Sonic (2013) - Fan-Made Short Film

As someone who is both a film nerd, an amateur screenwriter, and obsessed with “Sonic the Hedgehog,” the idea of taking a whack at a feature version of the long-running series has occurred to me. Like the “Darkstalkers” screenplay I actually wrote once, the fact that it would be nothing but glorified fan-fiction didn’t really stop ideas from spin-dashing around in my head. Further more, the idea for a “Sonic” feature film I had was strictly my dream “Sonic” film, done totally in traditional animation, featuring the SatAM supporting characters, a dark and intimidating Robotnik, a Snivley with a toupee, and a narrowed focus on a theme of free choice vs. conformity, chaos vs. order, and a bunch of other high-faluting stuff that arguably doesn’t belong in a movie about a blue hedgehog that runs really, really fast. (For the curious, the end would feature a brief cameo from Bunny while I had planned on saving Metal Sonic, the Death Egg, Knuckles, and the Floating Island for possible sequels. And Brian Cox was my dream-cast pick to voice Robotnik.) Alas, I’ve never really put any serious work into this and decided that focusing my limited time and creative energies on original material was probably for the best. Also because actually sitting down and writing a “Sonic” screenplay was maybe stooping to a level of nerdery even I was uncomfortable with.

Obviously, that didn’t stop the people at Blue Core Studios, who previously displayed their massive, intricate nerd kung-fu by making elaborate fan films based on “Street Fighter” and, perhaps most impressively, a feature-length “Mega Man” movie. Either my “Sonic”-nerd card is dwindling or I just don’t spend a lot of time in the “fan films based off of video games” parts of the internet, as I had never heard of their “Sonic” fan film, titled just “Sonic” dropping “The Hedgehog” for some reason, until tonight. I immediately sat down to watch it.

The short review?: Nice try. I’ve got no problem heaping vitroal on big-budget studio movies but, when it comes to fan films like this, made for a few scrapped-together thousand dollars, created and operated by passionate fans, I feel the need to both limit my expectations and be nice.

What I like the most about “Sonic” is how it combines the countless continuities into a mostly cohesive whole. Set on Mobius, primarily located in a very New York looking Station Square, we are neatly given the information that on near-by South Island there’s a race of humanoid animals… At least, there was until very recently, when mad scientist and would-be world conqueror Dr. Robotnik (formally Julian Kintobor) massacred the populace as the first step in his bid for world domination. World building comprises the first seven minutes of this 18-minute short while the latter half focuses on a team of G.U.N. soldiers dropping into the island, being attacked by the doctor’s robots, before being rescued by Sonic, who very quickly establishes himself as the ever-present thorn in the villain’s side. From a writing perspective, I can’t really besmirch the script too much. I could honestly see this working fairly well as the set-up for a big budget studio Sonic film. From a fanboy perspective, I don’t have too many complaints with it. At first I was worried, with the fleets of Egg Carriers, Gamma series shock-troops, and setting of Station Square, this would primarily be an adaptation of the “Adventure” series. But there are plenty of references to the original game continuity as well as the important cartoon series, the most obvious of which is getting Jaleel White back as the voice of the titular hero.

The majority of the aesthetic complaints I have with the film are results of its tiny budget. The CGI is home-made and about the level of a Syfy Channel Original. While the big stuff, like flying warships and robots and cartoon hedgehogs, are forgivable, the explosion and gun muzzle effects right out of AfterEffects are less so and noticeably distracting.

The guy playing Robotnik, DJ Hazard, seems to have had some formal training and actually does a decent job. (Though billowing rage at the end is slightly unconvincing.) Honestly, he makes me think that Robotnik would come off as an evil(ier) Jesse Ventura in real life. I wasn’t immediately convinced by White’s return to the character. He noticeably, obviously, sounds older. At first, the decision to keep Sonic’s dialogue as early-‘90s cowabunga kitsch is jarring but White actually manages to make it work somehow. Sonic is so cool that he doesn’t care if he sounds like a 1991 ad exec’s idea of what the kids are in to. Which is one hundred percent correct, truthfully. That could just be the hopeless nostalgic in me. White’s appearance is the project’s sole grasp at legitimacy. Urkel has maybe five minutes of dialogue in the whole thing, and considering the Sonic fandom is pretty much the only place Jaleel is still relevant, we should probably be less impressed by his participation.

The rest of the cast is a bigger problem. The G.U.N. team, besides flopping around in unconvincing costumes, have to get their mouths around some pretty awkward dialogue. The fact that they can’t make it work us probably equally the fault of the screenwriter as it is the performers. The supporting cast being peppered with internet nerd personalities like the Angry Video Game Nerd, the Nostalgia Critic, and one of the ScrewAttack guys seems like a some-what desperate appeal to the internet nerd audience. The popularity of James Rolfe and Doug Walker’s online creations obviously doesn’t have much to do with their acting ability.

Supposedly, the primary goal behind this fan-film was proving that Sonic could work in a live-action setting. While the movie impresses in some ways, I can’t help but feel that it proves why Sonic wouldn’t work in live action. It’s not just the lack of money that makes Sonic’s appearance among live actors jarring. They might be slightly goofy looking but E-series units, the Buzz Bombers, and Motobugs are still buyable as robotic creations moving among the living. But a four-foot tall blue hedgehog that runs faster then the speed of sound and destroys enemies by rolling into a ball and smashing into them? Suspension of belief strains, even in a blatant science fiction setting. I mean, an anthromorphized hedgehog? Maybe. One that wears white gloves and red tennis shoes? Nope. The POV shots of rushing trees are far more appropriate. To a lesser degree, Robotnik’s red and yellow outfit looks silly in real life too.

The movie also gives us a look into the sensibilities that a big budget live action “Sonic” movie would have to grapple with. CGI Sonic is reduced to supporting character against the human characters, not unlike a certain adaptation of an eighties giant robot cartoon that will go unnamed. The South Islander animals are clearly treated as a racial minority by the humans, recalling “X-Men” and numerous other franchises. Robotnik’s genocide seems partially motivated by this. The script stops just short of repurposing “I Hate That Hedgehog” as a racial slur. (Though that would have been awesome.) It’s clear the Blue Core Studios guys’ hearts are in the right place but it’s still obvious to me that, in the unlikely case that a theatrical “Sonic” feature is made, it should be a cartoon.

It’s cool. Sure, it’s cool. I’m too big of a nerd not to think it’s at least kind of cool. I would obviously watch the sequel the ending sets up. It could have been a lot worse. I have to admire the conviction and work that went into this. But I doubt any studio exec got a look at this and immediately scooped up the rights from SEGA and got these guys on the phone. Like all Sonic-fan products, only Sonic nerds will enjoy and everyone else will shake their heads and roll their eyes. [6/10]