I can’t think of another franchise quite like Sonic the Hedgehog.
As a follower of this series for about 15 years now, and an owner of pretty much every
game in the series long 28 year history, to say it has been one Hell of a roller coaster
would be an understatement.
If there is a gaming series out there with more WTF moments than this one, that is still
alive today, please let me know.
And if there is a fanbase out there that is more passionate and dedicated, also, let me
know.
Cause us Sonic fans, have been through it all.
We’ve created amazing things, and not so good things, we’ve also dealt with being
mocked for years, and how could you forget the inconsistency of the games themselves,
and this is the part where I’m supposed to give you a brief history on how many fails
the series has had, but you’ve probably heard this story a billion times already.
Sonic the Hedgehog is my favorite video game character of all time.
Ever since 2005, when I first put in Sonic Mega Collection Plus on my PS2, I fell in
love with the series ever since.
He has shoes inspired by Micheal Jackson, his spiky hair, overly large eyes, and white
gloves makes him an appealing video game mascot.
Sonic is iconic, not only in design, but also in personality.
Sonic Unleashed is one of my favorite games of all time.
And part of what makes that game’s story spark is Sonic’s attitude.
His carefree, cocky, yet determined when needed personality, is something I try to apply in
my own life.
He could care less about relationships, and worrying about mental drama that might slow
him down.
He would much rather focus on the thrill of adventure, even when he’s faced with the
most difficult task he keeps a level head and remains positive.
Sonic taught me how to live life to the fullest.
And I just followed his lead.
When a live action Sonic Movie by Sony Pictures was announced back in 2014, yes I was excited,
but the whole live action part left part of me skeptical.
It was pretty bad timing to tell the truth, the year before we got Sonic Lost World which
I consider to be a disappointment and Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric, (cough-excuse me)the-worst-Sonic-game-ever-made,
was released not too long after the announcement.
But ok, a live action Sonic Movie created by Sony Pictures of all people.
Let's give it a chance, I guess.
So what happens next is we don’t get any info for like 3 years?
No seriously.
It got to a point where I was almost starting to believe they scrapped the project altogether,
but lo and behold in 2017 we get news that Paramount got the rights to it.
Uh ok.
I mean….
Way past cool!
So then what happens next is Sonic Forces comes out in November and it… well… it
sucked.
Yeah it was pretty bad.
So with a big budget movie on the way, you can almost imagine the nerves from every fan
knowing that if this movie flops who knows how much permanent damage it could do to the
series?
Because remember, and I know this is subjective, but there are many fans including myself that
believe there hasn’t been a good modern Sonic game since Generations, and that game
came out in 2011.
So anything not classic Sonic has a pretty bad reputation already.
And you might say, “well what does this have to do with the movie?”
See, one of the concerns at the time was, “if they can’t even get a game right,
what makes them think a movie is going to work?"
It’s interesting because, the Sonic movie isn’t being written by anyone who is known
for previous Sonic experience.
I think one of the producers worked on CG cutscenes for Shadow the Hedgehog or something,
but that’s pretty much it.
And who knows, that could be either a good or a bad thing.
The recent modern Sonic games haven’t exactly had good storytelling anyway.
But whatever.
I’ll stop pondering and wait for some real info I guess.
The original design for the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie was universally hated which is a rarity
for this franchise.
Usually when a controversial decision is made the opinions are divided amongst the fanbase.
This is one of the only times in Sonic history where pretty much all fans agreed that there
is something fundamentally wrong here.
After unbelievable backlash, the director of the Sonic Movie, Jeff Fowler, responded
to the criticism by announcing on Twitter that Paramount was going to redesign Sonic
from the ground up.
Catching a lot of people, including myself, off guard.
It was shocking, to be quite honest.
I don’t think anyone actually thought they would listen to us.
That almost never happens in movies.
When Hollywood makes a stupid decision they’re usually content with staying true to that
dumb decision.
A few weeks go by and Jeff makes another announcement confirming that the movie was being delayed
to Valentine's Day 2020.
Fast forward a few months and on November 12, 2019, a new trailer was released.
It doesn’t even take any longer than 2 seconds for us to see the drastic changes in character
design.
It’s much more faithful to the original games with the exception of blue arms but
nobody really cares about that anyway (COUGH).
But how did they do it?
How did they go from something so embarrassing to arguably the greatest Sonic redesign the
series has ever seen?
2 words.
Tyson.
Hesse.
If you aren’t familiar with Tyson, he is the artist responsible for this, and this,
and this, and this.
He was the lead artist for the Sonic Movie redesign.
The Sonic the Hedgehog Movie, finally brought in someone who actually knows a thing or two
about how this character is supposed to be.
And it certainly shows.
This trailer has so much more energy and personality compared to the first trailer back in April
of last year.
I know there’s only so much we can dissect from a movie trailer, but from what I’ve
seen so far, for a movie studio to capture Sonic’s attitude better than the modern
Sonic games recently, that alone is pretty damn impressive.
People cried with they watched this trailer.
Legitimate tears were shed.
And there’s a reason for that.
This character is more than just a stupid time waster, it’s more than a video game,
its… our childhood, back when life was much simpler.
Sonic was there to put smiles on our faces.
And it looks like this movie is trying to do the same.
It may not be my ideal Sonic Movie wet dream, but I can respect when a company can swallow
its pride and make changes to please its fanbase.
Regardless of how this film turns out, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie will be forever remembered
for its attempt at redemption.