Video game movies typically don’t have a great reputation as in the past they haven’t translated all that well from the small screen to the big screen, but Sonic the Hedgehog did just fine as it’s been seen. It’s easy to look at the movie and assume that it might not have done as well had the angry mob of fans that demanded Sonic’s look be changed not stepped in and said something. As ridiculous as the mob mentality of movie nerds usually is, they did good this time since Sonic’s look, which was returned to his more cartoonish quality and managed to lose the horrendous, humanized appearance with those godawful teeth, did manage to appease a greater number of people than it might have had things not been changed. Admittedly the first appearance of Sonic during the initial trailer was pretty creepy, but after the costly change it was definitely better since it was the hedgehog that a lot of fans remembered fondly and was therefore less realistic and more like the source material that people were expecting. That, and the fact that he rarely shut up and acted more like a hyperactive teenager, were a few big reasons why people actually enjoyed this movie. What could have been a flop turned out to be a rather exciting and fun experience that ended up appeasing a great number of people, not just the diehard fans that were wanting to see everything as perfect as it could be.
The inclusion of Jim Carrey and James Marsden was an iffy proposition since Marsden has done this type of thing before in Hop and it’s likely that people are going to start remembering him more for such roles than anything, while Carrey kind of an odd choice for Robotnik since not only does he not exemplify the look of the bad guy from the game but he’s also been a rather controversial character in recent years. But really, as odd as the picks were for the human counterparts they worked out perfectly since Marsden turned out to be the best buddy and strong, stalwart character he usually is, while Carrey turned out as the arrogant and overly aggressive individual that everyone wanted to see when it came to Robotnik. Plus, the buildup to another movie was established quite nicely as we got to see Tails arrive at the end of the movie and Robotnik was plotting a way to escape from the mushroom planet and was already starting to look like his game counterpart, bald head and crazy mustache and all. In reality this was probably one of the most tame Honest Trailers ever since there wasn’t a whole lot that could be said about it that was too bad.
A lot of times Honest Trailers will gladly rip into a movie or a TV show and shred it to pieces while being comical at the same time. In this instance though it certainly tried and was just as sarcastic as ever, but Sonic the Hedgehog was a fairly well-rounded movie that didn’t offer up too much room for criticism since it didn’t take itself too seriously and was just an excuse to have fun with a movie that was based around a video game. Paul Tassi of Forbes had more to say about the movie. Plus, we did get to see Sonic’s home world, but we didn’t have to focus too much on the fantasy of it since he was sent away from his home when he was still pretty young and had to live in the human world for a good long while as he grew and kind of matured. From that point the fantasy was still in effect but it was based more in the real world with killer special effects that helped to flesh out Sonic and his incredible speed. Keeping the movie in the real world for the majority of the time was a great idea since it kind of made Sonic appear a little more naive and in need of a serious lesson on how to survive outside of his cave and within human society. In other words he’s awesome, but he’s not so awesome that he can simply adapt to the world around him without a great deal of help.
A sequel could be interesting since Tails is an intriguing character and there’s even the thought that Knuckles might show up as well, though as of now that’s kind of a pipe dream and less of a reality. If it were to happen the story would need to be developed in a way that might be able to bring back the human actors in order to continue the tale and involve them as well since they’ve become a pretty big part of Sonic’s life. When that movie would be made though is even harder to say since wondering when the world is going to get back to normal is still in question.
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