The Sonic Movie: Leedzie’s Sneak Peek

As part of the final round of promotions prior to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie’s release, the official Sonic movie mascot is touring the country for photo shoots. Coincidentally, one of these shoots was literally right across the street from my day job! A landmark in this area, known as “The Halo,” is essentially an enormous golden ring – the perfect place for the mascot to produce some movie hype! (Or at least it would’ve been, if it wasn’t February in Michigan and the ring wasn’t half-covered in snow.) I had every intention of turning up to observe the event and witness a little piece of Sonic history for myself, but naturally I had to work on the morning in question. Knowing that this shoot was going on RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET and not being able to watch was killing me, a fact about which my co-workers soon learned more than they ever cared to know.

Luckily, not all hope was lost: There would be more mascots stops this weekend, all of which were open to the public! One such appearance was at a theater in our area, so I decided to stop by and see if I could get a photo of my own. I happened to be off work that day, and a hug from Sonic is something I’ve wanted since I was a wee tiny Leedzie!

Little did I realize I was about to get MUCH more than I bargained for – including an advanced viewing!

Before I get started, I’d just like to point out that I adamantly refuse to post spoilers in this case. Right now people don’t even have the OPPORTUNITY to see it for themselves, and anyone who reads this post could potentially decide to be a dick and blast those spoilers in places I never would have. As someone that hates spoilers myself, I would consider it super hypocritical of me to create that potential for others.

Now, on with the show – and in a way that still preserves the movie’s surprises! (Because holy shit are there surprises.)

Anyone who’s been a fan of Sonic media for a long time knows that it’s difficult to get Sega to allow him to develop as a character. Usually the only ways in which we can get some depth out of him is via comic books or cartoons, but even then Sega is known to yank on the leash and reel him back in. Many older fans are familiar with the infamous “Sega mandates” that restrict writers from allowing Sonic to ever lose in a significant way or to cry. Unfortunately, this necessarily prohibits Sonic from having any real character growth. Characters have to struggle in order to evolve, but Sega seems to oppose the idea of Sonic even facing a real struggle. All it takes is one look at the games (aka the media that comes directly from Sega themselves) to really see this policy in action. In short, Sonic has been an emotional one-note for a very long time.

The Sonic games make mild attempts to show Sonic with varying emotions, but they’re so incredibly shallow; it’s the video game equivalent of telling instead of showing. Despite being a visual medium, the games really only ‘tell’ us when Sonic is allegedly feeling different emotions, and while I can appreciate what they’re going for, more often than not the performance falls flat. He’s great at displaying positive traits, such as amusement and cockiness and determination, but there’s seldom anything on the other end of the spectrum to balance the scales. We’re expected to feel the high stakes as onlookers and then turn to Sonic, the cool and calm and resilient hero, to relieve us of OUR anxieties. He doesn’t display his OWN anxieties for us to relate to.

And that’s what I find so refreshing about the way his character is handled in the new movie: He’s allowed to have real emotional range. Normally when we think of Sonic, we think of things like confidence, kindness, and even arrogance – and don’t get me wrong, he’s still all those things in the movie! However, he is also frightened, unsure of himself, frustrated, desperate, mischievous, angry, overjoyed, and sad. At one particular moment, I would go so far as to say we witness actual emotional suffering, which draws us into his attempt to cope with it. He experiences SO many emotions that Sega never seems willing to allow, and this gives him so, so, SO much more depth! He has hopes, he dreams, he has regrets, he has imagination, he has innocence! He wrestles with inner conflict while putting on a brave face! It’s quite possibly the most characterization Sonic’s had in at least two decades.

The movie’s inciting incident comes about because of a moment of intense emotion from Sonic. It’s absolutely heart-wrenching to watch him go through it, but at the same time it’s one of the most satisfying things about the entire film, because we NEVER get to see him struggle like this. Most of Sonic’s struggles in other media are related to physical obstacles and challenges, rather than internal strife. Highlighting his emotional journey alongside the physical one makes him absolutely relatable and endearing to the audience, which gets us so much more invested than the video games could ever hope for. We feel Sonic’s highest highs because we’ve also felt his lowest low, and as he makes progress and grows as a character we can’t help but cheer him on. When Sonic’s well-known confidence comes out, it means so much more this time because the movie allowed us to see him when he wasn’t confident. We understand just how secure he really feels now because we’ve seen him worry and we know what scares him.

This contrast is absolutely crucial from a narrative standpoint. If the goal of your story is for a character to be courageous and defeat an enemy, then we need to see them, even for a moment, without that courage. If we don’t, the culminating moment doesn’t stand out from anything that came before it and the payoff feels flat. You HAVE to show the lows in order for the highs to have any kind of value – which is exactly why so many of the games tend to blend together over the years.

But the movie gets it. Sonic’s emotions are raw and visceral, and we as the audience can immediately connect with what he’s feeling at any given time. We can see it on his face, read it in his posture and body language, hear it in the tone of his voice… He’s a fully realized character with the same range of emotions as the rest of us. Even five minutes of his presentation in the movie has more depth than anything Sega’s presented since the turn of the century. I can only hope that Sega is able to learn from what the movie has managed to accomplish, because the franchise DESPERATELY needs more of this. Sonic can’t stay generic forever, and if Sega allows it to be, this portrayal is a great first step in the right direction.

I would love to go into more detail with specific examples, but sadly, I believe I’ve come about as far as I can before crossing into serious spoiler territory. Now I must focus my energy on preparing for the most difficult week of my life, because I CAN’T GUSH ABOUT IT TO ANYONE!! My friends are all having a hard time waiting for this final week to go by and keep telling me how lucky I am to have already seen it, but the week is going to be just as hard for me, because I want to blurt things out SO BADLY YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Seeing this movie a week early was definitely a blessing, but I now realize it was also a hell of a curse.

Oh well. At least I’ll have my photo with the mascot to get me through the week.

It was worth a little bit of a curse!

 

Obligatory Legal Crap

Sonic the Hedgehog is the property of Sega, and the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is property of Paramount. And, well, Sega too I suppose. I would certainly hope they’re tighter about their contracts these days, because god forbid we get another Ken Penders incident.