JAINITUOS FILM REVIEWS – Sonic the Hedgehog (A Whole Sonic Boom)

Hey guys.

Welcome to another entry of my blog, and now, I am here to bring… the moment that we were waiting for.

From the same people that brought us this..,

…comes an adventure with this new hero.

Yeah, I am talking about…

But before I start, I must ask you guys… The Question.

Are you guys happy? Feeling healthy and having a good time?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy.

Now, let’s go to the review.

PREMISE

In the film, Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwarz, is a small extraterrestrial blue hedgehog who is been living on Earth for quite a long time, having one of his most precious possession, his rings, but after a couple of incidents, Sonic now must recover them with the help of the local sheriff of Green Hills, Montana, Tom Wachowski, played by James Marsden, while avoiding the menace of the insane, eccentric mad scientist, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey.

Will they succeed? Or Robotnik will finally kill Sonic once and for all?

Bur before that, I must let you guys know, that it is not the first time Ben Schwarz voices another iconic character from our childhood. There was another one.

And that is…

LOUIE DUCK

Yeah. I know that most of you were aware of that, but I wanted to share it anyway, for I was struggling to recognise Sonic’s actor while watching the movie.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Now, we are all aware of the controversy that came from the original design of Sonic, the same one that I posted at the beginning of this entry just now. And with all… Good… Reason. That design was horrendous; in fact, one of my most read entries in my blog is about why Sonic’s former design was terrible, and how it would negatively affect the movie. To be honest, I was prepared for the flop.

Soon after, we got news from Paramount, deciding that the whole design of Sonic will be changed, especially after the universal backlash from the first trailer. Personally, that last part was an absolute surprise, because…

1. I never expected Paramount to do a better design for Sonic, especially after TMNT.
2. I never expected Paramount to listen to the fans.

So, in other words, I really praise and commend Paramount for hearing our voices and correct the mistake on time.

And it really paid off. Sonic the Hedgehog reached its first weekend with $70 million, making it the best opening for a movie based on video games, beating up the record from Detective Pikachu. Furthermore, the movie reached a domestic gross of $80,301,671, accompanied by a international box office of $50,505,047, making a total of $130,806,718, without counting marketing costs.

In other words… we have a commercial success. Not sure if the most successful live-action movie based on a video game. But definitely it is really admirable from Sonic the Hedgehog, especially after its rocky start.

Well… enough about this data. And I apologise, I had to reveal it, precisely for the history of its production.

Now let’s get to what is really important.

STORY

In simple words, Sonic The Hedgehog is a road movie,  a typical story of two buddies that travel around U.S. in order to get to one particular destination. Personally, I like this type of movies, for various reasons.

1. We have the chance to see many exotic parts of U.S. (Or the country the movie takes place)
2. It helps the characters to develop, and to open themselves to the audience.
3. It is the perfect setting of many comedic situations
4. Because of the impact of the journey, the twist, if there is one, is more impactful
5. There are never two equal road movies.

And definitely Sonic is one of those movies. We got everything, from Sonic doing what he does best… Running to infinity and beyond, to Dr. Robotnik sending his evil robots to destroy our beloved hedgehog and his friends, being completely loyal to its source material and its characters.

Well. I must confess that I am not the most avid player of Sonic games; in fact, I had little options back them (Between a Nintendo and a Super Nintendo), but regarding cartoons, Sonic hooked me from the very first time. SONIC, SONIC SatAM, SONIC UNDERGROUND, SONIC X, SONIC BOOM… The list goes on.

And thanks to all of them, I know that Sonic is a real hero, one who always fights for his friends, for justice, and… speed… Against Robotnik and water. (Face it, that drowning soundtrack traumatised a whole generation).

I admit it is not the most original story, but definitely is one that you will call Sonic-ish, and, for better or worse, that is exactly what we are looking for. A fun flick about Sonic fighting Robotnik and collecting rings. That’s all.

No convoluted plots. No combinations of many genres. No hypocritical political agenda. Nothing. Just being loyal to the source material, and after many disappointing adaptations, each one worse than the other (Resident Evil, Hitman, DOA: Dead or Alive), it is good to see that finally we got, at least, two movies based on video games that feel like such, and are not a mockery of its source material.

The other one being Detective Pikachu.

CHARACTERS

Now. We all know that Jim Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik. And boy… Once hell of a performance!! The perfect combination between the best trademarks of Carrey and a mad scientist like Robotnik, bringing a great resurgence of Carrey. Charming and evil; genius, yet insane. Pure Robotnik!

But what about the rest of the cast?

Personally, the other one who steals the spotlight is James Marsden as Tom Wachowski (Coincidence?), who tries to do his job while knowing more about Sonic, creating a good chemistry that brings life and energy into the movie, especially in the most poignant scenes. Soon, their friendship becomes one of its strongest parts Furthermore, I think Marsden does a pretty good job. Personally, I am not a big fan of Cyclops from X-Men Fox film series, but here, Marsden really shines, thanks to the simplicity of his character.

And basically that is half of the strength of the movie regarding cast.

The other half is Tika Sumpter, who plays Maddie, Tom’s wife. And during the time and occasion required, she delivers an amazing performance.

Finally, the rest of the cast is also good. But the ones who bring life to the movie in terms of acting, are Carrey, Schwarz, Sumpter and Marsden.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Sonic The Hedgehog did what Super Mario Bros could not; do a good live-action movie. And, for me, that is something that will be part of the legacy of Sonic for the years to come. Furthermore, it proves that our beloved hedgehog is more alive than ever.

Perhaps, both Sonic The Hedgehog and Detective Pikachu will become guides of what to do with live-actions movies based on video games.

The future might remain uncertain, but we must keep doing what Sonic does… MOVE FORWARD!!!

 

Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer… WHAT THE HELL?

Hey guys. This review includes spoilers. I do not if it is appropriate, or stupid, to warn about spoilers of a trailer. But since this is something special, and keeping in mind that the Release of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is today, at least in Japan, I think we can remind the readers they have the right of being amused… in both right and wrong ways. Especially for such an incredible cultural icon.

Having said that, let’s continue.

SURVIVING MY OWN THOUGHTS

Well guys… The day has come. I have done the unthinkable. I… watched the first trailer of the Live Action movie… of Sonic the Hedgehog. And…

Were do I start?

Ok. First and foremost, my childhood was taken over by Mario, Megaman, Castlevania, Zelda, Star Fox, Ninja Gaiden, Street Fighter, Doom, Duke Nukem, Donkey Kong, Indiana Jones, Resident Evil, F-Zero, and thousand of millions of racing games (I still miss Cruisin’ the World and my precious N64).

So many amazing gaming icons, and Sonic is definitely NOT one of them. Yet. I am very familiar with the kind of universe and lore Sonic belongs to. Why am I saying this? Simple. Because I think it is not something a movie with live action actors can replicate without any major controversy. This is not Alita: Battle Angel.

In addition, we are all familiar with the infamous relationship between video games and Hollywood movies. I have disliked most of them. I rather become a zombie rather than watch any Resident Evil movie directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. (Seriously. What the f»*k has Alice in Wonderland has to do with Resident Evil?). And… I prefer to forget that I watch the reboot of Tomb Raider in cinemas (But Alicia Vikander was great) Anyway, sorry about my digressing. The point is… Does Hollywood really think they can take Sonic the Hedgehog and make a good movie?

I… starting to lose the faith… even before I have faith.

I confess that, since this movie was announced, I could not come to terms that Hollywood was making a movie of Sonic the Hedgehog. I still can’t believe that Pokemon: Detective Pikachu really exists. I explored many possible plots for a Sonic the Hedgehog live-action adaptation. None was able to convince me.

I don’t know. Personally I don’t think Sega should handle its property like that. It would end up the same way as the disastrous, yet entertaining, Super Mario Bros movie, starring John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins. And after watching this trailer, I think it’s gonna be like that.

But why can I be a little more specific?

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

«Gotta go fast!!» – I agree Sonic. Scaring the moviegoers with your appearance is a terrible idea.

Now. The first 15 seconds of the trailer are fantastic. From the officer holding Sonic’s hair to seeing the logos of both Paramount Pictures and Sega, along with the Sonic Rings, was so awesome. But after that… all simply goes wrong. I personally can’t understand why the background music is Gangsta’s Paradise, from Coolio. I would use California Sun, from Rancid. I don’t know why. I simply think the tempo and rhythm are more appropriate with Sonic. And then… we got the fakest and most bizarre version of Sonic the Hedgehog, the shoes are ok, but for me, the fact that Sonic doesn’t have gloves goes completely against the character. And then a bunch of military gathers for how to deal with the «problem of the energy surge» provoked by the speed of Sonic.

And then… Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey.

It was exquisite to see Jim Carrey!!! And the jokes delivered were hysterical. And, believe it or not, I bought that he was indeed Dr. Robotnik, despite his outfit. In fact… That is something Carrey adapted pretty well. Yeah. I mentioned Carrey because I don’t think that was the idea came from the producers.

Then we see officer Tom Wachowski, played by James Marsden (You know, Cyclops), who encounters Sonic, forcing him to do, absolutely, the worst joke of the trailer.

«Meow?»

It is impossible not to compare that moment with the infamous last joke of the trailer of the reboot of Ghostbusters.

«The Power of Patty compels you.»

And at this point, the eyes, the fur, the expressions, and the design of Sonic feels so bizarre and repelling. With Detective Pikachu, the CGI feels well constructed, but here… Shortly, Sonic states that he has to «save the planet».

With that design of yours Sonic… I have no comments.

The last part features Good Ol’ Jim Carrey stealing the show with his character… specially on the last seconds of the trailer, which will definitely surprises the fans. I will not spoil them. All I am going to say is that… there are absolutely marvellous.

Unlike another bad joke that comes from Officer Wachowski, after putting Sonic in a bag. A woman asks him whether or not is carrying «his child» on a bag; to which he promptly answers.

«No. I mean Yes. It’s a child, but it’s not mine.»

Seriously. Who wrote that? Who actually thought that was funny? Afterwards, the face of the character looks like… What have I done? But for me, that’s was the actor, perhaps regretting saying such a stupid joke.

Anyway.

Of course there are some good parts of the trailer. The fights between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik look pretty awesome. But the part in which Sonic, literally, copies the iconic scenes of Quicksilver in both X-Men Days of Future Past and X-Men Apocalypse is very crude and implausible. Perhaps I said that last sentence because I am not the greatest fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, but I did not convince me.

CONCLUSION

What can I see? Some fans say that people can judge a movie for its trailer. And this might not be the exception. Ok. It is very soon to say whether Sonic the Hedgehog will be good or bad, however, the movie definitely left a very lame first impression with the trailer.

And the fact that most of the movies based on video games are terrible will NOT help the movie. On the other hand, both fans and moviegoers will watch the movie for curiosity, custom, or perhaps to confirm that Sonic the Hedgehog is an unintentional comedy. So it’s going to be a financial success for the wrong reasons.

Or a box office bomb.

Nevertheless, one thing is for sure. With this trailer, and the upcoming release of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, May is gonna be an interesting month, and, possibly, the greatest prelude of the summer season. (Winter in Australia.)