{"id":28491,"date":"2020-03-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=28491"},"modified":"2020-03-11T19:40:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T00:40:47","slug":"claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2020\/03\/11\/claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Claude\u2019s Column: Sonic Races Through Theaters, Towards Mediocrity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">\tFollowing months in meme purgatory, everyone\u2019s favorite blue dude with attitude arrived in theaters on February 6 with a new look but the same old charm. I\u2019m of course referring to 2020s first big hit and Mario\u2019s mortal enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tBack when the trailer was released in April of 2019, the internet, as always,&nbsp; just about ate itself alive with rage. While many were excited to see Ace Ventura\u2019s actor, Jim Carrey, cast as Dr. Robotnick, the reveal of Sonic himself sent the fans into a foaming frenzy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original design was heavily criticized for looking less like the character fans grew up with and more like a nightmare straight out of the darkest depths of Deviantart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"28493\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2020\/03\/11\/claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity\/attachment\/og-sonic\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/og-sonic.png\" data-orig-size=\"698,328\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"og sonic\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;The original Sonic design featured in trailers.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;(Source: KinoCheck International \/ Youtube)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/og-sonic.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/og-sonic.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28493\" width=\"505\" height=\"237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/og-sonic.png 698w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/og-sonic-300x141.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><figcaption>(Source: KinoCheck International \/ Youtube)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> The backlash from fans following the trailer was so immense, Paramount Studios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/5\/24\/18638637\/paramount-live-action-sonic-the-hedgehog-movie-delay-february-2020-cgi-fix\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"postponed the released date of the movie to 2020 (opens in a new tab)\">postponed the released date of the movie to 2020<\/a> in order to redesign Sonic entirely. The studio tasked with redesigning Sonic, Motion Picture Company, actually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cinemablend.com\/news\/2486721\/sonic-the-hedgehogs-redesign-studio-is-closing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"shut down permanently (opens in a new tab)\">shut down permanently<\/a> shortly after the film\u2019s production, which is a shame.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second trailer was soon unveiled in November of 2019 with Sonic sporting a design more faithful to the classic Sega icon. Fans were pleased with Sonic\u2019s more cartoonish facial features and the addition of his signature use of gloves. The backlash seemed to end.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People flocked like sheep into theaters to see if the film itself would deliver the speedy fun and adventure of the original Genesis games. Did Sonic pull through despite the controversy and hype? Financially yes, as it is currently the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/travisbean\/2020\/03\/07\/box-office-sonic-adds-20-million-to-its-record-breaking-run\/#6b33d4db1a10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"second highest grossing video game film of all time (opens in a new tab)\">second highest grossing video game film of all time<\/a> behind Detective Pikachu. Storywise, however, \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d is far from spectacular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/szby7ZHLnkA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>(Source: Youtube\/Paramount Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story focuses on the title character, (voiced by Ben Schwartz) who is stranded on earth in a town called Green Hills (get it?) where he has lived for years under the radar of humans. He is rather lonely being the only cartoon hedgehog around, after all, it\u2019s not like there were any other characters in the Sonic games that could\u2019ve made this film more interesting. One human, he seems to be interested in and enjoys messing with is Green Hills cop, Tom Wochowski (James \u2018should fire his agent\u2019 Marston).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One night, Sonic\u2019s speedy antics cause a massive power outage, catching the attention of the U.S Military. This unknown incident persuades the military to call in the nefarious madman\/Eggman Dr. Robotnick (Jim Carrey) to find and capture this mysterious creature.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now on the run, Sonic reveals himself to Tom and asks for assistance in retrieving his golden rings, which can transport him back to his homeworld. Upon being interrogated by Robotnick, Tom agrees to help the blue blur find his way home and the two venture on a road trip to San Francisco to retrieve Sonic\u2019s lost rings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They initially don\u2019t get along as Tom\u2019s dreams of joining the San Francisco Police force are ruined due to Sonic\u2019s sudden emergence. But of course, they soon learn to see eye to eye as they try to outrun the mechanical storm of Robotnick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019ve ever watched a 90s road trip or buddy cop movie, you\u2019ve already seen \u201cSonic the Hedgehog.\u201d The story of a normal everyman, who\u2019s life is thrown into chaos by a talking animal who soon becomes his best friend. This is a story straight out of \u201cAlvin and the Chipmunks\u201d or \u201cHop\u201d &#8211; even down to including James Marston.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"28496\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2020\/03\/11\/claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity\/attachment\/hop\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP.png\" data-orig-size=\"842,390\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"HOP\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28496\" width=\"535\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP.png 842w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP-300x139.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/HOP-768x356.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px\" \/><figcaption>How does James Marsden keep finding himself in these situations? (Source: Youtube\/YouTube Movies)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not only is the story recycled with nothing new added but \u201cSonic the Hedgehog\u201d is, well, surprisingly dull for a movie about a hedgehog who can move at the speed of light! The pacing of this story drags more than you\u2019d expect from a franchise that\u2019s all about going fast. Scenes between Sonic and Tom, while acted well, drag on and on and I already know where it\u2019s going. There\u2019s little action in this video game movie, which completely contradicts the high-octane nature of the original Genesis trilogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On that note, however, I must give the film credit for following many of the tropes of the original Sonic game fairly well. Sonic\u2019s attitude is quite accurate to the source material, even if he\u2019s a touch more juvenile and not above a fart joke (just like the games right?).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s some cheeky nods and references to the games, tv shows and even memes that gave me a slight chuckle. Not to give away too much, but the ending does hint at a sequel that could follow the story of the genesis classic Sonic 2, which I\u2019d be 100% on board for.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike so many failed video game films of the past (cough, cough, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/super_mario_bros\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Mario Bros (opens in a new tab)\">Mario Bros<\/a>.\u201d) its clear the team tasked with helming this project genuinely cares about the character and desired to create something that somewhat resembled the original source material.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, these references don\u2019t stand out enough for casual audiences and fail to create a unique or exciting atmosphere. So the film still feels like every other dull live-action kids movie you were dragged to see in the early 2000s.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, let\u2019s not overlook one major positive this movie possesses. Because we all know the main reason everyone, myself included, paid money to see this was to see the villain. Jim Carrey\u2019s performance as Sonic\u2019s nemesis Dr. Robotnick, was everything I hoped it would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"28499\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2020\/03\/11\/claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity\/attachment\/robotnik\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/robotnik.png\" data-orig-size=\"767,310\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"robotnik\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/robotnik.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/robotnik.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28499\" width=\"522\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/robotnik.png 767w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/robotnik-300x121.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 522px) 100vw, 522px\" \/><figcaption>The movie&#8217;s highlight, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnick (Source: Youtube\/Paramount Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;His manic performance is a perfect throwback to classics like \u201cAce Ventura\u201d or \u201cThe Mask.\u201d Even his motivation is pretty cool, he views himself as superior to the rest of humanity and values his machine who always do what they\u2019re told over the rest of mankind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His obsession with control and outsmarting brawn with brain perfectly matches that of the original villain and he is actually given more depth than I initially expected from such a silly performance. Not much depth, but he is considerably more interesting than Tom or even Sonic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aside from Jim Carrey essentially playing himself, all the other actors, while flat at times, were harmless enough and did a good job with the rather forgettable material given. And that pretty much sums up this movie, flat and forgettable but harmless.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not the abomination I was expecting like&nbsp; \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d, which you could argue makes it worse seeing how the Mario movie is still talked about today on account of how unbelievably heinous it was. Yet at the same time, nothing about his movie stands out as spectacular. Just because the critics thought it was ok, doesn\u2019t make it a masterpiece worth rewatching. It\u2019s a forgettable popcorn family flick that won\u2019t challenge younger viewers but won\u2019t annoy adults. And if that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking for, you may find yourself enjoying this flick. As for me, I expected more from the fastest thing alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"28494\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2020\/03\/11\/claudes-column-sonic-races-through-theaters-towards-mediocrity\/attachment\/new-sonic\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic.png\" data-orig-size=\"842,348\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"new-sonic\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;(Source: Youtube\/Paramount Pictures)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28494\" width=\"527\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic.png 842w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic-300x124.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic-768x317.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px\" \/><figcaption>Not even this improved face could truly enhance the film. (Source: Youtube\/Paramount Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rating:<\/strong> 6\/10<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Samuel J. Claude<br><\/strong>Managing Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following months in meme purgatory, everyone\u2019s favorite blue dude with attitude arrived in theaters on February 6 with a new look but the same old charm. I\u2019m of course referring to 2020s first big hit and Mario\u2019s mortal enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog.&nbsp;&nbsp; Back when the trailer was released in April of 2019, the internet, as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":28494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2104,2112,3523],"tags":[308,74,3482,3304,4062,323],"class_list":["post-28491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-films","category-media-reviews","tag-movies","tag-reviews","tag-samuel-j-claude","tag-sonic-the-hedgehog","tag-video-game-movies","tag-video-games"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-7px","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/new-sonic.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28491"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28527,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28491\/revisions\/28527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}