The Student News Site of Gannon University since 1947

THE GANNON KNIGHT

The Student News Site of Gannon University since 1947

THE GANNON KNIGHT

The Student News Site of Gannon University since 1947

THE GANNON KNIGHT

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ becomes Valentine’s Day hit

“Sonic the Hedgehog” opened Valentine’s Day to mixed reception from both critics and audiences alike, earning $101 million worldwide during its opening weekend.
The movie has high entertainment value, and it’s easy to escape into. I was able to relax and enjoy watching it, and it had me laughing and smiling the entire time.
For this alone, I highly recommend seeing “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
Part of its value is that it is an artifact of today’s culture. This movie will serve as a time capsule and no one will be able to deny when this movie was made.
A definite cultural time stamp can easily make movies dismissible in the future.
“Sonic the Hedgehog” has cheesy old memes, cringe-worthy moments, awkward dialogue passages, unnecessary dancing that should not have been in the movie at all and yet it is still funny.
Hopefully we get a sequel, so the franchise lives on in a way for this heavily dated movie not to fall out of existence.
The “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie needs to leave a legacy, so it doesn’t become an outdated timestamp. This should not be too hard considering most video game-to-movie adaptations are terrible.
As far as these adaptations, go “Sonic the Hedgehog” is up there with “Detective Pikachu,” as in it’s a worthy adaptation.
There is something for everyone in this movie. This film is not just direct fanservice to hardcore, lifelong Sonic fans who read the comics and played all the games. It is also a very wholesome PG lighthearted family movie.
It is very heavy on self-narration at the beginning. Given Sonic’s circumstances, it was necessary but became annoying. There was no fourth wall whatsoever; Sonic was talking to the audience from the beginning.
Also, to create an interesting hook, the filmmakers started with an action scene from later in the movie that seems random. Then, they go back and give this scene context. Chronologically from there, Sonic tells his story back up until that point.
The ending was very deus ex machina, a clumsy plot device where seemingly improbable solutions are used to resolve all problems. No ending could be so clean and easy. Although, it is based on video games.
On top of the cop-out ending, the movie producers got the genre wrong. The description says fantasy/sci-fi, but they should try more like live-action-adventure-comedy.
Another notable character, Tom, or Donut Lord, the best human friend and almost sidekick, is very much a stock character. Little thought was put into creating him because you know exactly what he was going to do and how he was going to behave from the very beginning. Yet, a meaningful relationship is still built between Sonic and Tom.
Jim Carrey plays the self-confident egotistical antagonist that fans affectionately call Doctor Eggman. However, in the movie, he is referred to more often as Dr. Robotnik. You do not want to take this villain seriously via his demeanor, but his government ties, technological proficiencies and perseverance prove him to be a worthy adversary.
Ten out of 10 for Carrey’s performance. He is beyond believable as this character. It is as if he was not even acting. It was a perfect casting decision, though initially I had my doubts because visually I was expecting a character who more closely resembled Naoto Ohshima’s design.
Aesthetic-wise, Carrey looked like a mix of Dr. Doofenshmirtz from “Phineas and Ferb,” Robbie Rotten from “Lazy Town” and Neo from “Matrix.” It’s not what I was expecting, but Carrey made it work.
It’s honestly a great mark of history and just a great comeback from the original Sonic design. This shows good things can happen when movie producers listen to fans, which should not have been a problem in the first place.
Good Sonic designs should have been easy, since the character has had a long-standing history and many media forms. Sonic was handed on a silver platter, and the movie team decided to do something different, and that blew up in the company’s face. Now we have the good Sonic design that made the movie worth watching.
Minor shoutout to the sound effects, original scores and light motifs. They were seamlessly weaved into the movie, where you barely noticed them. The effects were commendable for not being distracting or super obvious, while still having a significant presence.

CAMEREN KUHNHAUSEN
[email protected]

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