Hollywood’s quest to create a genuinely compelling, well-crafted video game movie continues this year with the back-to-back release of Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Both titles are undoubtedly based on legendary, time-honored franchises, but while one has garnered praise for its visual effects and its overly faithful interpretation of those iconic pocket monsters (yes, we’re referring to Detective Pikachu in this instance), Sonic the Hedgehog has got people talking for all the wrong reasons.
It has Sonic speeding down highways at 700mph and Jim Carrey (!) as the sneering Dr. Robotnik, but early reactions suggest Paramount’s live-action flick will struggle to win over the fans. Indeed, cinematographer John Mathieson recently admitted that he has precisely no regrets about choosing Detective Pikachu over Sonic.
Funny enough, I was offered [Sonic the Hedgehog] and after watching the trailer I thought I’m so glad we don’t look like that.
Mathieson is naturally coming from a visual effects standpoint, but even still, one of the biggest criticisms leveled against Paramount’s Sonic movie is the VFX and the character’s oddly human teeth. And Mathieson? He doesn’t beat around the bush; when asked straight-up by Newsweek whether Detective Pikachu looks better, he agreed, and said the following:
If all we’re talking about is how these two films look, our film is better than Sonic the Hedgehog and I’m sorry, I don’t care who I upset by saying that, but I think it looks better. There’s no reason why you can’t shoot a film like [Detective Pikachu] or Sonic the Hedgehog on film. If you had, [Sonic the Hedgehog] would look more realistic. I look at Sonic the Hedgehog and I just go ‘yeah whatever.’
Sonic the Hedgehog speeds into theaters in November. The question, really, is whether fans will be flocking to their nearest theater to catch Paramount’s live-action adventure…
