Sonic’s Cinematic Success Has Come Through Fan Focus

We’ve been getting a lot of video game adaptations in the last eight years across TV and film. While the genre has thrived on TV thanks to multiple shows, your Castlevanias and Arcane, things are different in theaters. Illumination’s Mario is just coming into its own, Mortal Kombat is taking its time, and other game movies are some time away. One game character has consistently delivered, though: you know him, you played him, it’sssssss Sonic the Hedgehog!

The first Sonic movie released on Valentine’s Day 2020, and in another world, it would’ve come out in November 2019. But then its first trailer hit that April and folks were… not pleased, let’s say, about that initial version. Weird body proportions, too many teeth, and it was an overall offputting design so disliked—despite being committed to enough that Halloween costumes and packaging art featured the first iteration—Paramount pushed the movie back and brought on recurring Sonic artist Tyson Hesse to give the title character a redesign that made him look more similar to how he does in the games. This was the most major change between shooting and the film’s release, and it came to be a major part of the narrative surrounding the movie: Paramount listened to the fans, which meant they were in control of the movie going forward.

Flash forward five years, and that first Sonic has been a game changer. For Sega, this was the shot in the arm it apparently needed for the often inconsistent games; 2022’s Sonic Frontiers has combat inspired by the Blue Blur’s fighting style in the movie, and 2024’s Shadow Generations (bundled with a remaster of 2011’s Sonic Generations) gives players the option to be the latter hedgehog as he looks in the third film and voiced by his movie actor, Keanu Reeves. As for Paramount, this is basically its big, recurring kids franchise since Transformers is TBD, and the Ninja Turtles need more time to cook. Thus far, there’s been two (soon to be three) sequel films that keep making money, plus a spinoff show starring longtime series co-lead Knuckles the Echidna. It’s also gone and revived the career of top-billed human lead Jim Carrey, who plays series baddie Dr. Eggman, a role which appears to be the only acting he’s interested in or wants to do these days.

As a 90s-born child who had minimal interaction with the franchise—2006’s Sonic Rush is the only game I’ve played, and I have a memory of seeing some of Sonic Underground as a child—watching them in the theater is an interesting experience. There’s moments where I can feel the films’ charms completely winning me over; Carrey’s Eggman is generally funny and the other actors like James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Lee Majdoub do their best with the material given, and the various CG animals look consistently good when put on screen. (A rain-drenched Shadow sullenly walking through the streets of Tokyo? Mwah, beautiful, chef’s kiss.) And when it’s time for those animals to engage in speedy action against each other or Eggman’s army of robots, director Jeff Fowler’s previous experience with the games come through in how impressive and well-choreographed the fights look. The talent and affection for the games sure comes through, and even simple things like using Sumpter’s Maddie to tease the next character joining the movies underline how much of an earnest effort this whole, ongoing endeavor is.

Less endearing is how the movies come off like they’re not reaching their full potential in sometimes disappointing ways. Their episodic structure means much of the human cast comes off static, since they’re not given much to do but hit a particular comedy beat, and that’s basically it. (See: three movies in, Maddie not having anything to her but being a walking tease for the next franchise character.) By that same token, it increasingly feels like the filmmakers end these while hedging their bets that Carrey may not want to return as Eggman; the actor indicated he was eyeing retirement from acting after Sonic 2, then came back for the third, later saying he did so because he likes getting paid. All well and good, but it’ll be nice if later movies get to end without frequently glancing over their shoulder wondering if they’re about to lose their most bankable, non-animal draw.

It’s the devotion to being kids movies that may be the problem. When Sonic 3 brings Robotnik’s grandfather Gerald into the picture, it’s revealed the older, madder scientist freed Shadow and teamed with his grandson so they could use a spacecraft to destroy Earth (and by extension, the three of them) to avenge his dead granddaughter, Maria. It’s a dark swing that feels like it needs more connective tissue, or at the very least, some insight into Gerald that the movie doesn’t really grant otherwise. Conversely, Shadow is given much more focus, and is treated with proper seriousness that informs the film’s emotional core, but Gerald feels like he was conceived as a vessel for well-done comedic gags first more than being a threat. Any kids movie can have an uneven tone between serious and slapstick, but Sonic 3’s imbalance feels more notable as Paramount’s determined to keep these going every two or three years.

When I saw Sonic 3 in theatres, I was seats away from someone who was clearly a franchise fan and had the time of their lives when Sonic and Shadow used their Super forms, beat upp Eggman’s robots, and did The Pose from Sonic Adventure 2. He and someone else in the theater marked out like mad when Amy and Metal Sonic showed up in the mid-credits, then again when Shadow was revealed to be alive in the post-credits. If nothing else, I’m happy for those two and others in that same camp: could these movies be better? Yes, and several ways—but they’re hitting for the kids and older fans they’re targeted at, and have kept that focus half a decade later. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

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