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nicomoviewatchinpsychopath · 4 years

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Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Review

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: VIDEO GAME BASED MOVIE IS FORMULAIC BUT OFFERS PLENTY OF FAST-PACED FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AS WELL AS LONGTIME FANS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

The world’s fastest hedgehog hits the big screen in Sonic the Hedgehog

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SEGA

The blue blur (or Blue Devil as the movie calls him) makes his big screen debut in Sonic the Hedgehog, based on the beloved Sega video game franchise of the same name. Believe it or not out of all the video game franchises, my favorite is and always will be Sonic the Hedgehog and have been a proud supporter of the hedgehog since childhood.

Granted, it wasn’t until after Sega became a third-party developer for consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo when I became a fan of the blue hedgehog, but ever since I got my hands on the Nintendo GameCube port of Sonic Adventure 2 as a kid, my Sonic fandom was pretty much instant. I’ve played many of the video games both old and new, watched all the cartoons, read the comic books published by Archie Comics at the time, and I owned several action figures, plushies, and other Sonic merchandise throughout my childhood…in fact I still have most of those even to this day.

I’ve been clamoring for a Sonic the Hedgehog theatrical movie for years despite video game film adaptations usually being critical and/or box-office poison. But given the popularity of Sonic especially during the 90s when he was rivaling Nintendo’s Mario franchise who already had a theatrical film released in 1993, I’d assume one would have been made back then or at the very least in the early-late 2000s when Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and Sonic Heroes as well as the hit Saturday morning anime series, Sonic X were released, I was so eager for a Sonic movie that a couple of friends and I got together and made movies of our own when we were kids (They sucked BTW!).

After years of waiting and Sonic making a few big screen appearances prior in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph movies and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, the beloved hedgehog finally gets a movie of his own which leads us to today. The film is directed by newcomer Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut, produced by Neal H. Moritz (Fast & Furious franchise, XXX, 21/22 Jump Street), and executive produced by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and is a live-action/animated hybrid (Yep, just like Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Smurfs), which had me very worried when it was announced back in 2014 and was even more worried and disgusted when the first trailer came out last year which had an absolutely atrocious design for Sonic, fortunately they fixed it.

So, how does Sonic’s first movie hold up? Honestly, while I can’t call it the Sonic movie I wanted as a child, I had a fun time with it. It isn’t a perfect representation of its source material and the plot is pretty generic, but the charm of the film’s leads, humor, and subtle references to the games that inspired it are enough for me to overlook that flaw.

The film follows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz-Parks and Recreation, The Other Guys, The Walk), blue anthropomorphic talking hedgehog from another dimension with extraordinary speed who travels to Earth to escape from those who want to capture him and harness his power. However, when he accidentally causes a power outage while hiding out in the town of Green Hills (Get it?), Sonic is targeted by the government and the tyrannical mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey-Ace Ventura 1 and 2, The Mask, The Truman Show) who plots to use Sonic’s power for world domination.

This forces Sonic to team up with Green Hills sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden-X-Men franchise, Enchanted, Westworld) who agrees to help Sonic on his adventure to find his missing bag of magical rings that have the power to get him home. Of course, while getting into all sorts of trouble along the way. The film also stars Tika Sumpter (Ride Along 1 and 2, Get On Up, Southside with You) as Tom’s wife Maddie, Adam Pally (Happy Endings, The Mindy Project, Iron Man 3) as Wade Whipple, and Neal McDonough (Star Trek: First Contact, Band of Brothers, Justified) as Major Bennington.

Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog probably isn’t the movie longtime fans wanted, but it still manages to be an entertaining and fun adaptation in its own right. It’s easily one of the best films based on a video game alongside Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and The Angry Birds Movie 2 and shows that we’ve come a long way since the dark days of Uwe Boll’s directing career.

As mentioned before, the plot is nothing special and rehashed from other kids’ movies however what sets this apart from things like The Smurfs or Masters of the Universe is that Sonic and Tom do have a strong chemistry together. It’s amusing to see them interact with each other on their road trip, cracking jokes, getting into trouble, and over the course of the film they learn more about one another thus making you care more for them over ANY Smurf or Chipmunk.

While there are a few jokes that don’t quite stick the landing, the humor for the most part not only made me laugh but there were moments in this movie where I laughed hard. Whether the film was poking fun at the entire Sonicfranchise, a particular running sequence that’s obviously a reference to the Quicksilver scenes from the X-Men movies, or Sonic breaking the fourth wall similar to Deadpool, I was laughing while also admiring how clever some of these jokes are, and let’s not forget Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, but we’ll get to him momentarily.

The redesigned Sonic is a lot better than what we could have gotten, he doesn’t have those ugly small eyes, questionable muscular arms and legs, or the terrifying human teeth anymore. Now, his appearance is more faithful to the source material recreating the hedgehog’s cartoony nature but is different enough to stand out from the rest of the character’s previous designs and be its own unique creation, this is a really good design for Sonic and had the filmmakers went with their original version, this movie would have crashed and burned even harder than Sonic ’06.

Besides Sonic being more appealing to look at now, he’s also just as entertaining to listen to, Ben Schwartz while he’s far from being a replacement for Roger Craig Smith, Ryan Drummond, Jason Griffith, or even Jaleel White, does a solid job providing Sonic’s voice and captures the cocky, arrogant, but good-natured attitude Sonic is known for having. He actually almost sounds like Ryan Drummond’s Sonic voice without sounding like a cheap impersonation. Moving on to Sonic’s new friend that doesn’t have two tails, James Marsden as Tom, his performance is decent even though he doesn’t quite make as big an impression as Ben Schwartz’ Sonic and especially Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik. With that said, he gets some funny lines once in a while and as mentioned before has good chemistry with Sonic, so yeah, believe it or not James Marsden was partnered up with another CG animated character and this time came out with his dignity unlike his performance in Hop.

Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik owns every scene that he’s in, he’s no Mike Pollock and is a radically different Robotnik than from the games, but Carrey’s energetic and wildly animated personality shines through and gives a million percent whenever the crazy evil genius is on-screen. He’s certainly a lot better than Dennis Hopper as Koopa from the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Hopefully, this movie will be a hit during its theatrical run because I’d love to see a sequel especially if it introduced other Sonic characters like Tails, Knuckles, or even Shadow. Don’t make this like the recent Power Rangers movie, I need my big screen version of those characters!

Whether a fan, newcomer, or just looking for something fun to take the kids to, Sonic the Hedgehog should make everyone happy. It’s not perfect but it has enough action, wit, and charm to make it worth checking out. You’ll be “Up, Over, and Gone” before you know it.

For more movie reviews please visit: https://moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog movie #sonic #jeff fowler #ben schwartz #james marsden #jim carrey #sega #paramount #paramount pictures #neal h. moritz #tim miller #original film

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settingtrends · 5 years

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yes hello i would love some sterek fic recs please? 👀 what have you been reading lately 👀

*screams* i've been reading so much!!!!!!!!!!! my brain feels like it’s been through a sterek crash course!!!!!!!!! and i hate doing fic recs because i always find more fics i wanna read!!!!!!!!! *screams louder* here are some fics for you!!!! sorry for answering so late!!!! love you A Lot!!!!!!!

you’ve got notes by the_gramophone

Stiles Stilinski has wanted star basketball player Derek Hale forever, but what are the odds of that ever happening? A love story of letters, prom, and the healing power of milkshakes.

14,817 words

can i get your (call) number, baby? by lielabell

Thing is, for the most part, Stiles's loves his job. He loves the quiet hush of the library, the way it smells like must and old books. He likes walking through the stacks, collecting books to be shelved. Likes sitting at the reference desk, hell, he even likes the fact that they still have a card catalog, even though no one ever uses it. Everything about the job is amazing.

Except...

Except for the music majors.

4,946 words

territorial by anxiety_baker02

Stiles managed to get himself in the middle of his pack’s turf war.He gets injured, and Derek turns him in order to save him.

Or:

In Which Derek ignores Stiles because he thinks Stiles is mad at him, Stiles thinks Derek is ignoring him because he’s pissed that Stiles is now a werewolf, and they’re both oblivious idiots.

4,652 words

stiles, 5+1 things by anxiety_baker02

Five times Stiles wanted to know what was wrong with Derek, and the one time he figured it out.

4,208 words

blood is (not) thicker than water by anxiety_baker02

Stiles hasn’t seen his extended family in years- mostly because they’re assholes. His cousins bully him relentlessly, and his aunts and uncles aren’t much better. So when he hears that they’re coming out for a family reunion, he’s understandably upset. He knows the next week is going to be hell, and it’s made worse when a new pack shows up, vowing revenge on their pack.

75,113 words (wip)(it’s on the epilogue so it’s almost done)

kidnapped! (again, stiles?) by anxiety_baker02

When you fall in love with your soulmate, a soulmark appears on your arm. Stiles’ soulmark has been appearing for over six months, which just means he’s falling in love slowly. But there’s one problem- he doesn’t know who it is!

Or:

Everyone except Stiles (and who he’s in love with) knows who it is.

Also, Stiles gets kidnapped once or twice, but whatever.

24,753 words

worlds apart by siny (*screams about this fic in multiple octaves bc LOVE her*)

Derek Hale, Heir Prince of Betonia and Italy, meets Stiles Stilinski, college boy.

92,506 words

we should just kiss (like real people do) by i_am_girlfriday

Stiles is the social zero of the sophomore class. Derek is the much cooler junior who befriends Stiles anyway.

9,483 words

where others fade away by pr1nc3ssp34ch (dallisons)

When the name Grzegorz tattoos itself across Derek's wrist in neat, thin strokes, his mother pats him on the head in sympathy and Laura laughs so hard she has to go to her room, the sound echoing down the hall as she goes. When it stays there for six years and no such Grzegorz appears, Derek seriously considers moving to Poland.

Meanwhile, on Stiles' eighteenth birthday when Derek crawls onto his skin, untidy and volatile, Lydia shrieks in sudden realization, and Jackson looks so entirely offended that even Danny can't kiss him back to normal.

9,054 words

then you’ll get along by scepticallyopenminded

“Stiles, stop hitting on my deputies and bring me dinner, would you?” The Sheriff sticks his head out of his office then, and Stiles blushes as amusement settle on Derek’s face. He watches as Stiles glares at him with a “shut it”, but Derek just gives him a wink. Stiles trips a little as he starts walking away, but looks back at Derek with wide eyes before smirking again.

650 words

love, physics and post-it notes by inessa_caliburn

A Lit student's awkward attempts at wooing an Astrophysics student with cheesy pick-up lines with a (vaguely) scientific tone.

3,533 words

baking my way into your heart by thesilence (the love I have for this fic wow)

Derek is an uptight college student, all work and no play. His carefully scheduled life is thrown kilter when his regular barista is replaced with someone new.

178,360 words

let’s not fake this by foxerica (ericismeg)

Two idiots in love who think having a fake relationship and a fake breakup is the way to handle clearing the air when some people assume they’re dating... because that’s what they told them.

5,650 words

diamond by ericaismeg

Allison and Lydia own an wedding planning company called, Allydia Diamond Events. Stiles has been working for them for four years as their caterer. Their latest client? Erica Reyes from high school. She brings in Derek Hale with her.

Derek used to hate Stiles in high school, and he clearly still does. That doesn't stop Stiles from crushing on his client - knowing he's getting married doesn't stop him.

Only Derek's not getting married to Erica. He's just lost his ability to speak around Stiles. Again.

8,926 words

haze by ericaismeg

BASED ON THIS TUMBLR POST: i really want an “i accidentally broke into your house/apartment because my friend lives next door to you and i was in the area, drunk, and i thought i was climbing into the right window and falling asleep on the right couch (and i did wonder when my friend got two cats but i didn’t question it) so now i’m hungover and shirtless in your living room so um hi howya doin” au

* * *

In Stiles' drunken haze, he breaks into the wrong dorm room. But then Derek's making him breakfast, and he thinks he should do this more often.

4,817 words

simple by ericaismeg

Stiles' ex-boyfriend, Jackson, is at the same bar. With Stiles' longtime crush, Lydia Martin. Stiles needs a fake boyfriend yesterday. Who better than Mr. Grumpy Pants who he'd almost spilled his drink on earlier?

Not to mention, damn, Mr. Grumpy Pants is hot. And that's why Jackson's not buying the fact that they're dating.

4,460 words

knowledge by ericaismeg

Stiles crashes in Lydia's bedroom during one of her parties, and Derek comes in to hide there.

He learns some stuff about the popular jock - like the fact that he's fun to flirt with.

3,383 words

pretty words by ericaismeg

“Anything for my favourite wolf.”“I beat Scott?” Derek's surprised.Stiles snorts. “Dude, no one beats Scott. That's like a given.”Derek rolls his eyes. “And for a second there, I thought that you might be a romantic.”“You want romance? Oh, hell yes, I can romance the fuck out of you, wolfie. Just wait.”“I'm dying in anticipation,” Derek deadpans.

OR: The one where Stiles and Derek try to out-romance each other, and Derek realizes that he has feelings for none other than Stiles Stilinski.

8,321 words

denial by ericaismeg

Scott thinks they're flirting. Isaac's betting on Derek sniffing him. The Sheriff thinks they're dating. Erica and Boyd are rooting for them. Derek's waiting for him to figure it out.

Stiles is the only one in denial.

4,924 words

outside by ericaismeg

Stiles just kind of barges into Derek's life, and falls down more than one should. That's okay though, because Derek invests in a great First Aid kit, and patches Stiles up.

4,593 words

114% hotter than usual by ericaismeg

Stiles has a crush on the local weatherman, and then they meet at a party.

3,081 words

i have a fiancé by lemnerd

“I can’t wait to marry you.” the man says.

“Okay, but I already have a fiancé. His name is Derek.” Stiles hears himself saying.

Wherein Stiles is extremely drunk and makes out with his fiancé, without knowing that his fiancé is his fiancé. It’s all very confusing.

1,999 words

are you bored yet? by lemnerd

Derek's date isn't going to show up anytime soon, so he figures he might as well just get going. He wants to go home and curl up on the couch and read Hemmingway. It's Friday, anyway. He doesn't want to spend his valuable Friday in a restaurant being stood up.He's just going to go home, and have a nice, quiet evening.

Then someone sits down across from him. It's definitely not his date, it's a boy who looks fearful.

"Hey! Thanks for waiting for me," he says. Except Derek's sure he's never met the kid in his life.

"Uh." Derek responds, eloquently.

The boy holds his phone up in Derek's face. The screen doesn't have a picture of a puppy, though. It has the following words:

PLEASE HELP ME, I'M BEING FOLLOWED BY SOME CREEPY GUY.

or the one where Derek gets stood up by his actual date, and a stranger needs him to be his pretend date.

1,564 words

until i stayed away too long by melofttroll

NY Times bestseller Derek Hale hates a lot of things about being a modern author. Like being recognized, like needing a social media presence, like not being able to buy his own boxed spaghetti noodles without being asked for a selfie. Facing writer's block, he escapes to his old hometown of Beacon Hills, at his sister's insistence, for some reprieve and hopefully motivation. It's there his attention is captured by a gangly, socially awkward teacher, and the tiny little toddler at his side who know him only as that one basketball player who fled town at fifteen after his girlfriend burnt his house down.

14,847 words

awful, wonderful you by stilinkskisparkles

Truth be told, Derek was suffering from the mild delusion he lived in all summer wherein he actually thought this year might be different, and he might, perhaps, be able to bury the hatchet with Stiles and start over.

The superglue that’s destroyed a ninety dollar pair of pants, however, says otherwise. Derek knows how this play goes down; eventually, he’s going to have to climb out of the pants and trudge back to his dorm half naked. Stiles will gloat for a damn week; Derek will have to put up with constant remarks about Stiles getting him out of his pants... Dammit, he’s actually going to get Derek out of his pants, and it’s not even close to the way he pictured it happening.

16,925 words

celebrity crush by rarepairenabler

Stiles wasn’t expecting to meet his favourite actor when Scott helped him land an internship on the set of Jackson’s new film, and he certainly wasn’t expecting Derek to fall in love with him. Not that Stiles was complaining.

30,307 words

a nice ring to it by jomouse (ziam/sterek crossover brooooooo!!!!!!)

Stiles and Derek are in England to visit Jackson and the Windsor Pack. While there, they meet a powerful magic-user and his protector.

11,011 words

like a flower bending in the breeze (you have a way with me)

by awaitthemorrow

The thing is that Stiles and Derek are kind of pretty good friends now. They watch baseball together, talk about their lives (and their friends) over take-out, they exchange texts all the time about stupid, non-supernatural stuff. Just last week they saw some arty-farty indie film that they both hated.

So what if Stiles has a tiny, minuscule crush on the guy? It's not worth rocking the boat over.

5,640 words

driving mr. stilinski by literaryoblivion

Out of breath and a little sweaty, Stiles says, “That was close.”

His driver looks at him through the rearview mirror, an eyebrow raised. “Where to, Mr. Stilinski?” he asks.

Stiles runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “Derek, how many times do I have to tell you, please call me Stiles. Every time you say Mr. Stilinski, I think of my dad and just no.”

Derek shrugs and looks in the mirror, expectant. Stiles stares back at him in the mirror, just as expectant, lifting his brow a little until Derek huffs and rolls his eyes. “Stiles, where would you like me to drive you?”

2,428 words

starstruck (or not) by literaryoblivion

Derek takes his daughter Lia to a convention of her favorite TV show because he's a good dad (and can't seem to tell his daughter no) and ends up meeting a special someone.

4,158 words

a lifetime (with you) by charlesdk

If you ask him, Derek will tell you he's doing fine. He's raising his five year old daughter, Erica, on his own, he has his family and a book series published that's pretty popular and sold well. Under a pseudonym, sure, but it counts.

He'll tell you he's doing pretty alright – right up until Stiles Stilinski stumbles into his and Erica's lives and never really leaves again.

Derek's world gets shaken up, but things get better. Slowly, for all of them.

30,793 words

i’ll stop the world and dance with you by im2old4thisotp

Stiles Stilinski is a widow and a single father, navigating the world the best he can with his 8-year-old daughter Emilie.

Parent's Night at her ballet school is the problem.

A rainbow tutu is the solution.

10,300 words

parent volunteering by charwright5

Derek is battling a crush on his young daughter's third grade teacher, so naturally, he's stuck as the parent volunteer during the school's Polar Express event the last half-day of school before Christmas break.

10,217 words

last lovesong of a dying lemon by wldnst

Stiles' Jeep keeps breaking down. Derek is a mechanic.

10,424 words

the best men by grimmypuff

Planning a wedding? Not really something Stiles ever wanted to do, thanks. But when best bro duty calls, you answer. Luckily, another best bro has been called up as well. Enter Derek Hale.

12,939 words

for goodness cakes by yodasyoyo

Derek owns a bakery and Stiles comes in wanting something for a broken heart (very over-dramatic about it) but he gets so distracted by the cake (muscles) that he totally forgets alllll about it.

OR: Stiles eats a lot of cake. Derek's communication skills are lacking. And they bitch and snark their way to a happy ending.

3,462 words

good intentions by yodasyoyo

In which Stiles thought he fake wolf-married Derek twenty-six years previously. Turns out it wasn't as fake as he thought.

4,023 words

#I have...……..so many new fics to read now...……….I will be providing y'all with #an updated list within the next week - whether you want it or not thank you good byE #ADLFJADLFJD #love you ems love love love you thANKS BYE

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