Sonic Drone Home

Sonic Drone Home

Original Release Date: May 24th, 2022

For the Blu-Ray release of the first "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie, Paramount stuck a little short film on there that looks like it was probably animated in a week. "Around the World in 80 Seconds" was cute and inoffensive but, as far as bonus material goes, was no great contribution. This suggests to me the very low expectations the studio had for that first movie, no way of knowing that it would launch a burgeoning franchise. By the time the second "Sonic" movie hit disc, however, it was understood that these films could actually be big hits. The producers were well aware now of how passionate the "Hedgehog" fandom was... And how much money they could make by catering to them. When "Sonic 2" arrived on Blu-Ray, an entirely CGI short in the style of the movies was included. In other words, you were getting some actual extra "Sonic" content if you bought the movie on physical media. Marza Animation Planet, the "Night of the Werehog" studios, would produce and animate the six minute bonus film, further legitimizing the short in the eyes of hedgehog faithfuls. 

"Sonic Drone Home" sees Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles – clearly setting this after the second movie – running a little errand for their earthly foster parents. They have set off to return some books to the library for Maddie. They take a short-cut through a junk yard and come across an unexpected sight: One of Robotnik's egg-shaped Badnik drones has cobbled together a body from the scrap laying around the junk yard. The machine, which can talk for some reason, declares its intention to continue the objective its creator gave it. Try to take over the world! Sonic and the gang can't have that and a battle ensues. However, it turns out this "TrashBot" isn't such a bad guy after all...

Almost every time the topic comes up, I've bemoaned my frustration with the "Sonic" cinematic universe insisting on being a partially live action affair. Every movie and TV show has to include some tedious subplot about Sonic's adoptive human family. Rumors persist that there are actual fans of the Wachowskis and Wade Whipple out there but I refuse to believe it. Nobody is going to see these movies for the antics of a mad black woman being robbed of her dream wedding. James Marsden stans must exist, I guess, but are their numbers great enough to sway the box office in any meaningful way? The "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies should have been entirely animated and I will go to my grave believing this. I know why Paramount and the ten thousand associated production companies went this route. For whatever reason, a lot of adults outright refuse to go see cartoons in theaters, which is why those live action Disney remakes always make a billion dollars despite nobody actually liking them. But I know I'm right. It is a moral conviction deep within my soul. 

"Sonic Drone Home" is set within the continuity of the live action movies but is entirely animated. The environments are realistic, the physics resemble the real world, but it was all done in a computer. Meaning the short film gives us an idea of what an entirely animated version of these movies might look like. And, uh, it looks like a gunmetal video game. I would hope that a wholly animated "Sonic" flick would go nuts with the colors or some "Spider-Verse" style abstractions. "Sonic Drone Home" is meant to connect to the movies though, so everything looks like the real world. Honestly, really young viewers might not even pick up on everything being CGI, assuming the environments or props are real, like in the movies. Either way, "Drone Home" does give us some idea of what, say, a fully digital streaming or TV spin-off to the "Sonic"-CU could possibly look like. 

And it looks good! It doesn't look as good as the movies, as you'd expect from a DVD bonus feature produced for much less money than a feature film. The environments are convincing. Sometimes, when focusing on their teethy faces, Sonic or Knuckles look a little weird. However, the action scenes are very fast paced. A shot where Sonic speeds through a tunnel of junk, while lasers blast around him, is definitely the coolest moment in these six minutes. The adversarial robot isn't the most creative design. The way it blends a crane with a small car is probably what you'd see in your mind when someone writes the words "junk yard robot." I do like the red visor on the Egg Drone become an eye though. As the short reaches its conclusion, we get more shots of Sonic spin-dashing through the air which don't look that sharp. Mostly though, it's fine. Marza knows what they are doing. 

As the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies have evolved, the focus on action has definitely increased. The latest installment goes full shonen fighting anime at the end. However, I think humor is still seen as the primary objective of this franchise. If these movies came out during the days of video stores – and they weren't places in the "Family" or Kids section for some reason – I imagine they'd probably be placed in "Comedy" before "Action." This approach is evident in "Sonic Drone Home." The short does not end with an epic battle between good and mildly annoying evil. Instead, a bolo'd Sonic implores TrashBot to define himself outside of the programming Robotnik has given him. Turns out, this cobbled together contraption considers itself a poet. That evolves in a subverted direction – his poetry is bad and he still sees it as a means to world dominance – but it definitely feels more "Looney Tunes" than "Dragon Ball." 

As in the motion pictures, another main source of humor here is Ben Schwartz's version of Sonic being a pop culture obsessed snarker and bantering with Tails and Knuckles. Early in the short, the blue hedgehog breaks the fourth wall and narrates directly to the audience. Tails' notices this and asks what's up, Sonic explaining that's what people in movies do. Which suggest a certain degree of self-awareness about, ya know, being a fictional character, proudly continuing a trend started by "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" and continued by "Sonic Boom." The gag truly pays off when Knuckles decides to speak his own inner monologue, which run counter to everything Sonic wants him to do. (Also, Tails' line about "just being happy to be included" made me chuckle. That's such a Tails thing to say!) I also like the gag of Knuckles considering Maddie's library books "sacred tomes" that must be protected. Haha, his strict warrior code of honor is so out of step with the modern world! What a delight! 

However, the second Knuckles opens his mouth, you probably notice something about "Sonic Drone Home." The echidna sure doesn't sound right. The money people were willing to cut Idris Elba a big enough check to get him to add his voice to "The Wade Whipple Show." However, a six minute bonus feature was deemed too unimportant to give a big movie star like Elba enough money to warrant him standing in a recording booth for a few minutes. Honestly, that is not especially surprising. If a "Sonic's Green Hills Hijinks" or whatever started airing on Nickelodeon tomorrow, I wouldn't expect Elba to voice Knuckles there either. The part is passed on to prolific voice actor Fred Tatasciore. Tatasciore has played many growling monsters and big beefy dudes, probably best known as the go-to voice for the Hulk in a lot of Marvel cartoons for years now. Which makes him a logical enough choice to play Knuckles, especially the honor-obsessed cinematic version. 

However, Tatasciore doesn't truly attempt to imitate Elba's particular accent. The result is distracting, something more akin to a generic tough guy voice coming out of Knuckles' mouth. While Elba not participating in "Sonic Drone Home" makes sense, Colleen O'Shaughnessy was also passed over for the part of Tails. O'Shaughnessy is no Hollywood A-lister, a humble voice actor herself, making her absence much harder to explain. Was she busy with something else? Did the money people try to low-ball her? Is she even aware of this short? Whatever the reason, Alicyn Packard voices Tails instead. Packard does a passable impersonation of O'Shaughnessy, taking me a minute to realize it wasn't her. Ben Schwartz, however, definitely is voicing Sonic here, clearly willing to participate in whatever bit of ancillary marketing Paramount needs him to do. Movie Sonic sounding like Movie Sonic always has makes Movie Knuckles and Movie Tails noticeably sounding different all the more off-putting. I would like to think I'd be above such minor aesthetic changes as these but it truly did hamper my enjoyment of "Drone Home."

Maybe two of the four principal characters sounding wrong is more noticeable because, otherwise, "Sonic Drone Home" is right in line with the tone and delivery of the movies. The script is from the same duo that has written all the films, Patrick Casey and Josh "Worm" Miller. Yes, the esteemed writers of "National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze," "Hey, Stop Stabbing Me!," "Gamebox 1.0," "Transylmania," "Golan the Insatiable," and – their most important prior credit – the Monstergeddon series on SomethingAwful.com have truly redefined themselves as the "Sonic" guys. This is probably why Sonic is making pop culture references and the robot wants to write crappy poetry, a predecessor to ChatGPT's feeble attempts to replicate human creativity. The short is, thus far, the sole directorial credit of David Nelson. Most of his credits are as a visual effects supervisor – aside from the "Sonic" movies, he's worked on "Aquaman," "Fury Road," "Jumanji," and the "Happy Feet" duo – which does further the feeling that this short was a quickly assembled effort. He makes sure the film mostly looks fine though. 

At the end of the six minutes it took me to watch "Sonic Drone Home," what was my main take away? I kind of like TrashBot. The squares over at the Sonic Wiki insist the character is called "Unit." IMDb refers to it as just "Drone." Knuckles calls him as "TrashBot" at the end, so that's what I'm going with. Aaron Landon – mostly known for video game and audiobook credits – gives the machine a fitting nerdy voice. That the robot is pulled between wanting to conquer the world and chase the creative spirit in his mechanical heart is a good gag. At the end, Tails asks if he can adopt the robot, suggesting the character could appear again. Maybe he could be Movie Tails' equivalent to TailsPup or something. Not that I expect anyone but the most hardcore fans to remember this short exists but it's a cute idea. 

Granted, I don't know why Robotnik would program this one drone to have freedom of choice and individuality. The rest of his Egg Drones and Badniks clearly do not have that. But we might be reaching the point where I'm thinking too hard about this. As far as a six minute bonus feature goes, "Sonic Drone Home" is perfectly serviceable and amusing enough for the little amount of time you're asked to invest in it. That I actually kind of want to see TrashBot come back suggests the writers punched above their weight class a bit. Next time Paramount does one of these, they should really make sure Knuckles and Tails sound right though... [7/10]

REVIEW: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Despite my best efforts to keep my expectations measured, I went into “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” hyped. The first movie was for the normies. It was the safe kids movie designed to gently nudge people into the full-blown weirdness that is the “Sonic” franchise. From the moment the second movie confirmed that Tails and Knuckles would be costarring alongside Sonic, I got the feeling that the sequel would be focusing more on the shit we care about and less on Sonic’s cop friend debating his future career opportunities. In retrospect, I probably — definitely — expected too much from this sequel. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” isn’t that movie but it is still a reasonably entertaining children’s film. 

Since the end of the first film, Sonic has continued to live in Green Hills, Montana. At night, he sneaks out and uses his super speed to fight crime, to mixed results. After being left alone at home, while Tom and Maddie are on vacation, Sonic gets a real chance to test his mettle. Dr. Robotnik has returned, escaping the mushroom world he was stranded on last time. And he has a partner. Knuckles the Echidna is a proud warrior with the same sort of powers as Sonic, determined to settle a centuries old rivalry between tribes. When Tails — a young fox also from Sonic’s world — arrives, a race is soon on. Robotnik is after the Master Emerald, a legendary relic that can grant incredible powers to whoever wields it. Sonic and Tails want to make sure he doesn’t succeed, soon pulling the gullible Knuckles along with them. 

As I have said before, a movie with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in it is something I’ve been dreaming about almost literally my entire life. This means “Sonic 2” put me in a weird place as an analytical movie fan. Throughout this motion picture, I had to repeatedly remind myself that this movie isn’t for me. This isn’t the “Sonic” I would write. This is a breezy flick for kids to enjoy and their parents not to be too annoyed by. There are fart jokes. There are easily understood pop culture references, via Ben Schwartz’ constantly quipping Sonic. There is an extended dance number set to a top twenty pop hit, a sequence that felt especially gratuitous to me. These are not things I, personally, want to see in a “Sonic” movie. I don’t necessarily hate their inclusion. Schwartz is funny and the dance scene has a couple laughs. But moments such as these definitely had me second-guessing whether I was having a really good time or not, 

Then again, “Sonic 2” shouldn’t be measured against the half-mad imaginings of a life-long “Sonic” nerd. This is both a video game adaptation and a kids’ flick about a cuddly, sarcastic CGI animal. By those metrics, “Sonic 2” succeeds by just being fairly narratively coherent and having actual character arcs for its protagonist. In the first movie, Sonic was just trying to find his place in this mixed-up, crazy world, learning along the way that his friends are who he fights for. In the sequel, the hedgehog is learning to be a superhero responsibility. The opening, mad cap chase scene, where Sonic foils a high speed pursuit, wrecks as much chaos as it mends. All throughout the film, Sonic is waiting for the moment to prove himself. Considering the cinematic Sonic is more of an impulsive kid than any other version, this is a strong arc to graft to him. 

The first film mined a lot of cuteness, and even something like pathos, out of Movie Sonic’s status as a lonely kid. The sequel expands on that some. Sonic’s not so lonely now, as he’s got a home, surrogate dad and mom, and even a suitably cute dog. Yet he’s still in search of some peers his own age, other cartoon animals he can relate to. Naturally, Tails and Knuckles provide just that. The sequel provides the inevitable cheer moment, when the Sega-created trio stand together as heroes. And, yeah, I internally cheered for that too. Yet the scenes of Sonic acting as a mentor to Tails or a friend to Knuckles are almost more satisfying. Our little blue son is growing up and watching that happen is pretty sweet.

And what of those beloved “Sonic” cast members that are now movie stars? How does the film handle Miles “Tails” Prower? Pretty well, I’m happy to say. His backstory is different, owing to the changes the movies have made to established “Sonic” lore. His personality is intact though. Tails is still the flying, boy genius able to invent almost anything the ridiculous plot requires. Despite his superhuman skills, he still doesn’t believe in himself much and looks up to Sonic as a big brother figure. The two CGI critters have an amusing chemistry together and it leads to more than one simply adorable moment. With regular Tails voiceover actress Colleen O'Shaughnessey returning to the role, it really does feel like Tails stepped right out of the cartoon or games. 

Knuckles, meanwhile, got the celebrity voiceover upgrade, with Idris Elba playing the echidna. Elba mostly does a decent job, though he sounds a little bored or out-of-his-element sometimes. I was writing recently about how Knuckles' personality has evolved over the years. The movie strikes a balance between the gruff brawler of the earlier games and his more recent status as simple-minded comic relief. He's still a physical rival to Sonic, imbued with similar (and still unexplained) powers to the movie-verse's hedgehog. He's also pretty gullible, which the screenwriters have turned into an overly literal mindset that reminded me a lot of Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer. Like that Marvel superhero, Knuckles is a proud warrior guy hyper-focused on his goal that eventually is accepted into the hero's improvised family. It's a transition that happens perhaps a little too quickly, over the course of about two scenes, but I was mostly pretty satisfied with how Knuckles was handled. 

Different as their backstories may be, I think "Sonic 2" mostly does right by its characters. The biggest issue facing the "Sonic" sequel, and maybe the entire film series going forward, is one of tonal identity. The first movie fit comfortably into the "live-action kids comedy starring a CGI cartoon character" genre, albeit with bigger action set-pieces and more callbacks to the source material. The second film is torn between this tone, heavy on the comedy and superfluous subplots starring fleshy humans, and something more akin to the aforementioned Marvel movies. "Sonic 2" devising its own mythology, separate from the games and comics. (And quite different, in a way that didn't entirely sit well with the pedantic nerd side of me.) The film's backstory is full of eons-old rivalries between warring factions, trying to control a massive source of power that change the nature of reality. We even get a fairly epic exposition dump, brought to life through stunning traditional animation. As "Sonic 2" goes on, the stakes get higher... Yet the film still seems reluctant to leave its small town setting behind, making sure the world-endangering theatrics never feel too severe. At some point, the people who make these movies are going to have to decide if "Sonic" is a goofy comedy, akin to "Alvin and the Chipmunks" or "The Smurfs," or if they're Paramount's attempt to forge their own universe of epic superhero movies. 

This uncomfortable divide is most apparent in the role the film's live action cast plays. James Marsden's Tom is ported off to Hawaii for most of the movie, which you would think would be an excuse to remove this largely superfluous character from a story that doesn't need him. But you don't pay a sort-of movie star like Marsden the big bucks and not use him. So Tom and his wife Maddie weave their way back into the story eventually. Okay, I guess it's possible someone out there was invested in the trials and tribulations of Doughnut Lord and Pretzel Lady. This doesn't explain why a lengthy chunk of the movie, halfway into its two hour run time, is devoted to Maddie's sister being angry at her fiancée and going on a BrideZilla rampage. It's agonizing, as if “Sonic 2” randomly switched reels with “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” for several minutes. Why is precious screen time devoted to the comic relief antics of a boisterous bride? 

This is not the only unnecessary, and frankly annoying, digression involving the live action cast. Tom's dim-witted deputy Wade gets far too much screen time, another symptom of the sequel's refusal to expand pass Green Hills for too long. But one cast member at least does the extra leg-work. Jim Carrey, sporting Robotnik's traditional bald head and giant mustache this time, hams it up to his usually extreme levels. While you can debate how accurate a Robotnik that makes him, it's absolutely entertaining to watch. Carrey makes sure there's never much of a wait between funny moments, stretching and contorting his face and body in a gloriously ridiculous fashion. My favorite moments is when he mimes playing his leg as a guitar or his liberal application of the phrase “hater.” The movie also smartly brings Lee Majdoub back as Agent Stone, Robotnik's loyal henchman. He has several cute scenes with Carrey that will make the shippers loose their minds. 

A lot of the complaints I've had here won't matter to most people. For the most part, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is an entertaining mixture of humor and action sequences. I still don't know if Jeff Fowler has much of a visual eye as a director, as most of the movie is pretty pedestrian looking. However, he is good at engineering a decent action scene. A snowboarding sequence down a mountain side escalates nicely. When Sonic and Knuckles finally fight it out, it's a well done confrontation. One of my favorite scenes in the film has Sonic overcoming his fear of water. (Yes, it's canon that this version of the hedgehog can't swim either. I knew you'd all be disappointed if I didn't mention that.) The last act definitely sets out to top the original's finale, in terms of special effects and collateral damage, and I would say it succeeds.

Ultimately, “Sonic 2” is at its best when skillfully integrating elements from the original games into its silly plot. An extended set piece in the second half directly references the most difficult stage from the original game, with explicit shout-outs to many of the level's elements. I really enjoyed that. Of course, it's far from the only shout-out in the movie. The game mechanic of Sonic loosing his rings when injured is amusingly recreated here. The “Sanic” homage in the first movie is joined here by a number of other in-jokes for the memers in the audience. I'm trying very hard not to include any spoilers here so I'll just say the climax included some appearances from “Sonic” characters and conventions that I expected but at least two that caught me off-guard.

In my first write-up on the “Sonic 2” trailer, I said that the lowered expectations from that abysmal first trailer actually worked in the first movie's favor. We all expected it to be bad and, when it turned out to be decent, it was a pleasant surprise. The sequel has the exact opposite problem: We liked the first one, the sequel's trailers were all great, so I was actually excited for part two. Inevitably, this caused me to come away from the movie a little disappointed. Which isn't to say I didn't like it. It's a fun movie and mostly well-assembled. The “Sonic” franchise is set to continue, which this film's closing minutes eagerly sets up. I'll probably dig it more on a second viewing but, for now, I'm genuinely not sure if I liked it slightly more than the first or slightly less. I guess I should probably just be grateful that a movie starring Tails the Fox and Knuckles the Echidna exists at all. But, obviously, a nitpicking nerd like me can't help my contrary nature. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” gets a mildly disappointed [7/10].

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill

Publication Date: March 30th, 2022

When the "Sonic the Hedgehog" was first announced in 2014, I was skeptical of it ever making it to the big screen. All sorts of dumbass adaptations and projects get announced in Hollywood every day. Most of them never make it to theaters. When the movie made it out of Development Hell, into active production and before real movie cameras, I was still skeptical. I had dreamed about a "Sonic" movie for ages but never expected a real motion picture to live up to my half-mad imaginings. When that disastrous first trailer debuted, it seemed the video game movie curse had struck again and the "Sonic" film was doomed before it even came out.

Through all of this, the idea of a sequel never struck me as a probable proposition. Hollywood is franchise hungry but I have a "let's wait and see how the first one turns out" attitude towards these things. By some fucking miracle and extensive effects reworking, the first "Sonic" movie was actually fairly entertaining. Moreover, it made a lot of money. And now Paramount Studios is going all in on "Sonic." The sequel comes out next week. They've already announced a third film and a "Knuckles" spin-off streaming series. While the specific vision of a "Sonic" movie trilogy that existed in my head was never going to come to life, my dream of "Sonic" being an honest-to-God cinematic universe has somehow come to pass. What a time to be alive.

The release of a big budget sequel, that the studio is pinning a lot of future success on, brings with it a plethora of tie-in merchandise. There's toys, Happy Meals, VTubing experiments, and even a breakfast cereal. Most intriguing of all is the idea of a comic book tie-in. "Sonic" has a rich history in comics, as anyone reading this blog knows. IDW, the current publisher of "Sonic" comics, practically specializes in film and television tie-ins. So I was pleasantly surprised, but not shocked, when IDW announced a one-shot special to proceed the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." You know the "Sonic" Movie Universe is the real deal when comic books expanding on its lore are coming out.

Much like the annuals that IDW has published in the past — which this "pre-quill" seems to be taking the place of this year — a selection of stories are included. The first of the five tales is "Hedgehog Day Afternoon," which involves a bored Sonic foiling a bank robbing plot... Which soon reveals a connection to the exiled Dr. Robotnik. The second story, "The Secret of My Distress" concerns Robotnik's minion, Agent Stone, following his boss' ruthless game plan to take over a humble coffee shop. "Always Bet on Red" follows Knuckles traversing the universe, ending up on a wacky casino world, and fighting a giant monster. "Two for the Road" has Tails also traveling through various "zones," trying to locate Sonic and being pursued by a mysterious force. Lastly, "Mushroom with a View" picks up shortly after the end of the movie and depicts some of Robotnik's adventures on the mushroom world he was stranded on.

All of these stories were plotted by Kiel Phegley, who previously wrote the novelization of the first movie as well as some other "Sonic" related books. Phegley has done a pretty good job at replicating the tone and feel of the film. This comic is surprisingly funny! This is most notable in the first story, where Phegley accurately recreates the voice of Ben Schwartz' quipping Sonic. He even makes several passing references to the hedgehog's loneliness, continuing to be the defining trait of Movie Sonic. His search for a good superhero codename and his ADHD-driven mischief he gets up to in Green Hills are all pretty funny. The story's antagonists, a group of scheming bank robbers led by a sardonic redhead named Lindsey, even gets a few funny lines. Her begging Sonic to shut up at the end of the story surprisingly made me chuckle.

Of all the stories in this book, "Hedgehog Day Afternoon" feels the most like it could be a scene in the actual sequel. It has pretty big action beats, when the robbers use a glove that belonged to Robotnik to activate some of his drones. Sonic saves the day with his typical speed and quick thinking, in a fairly clever manner. The story is also the only one in the book to give a sizable role to Tom, who helps out after hearing about the robbery while on a fishing trip with goofy Wade. He even gets involved in the action, swatting an Egg Drone with his fishing rod in a fashion that would make Big the Cat proud. This one ties into the first movie in a logical way, Robotnik leaving lots of exploitable tech lying around being a reasonable enough assumption. It's fleet-footed, funny, and entertaining and that's really all I can hope for from the "Sonic" movies.

Despite only having a few minutes of screen time in the first movie, Lee Majdoub's Agent Stone quickly became a fan favorite. (And, of course, a certain breed of fan immediately began to ship him and Robotnik.) The sequel looks to capitalize on that. Or at least this comic does. There's a certain degree of absurd comedy here, of Stone using supervillain tactics to upend the hierarchy of a humble coffee shop. Robotnik's grandiose monologue, which Stone replicates, is repeatedly contrasted against the inanity of his coworkers. His new boss is literally named "Karen." His assistant manager repeatedly emphasizes how little compensation is to be expected at this job. A coworker asks him to cover for her despite barely knowing him. Probably the funniest interaction occurs when another coworker asks Stone if he wants to hear his movie review podcast, Stone fires back with some sinister supervillain prattle, and the guy deadpans "That's a really weird thing to say, dude."

If nothing else, this amusing but fairly goofy story does develop Agent Stone as a character more. From the first movie, all we really know about the guy is that he's totally devoted to Robotnik and that he makes a mean goat milk latte. The story expands on that, as coffee still seems to be his main hobby but obsessing over Robotnik's teachings is his real passion. In fact, Stone's action come off as rather ruthless here. He frames Karen for money laundering, trotting her off to jail and using her one phone call to taunt her. The assistant manager gets dragged off by Egg Drones to parts unknown. Is... is that guy dead now? I kind of doubt Stone's job in a coffee shop will be all the important to the sequel's plot but, if nothing else, it paints a picture of Robotnik's sidekick as just as dangerous as he is. (And also furthers my suspicion that the character was inspired by scheming villainous sidekicks like Snively or Starline.)

The two middle stories are, I suspect, the ones that will be most interesting to hardcore Sonic nerds. "Always Bet on Red" is our first real look at the movie-verse version of Knuckles. And it's already apparent that he's quite different from other takes on the echidna. There's no mention of Angel Island or Chaos Emeralds. Instead, Knuckles is depicted as traveling from world to world with the same warp ring technology Sonic used in the first movie. He's still the last echidna and a treasure hunter of sorts but his primary goal seems to be to locate Sonic, for vaguely defined reasons. He also has weird glow-y, red energy punching powers, not unlike Sonic's electric blue running powers. It's already very clear that the "Sonic" movies are putting their own spin(dash) on "Sonic" lore. I'm still not sure how I feel about these changes but at least the movie is harkening back to Knuckles' original characterization: A gruff and angry loner who is driven by circumstances to act rashly, a mysterious past always being hinted at. In fact, this might be the surliest take on Knuckles that I've seen in a while, after so many years of him mostly functioning as comic relief. 

Honestly, world-building might be the main goal of this story. There's not much to the plot, which has Knuckles being snagged by some weird alien dudes, dropped into a fight with a giant lobster monster in a casino, and quickly punching it out. It's certainly a far more sci-fi orientated version of "Sonic" lore than what we are used to seeing. Yet there's still the occasional shoutout. The casino is called the Casino Nights Zone. It's populated mostly by furry humanoid cartoon animals. Vector and Espio have cameos. Mostly, though this is an introduction to the movie take on Knux and I guess it does its job in that regard. I wish we got a little more character development, a little more insight into his goals and his past, and less random giant space crabs. It also ends a little abruptly. But I guess all of the important stuff is being saved for the actual movie. 

We've already technically met Movie Tails, thanks to the end credits teaser of the first film, but "Two for the Road" feels like a more thorough introduction. Tails is also shown leaping around the galaxy through warp rings and doggedly pursuing Sonic. Yet he seems to be a little closer to the Tails we know than what we glimpsed of Knuckles in the last story. He's still an admirer of Sonic, treating Longclaw's shack as sacred ground and excitedly talking about Sonic's powers. He wants to find the hedgehog not just to save the world but also because he's a fan. He's also still the whiz kid we expect from Tails, creating a wacky device that can track people through the portals. This story also has more shout-outs to the classic games, with stopovers in the Marble Zone, Spring Yard, Aquatic Ruins, and Hilltop Zone. Which seems to confirm that all these places exist in the movie canon. (There's also a cameo from Rava the Destroyer, the lizard guy cut from the first movie. So even this early on, the movie "Sonic" verse is developing its own in-jokes.)

Mostly, this story works for a little better than the last one because it has more narrative drive. Knuckles getting abducted and fighting a monster was obviously just a detour on his mission. This story has Tails directly on his way to his cameo in the first film. He's being pursued, adding some tension and making the entire story a chase scene of sorts. There's a lot of talk of "Chaos Energy," furthering my speculation that the movie versions of Sonic and Knuckles get their powers from the Chaos Emeralds. Or may even be walking Chaos Emeralds themselves. So this one does a good job of whetting my appetite for the movie and getting me excited to see Tails on-screen, even if it also ends suddenly. Also, Longclaw died at some point. R.I.P. Owl Mom. 

The last story was, supposedly, heavily suggested by Jim Carrey himself, showing that the rubber faced comedian really must be invested in playing Robotnik. "Mushroom with a View" returns to the goofy, action packed tone of the first story in this collection. It's simply a tale of Robotnik monologing to himself in glorious fashion while eating magic mushrooms and fighting off some alien critters. The mad scientist's hammy, egotistic way of referring to himself and everything around him makes for an amusing read. The appearance of biting little mushroom creatures is kind of random but it concludes on a nicely fiery note. Stories like these is really what I expected from this comic, little side stories that won't spoil the movie's events but does fill the gap between the films a little bit. Watching Carrey-botnik rant and fight aliens is an entertaining way to spend five pages.

While the entire comic is written by one dude, who is a newcomer to IDW's "Sonic" line, the slate of artists contain familiar names. Adam Bryce Thomas draws the first story, Tracy Yardley penciled the second and fifth, with Evan Stanley handling the middle two. Since the movies are so very different visually to the usual "Sonic" settings, on account of starring actual human beings and being filmed on Earth, there were some challenges. Sonic looks great in Thomas' story and the action scene have the sense of motion you've come to expect from him. The humans are drawn in an animesque style that is a little distracting at times. Lindsey or the little beat cop we meet are cute but Tom does not especially look like James Marsden. 

Yardley is a lot better at adapting his cartoony style to real people. His art in the second story is expressive and fun while still being grounded. On the last story, he manages to make Robotnik resemble Jim Carrey while still having him look like a Tracy Yardley drawing. (Though the mushroom monsters are notably a little more exaggerated than everything else in the story.) Stanley's stories don't feature any humanoids, so it doesn't have that problem. Her artwork looks the most like your typical "Sonic" comic, if a little more detailed and realistic in terms of environments. And that works just fine for me. 

Ultimately, the "Sonic 2: Official Movie Pre-Quill" is about the fun little bonus I expected it to be. It gives us a peek at the new introductions the sequel will be making, while expanding on the movie universe's lore a little bit. It also doesn't give too much away, making the stories feel a little frustratingly thin at times. That's probably why the three tales devoted to characters from the first movie just doin' stuff work a best for me. Still, this comic made me laugh, kept me entertained, is consistent with the depictions from the first film, and successfully got me hyped to see the sequel. I think that means it did its job. Honestly, assuming part two doesn't totally flop and the Sonic Cinematic Universe is going to be a real thing going forward, I'd be really interested in seeing IDW do more comics set in this world. It's fun to see "Sonic" comics actually interact with other parts of the franchise, rather than being confined to their own little ghetto, for once. [7/10]

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 TRAILER

I remember it like it was yesterday. In May of 2019, the trailer for the hotly anticipated live-action “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie debuted. Many die-hard “Sonic” fans, who are very used to this franchise being abused and disappointing us, were already skeptical of the movie's existence. Then that trailer dropped like an atomic bomb, generating a wave of anti-buzz that threatened to destroy the movie before it even came out. It was such a seismic reaction that the studio was forced to listen, redesigning Sonic and pushing the movie back several months. 

How you feel about the finished movie seems to depend entirely on where your priorities were. Most mainstream movie critics thought it was fine, a totally serviceable and very typical kids' movie The “Sonic” fandom, meanwhile, was very positive on the movie. In fact, I remember a lot of people saying they loved it. Even though it had little to do with the “Sonic” franchise as it had existed before that point.. Whether this is because the first trailer was so bad it set people's expectations in the abyssal plain – and people already expected the movie to be bad, because video game movies are usually bad – or because Sonic fans are especially uncritical about something as long as it looks right is really a matter of opinion.

Regardless, Jeff Fowler's “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie was a hit. It grossed 319 million against a 90 million dollar budget. That made it the highest grossing superhero movie of 2020, dethroning Marvel's ten year run in that genre. It also made it the highest grossing video game adaptation in U.S. box office history, defeating “Detective Pikachu,” the movie it was unflatteringly compared to at one point. It also had the advantage of being the last big studio release before the pandemic shut everything down, making “Sonic” seems like the last happy outcast from the version of history that existed before the world went completely fucking insane. 

When a film makes that kind of cash, especially when it's based on a long-running multi-media franchise with a number of exploitable tie-ins and spin-offs, obviously a sequel is on everyone's mind. This was obviously something the first movie hoped for or else it wouldn't have included that Marvel-esque mid-credit teaser featuring Tails. Even Jim Carrey, who once wasn't much for sequels, was ready to go. And so “Sonic 2” rolled into production last year, filmed this previous spring, and the trailer came out yesterday.

If you're reading this blog, you know all the juicy details already. Leaked set photos confirmed Knuckles and Tails would play a large role in the movie. After Jason Momoa and The Rock were rumored, Idris Elba got cast as Knuckles. He then denied that Knuckles was sexy, obviously unaware of the property he will now forever be linked with. Colleen O'Shaughnessey would reprise her role as Tails from the games and the previous movie's last scene. All of this is good news. 

So what of that trailer? 

First off, the only real complaint I have is that it feels a little heavy on the quips. I get that Ben Schwartz is a funny guy who knows his way around a one-liner. Similarly, we all expect Sonic to be a sarcastic little smart-ass who cracks jokes in the face of danger. Yet the trailer feels a little heavy on that. This may just be a side effect of how modern trailers are cut, to emphasize action and humor as much as possible. Also, I still don't know why Jason Marsden is in these movies. Tom was... Largely inoffensive in the first one but I feel like his role will grow increasingly inessential, if the film franchise continues to evolve down the path it seems to be on.

Otherwise, the trailer definitely doubles-down on the shit that is going to make fans loose their mind. Tails is front-and-center, including piloting the Tornado while Sonic poses on the wing in an iconic manner. Jim Carrey's Robotnik is now sporting a mustache more akin to the game version. A Chaos Emerald is presented in all its glimmering glory. And, of course, Idris Elba's Knuckles has a show-stopping appearance in the last few minutes. Despite whatever Idris' intentions were, the combination of everyone's gruff and punch-y echidna with his sonorous voice are going to have an immediate impact on certain subsections of the fandom. 

A slightly deeper look at the trailer reveals even more fun stuff. Sonic munches a chili dog. The Egg Drones from the first movie have been remodeled to resemble Buzz Bombers. Agent Stone, already a beloved minor character, is shown working in a coffee shop with the words “mean” and “bean” on the wall behind him. Sonic appears to perform a Homing Attack in one scene and rides a snowboard down a mountainside. We even see missiles fire out of some sort of large, somewhat round, dark structure, which I suspect might be the Death Egg.

All of this suggests a sequel that will lean much more into the “Sonic” universe as we know it. Of course, the question remains: Will the movie actually be good? That disastrous initial trailer was almost, in a way, a blessing for the first “Sonic” movie. Precisely because it set everyone's expectations so low, that the movie could easily exceed them. “Sonic 2” has a much more uphill battle ahead of it, because people actually liked the first one. Fans actually expect the sequel to be at least as good. That leaves a lot more room for disappointment. This is a factoid I understand and I am working as hard as possible to not to get too excited for the film. 

But here's the ugliest truth of all: I love the "Sonic" franchise too much, been too obsessed with this fucking thing my entire life, to be objective about what is fundamentally a mediocre kids movie series. As long as this nods towards the Thing I Love, I'm willing to forgive so much. This is definitely probably why I rated a movie that should've been, at most, a 6/10 as high as a 8/10. What does that say about the state of studio filmmaking, that filmmakers try to patch over merely passable quality by injecting it with easily-grasped childhood nostalgia? And what does it say about me that I'm 100% falling for it? 

These are questions we don't have answers to yet and won't know for sure until the movie is actually out in April. What I do know is that I'm ready to strap in, baby. SONIC 2 HYPE TRAIN STARTS NOW WOOOO!!!!