Sonic the Hedgehog has been on TV and home video since 1993. The last 26 years featured Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog the cartoon, Saturday mornings were dubbed “Sonic SatAM” by the fanbase, and most recently the 2014 series Sonic Boom was released. Back in 1999, ADV Films produced a two-OVA compilation dubbed Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie and was accepted as such for years (even though it was extremely cheesy).
For the past few years, I heard rumors about a Sonic movie coming to theatres from Sony’s Columbia Pictures and then Paramount. Well, the first official trailer is out now and reactions have been mixed at best. From the like-to-dislike ratio on YouTube, the people’s reaction to it is almost a 50/50 split (more towards the positive side than the negative though). The trailer gives us a look at Sonic — voiced by Ben Schwartz — in all his furry glory as well as Jim Carrey as Doctor Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik. It seems this will tell the origin story of how these two characters first met and became enemies as the tagline of the film is, “Every hero has a genesis.”
Personally, I’m mixed on this trailer. From the looks of it, they aren’t making this a video game movie but rather more of a superhero film (which is probably a good thing since video game movies don’t usually go well). The only real problem I see is Sonic’s design, compared to anything else in the trailer. It feels off and gives an uncanny valley sort of vibe when you look at him from certain angles, and it doesn’t seem very expressive in the face. I’m not sure if it’s caused by his teeth or his two eyes since he only had a mono-eye with two pupils for the longest time.
Jim Carrey stands out in the trailer, of course, as it seems he brought back that comedic charm that he has and I have missed it for so many years now. It’s a real treat to see him on the silver screen once again, and I get the feeling he will be the star of this film. From how he looks at the beginning of the trailer and at the end of the trailer, I guess we’ll see his transformation from Dr. Ivo Robotnik into Dr. Eggman.
Now … I know there are people out there absolutely hating on this trailer. Personally, I’m indifferent. As my friend Ian Flynn said,
“This film isn’t for me and I’m fine with that, but this is gonna be someone’s first time seeing Sonic the Hedgehog in anything and they may like it. If so, I am happy for you and hope the movie delivers what you want in November. If not, that’s fine too, for we have 28 years of games to play — from the original Sonic in 1991 all the way up to Sonic Forces from two years ago. We have four different cartoons plus an anime series and, of course, years of comics from two different publishers. There’s a version of Sonic for everyone! If you don’t like the movie version, let the ones who do, enjoy it. It’s not the end of the world. Let them have a good time.”
Sonic the Hedgehog speeds into theatres everywhere on November 8th, 2019.
