming people (Sonic 2 releasing during a school day as such a blessing – the seats were totally empty). The energy of an active theatre like that can be enjoyable sometimes, but I’m the type of guy who can’t properly sink into media unless I’m engaging it with it alone. Nevertheless, my initial verdict is that it takes one step forward and two steps back. 6/10 I guess. I wish I could rate it higher for Shadow, but I also really truly just don’t want to for the Robotniks. It’s pretty good half the time, insufferable for the other. I’ll be real – Sonic 3 is the first time I’ve ever legitimately considered making a personal cut of a film, like genuinely I reckon that once the blu-rays are out I might rip it, chuck it in Premiere and take out what I don’t like in order to dilute it into the ultimate Shadow fanboy experience. As is though, I can’t bring myself to love it.
skapbadoa 
Leave a comment