Things Only Adults Noticed In Sonic The Hedgehog
There have always been rumblings about a lack of new ideas in Hollywood — many audience members want to see fresh ideas, not the third remake of a movie that was already a classic the first time around. The thing is, it's not that Hollywood is short on ideas — it's more that the worlds that have already been created feature great stories and untapped potential.
Sonic the Hedgehog might have been around for a long time in the video game world, but the Sega product has yet to hit the big screen — until now. Sonic the Hedgehog is a great example of an idea that has been around for a while but needed its own Hollywood adaptation.
Although Sonic is a video game traditionally played by kids, and the movie is family-friendly, there are many plot developments that will leave older viewers scratching their heads. Here are things only adults noticed in Sonic the Hedgehog.
There's no reason for Tom's sister-in-law to hate him
Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), by all measures, is a good person. Sure, he's deemed a terrorist and breaks the law as a police officer, but he does so to save Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz). That doesn't stop Rachel (Natasha Rothwell), the sister of Tom's wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), from hating everything about Tom.
Rachel even goes as far as suggesting Tom and Maddie get a divorce. Tom might have done something offscreen, and maybe the sequel will be more telling, but on the screen, he's a good husband, loves his wife, wants to save people, and appears to be the most helpful person in Green Hills. Rachel and Maddie seem to have a good relationship, making Rachel's hate for Tom even more unjustified.
Of course, Tom eventually becomes a fugitive and Rachel gets tied up for good measure (finally giving her a clear reason to dislike Tom), but Rachel wasn't a fan long before all that. The audience is left wondering what Tom did that was so bad to become public enemy No. 1 in Rachel's heart.
Dr. Robotnik's plan to study Sonic is misguided
Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (Jim Carrey) wants to catch Sonic so he can study the extraterrestrial blue hedgehog and his powers. However, this plan is misguided from the beginning, as Dr. Robotnik shoots to kill, not wound or capture alive.
When Dr. Robotnik and Sonic first meet at Tom's house, Robotnik sends his mad scientist drones after Sonic, guns blazing. It's hard to not wonder why someone who wants to study a being would try to kill it first. "Dead or alive" is a common phrase bad guys use in movies, but in this case, it's more beneficial for Dr. Robotnik to keep Sonic alive so he can adequately study Sonic.
Later in the movie, Dr. Robotnik discovers one of Sonic's quills, studies its powers (while gracing the audience with some vintage Jim Carrey-style manic magic), and uses the quill to make his ship and drone army stronger. Clearly, there are benefits to not shooting first and asking questions later — for a guy who's supposed to be the smartest asset at the U.S. military's disposal, Robotnik is awfully slow on the uptake.
Sonic, like humans, wants what he doesn't have
Above all else, Sonic the hedgehog simply wants a friend. Sonic's loneliness is made clear to the audience when he gets frustrated while playing baseball by himself, leading him to run super-fast around the bases and creating an electromagnetic pulse that knocks out power throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Sonic is the most powerful being in Green Hills, but none of that matters because just like a lot of people, he wants what he can't have — in this case, a friend. Sonic is all of us.
In a big world, he feels lonely. He somehow manages to stay upbeat even though he's completely alone, and he remains confident his life will get better. Although major problems arise, such as being on the run from the government and putting Tom and others in danger, Sonic gets what his little blue heart desires in the end — he finally finds a friend in Tom (and if what we see after the credits start to roll is any indication, he's got another one on the way).
Sonic causes a lot of destruction
With its PG rating and overall family-friendly tone, Sonic the Hedgehog is a fairly light-hearted movie — but there's no getting around the fact that Sonic causes a lot of destruction. As already mentioned, his base-running shenanigans cause the widespread power outage that sets the events of the movie's plot in motion. As a result, businesses and residents lose their power and the government and military have to step in. Those types of resources cost a lot of money.
While it's Dr. Robotnik's fault for shooting up the streets with his drones and ship, none of it would have happened if Sonic hadn't been rather careless in the first place. It's entertaining to watch Sonic dodge the mustache-wearing Dr. Robotnik, but for the adults in the audience, it's hard not to wonder who's going to pay for all the cleanup and repair when it's all over.
Dr. Robotnik is insecure
Dr. Robotnik is the type of person who has to state his or her accomplishments out loud even when no one's asking. He's clearly an accomplished individual, so much so that the government tasks him with determining why the lights went out. Through this behavior, it's clear that he has to prove he's better than everyone else and he points out the shortcomings of others simply because they took a different, and possibly less tedious, path.
This is because people like Dr. Robotnik are insecure, possibly because he had a painful childhood. He mentions to Tom that the only other person who punched him in the face was a bully when he was younger, which isn't cool and can be traumatizing, and may have even led to Dr. Robotnik being the way he is in Sonic the Hedgehog.
On the surface, he's an accomplished villain who makes the audience laugh with a touch of Jim Carrey goofiness and quirks, but deep down he's insecure and deals with his insecurity by cutting others down (or blasting them to bits with his drone army).
Tom is super patient
Tom is clearly a patient person; if anyone else had teamed up with Sonic, he or she probably would have turned him in. Aside from the high-risk situations Tom ends up in after he meets the little guy, there's also Sonic's somewhat overwhelming personality. Sonic isn't the best in social situations — albeit understandably so because he doesn't regularly talk to other people or beings.
Tom's patience in spite of Sonic's shortcomings makes it pretty clear that he'll be a great dad at some point. He's definitely got a paternal vibe going for him, further exemplified by the fact that his life's purpose is saving people. He's full of empathy and wants to do the right thing, which makes him the perfect person to help Sonic find his rings. For the adults in the audience — particularly those with children — the ability to make sacrifices for those in our care should be easy to notice and identify with.
Sonic is a Gen-Zer through and through
Not only does Sonic talk in buzzwords, but he knows how to floss like Backpack Kid. He's also trying to live his best life.
Sonic is cool, lives on his own terms, is a bit edgy and partly corny — in short, he's a big-screen character created within the cultural template of a Gen-Zer. Of course, he's still a blue hedgehog who shouldn't really have any interest in or reference point to pop culture, but the Sonic the Hedgehog creators had a vested interest in making Sonic as relatable as possible to the audience while being funny for the whole family. What better way to make sure he can relate to the kids in the crowd?
Of course, millennials are also part of the target demographic — the first Sonic video game was released in 1991. Sonic's dear friend Tom is more culturally in line with older audience members, even though everyone can appreciate a good dad joke.
The government relied on a mad scientist to find Sonic
Sonic's unintentional show of power — and the massive power outage that resulted — led to the government and military stepping in...by hiring the clearly insane Dr. Robotnik to figure out what the heck happened, which leads to his efforts to capture accused terrorist Tom and our speedy extraterrestrial pal Sonic.
Although Sonic the Hedgehog is based on a video game and is meant to be a light-hearted movie that the entire family can enjoy, if an extraterrestrial blue hedgehog suddenly appeared in real life and seemed to pose some sort of threat, every branch of the military would be involved — there's no way the government would trust a mad scientist to do the job.
Jim Carrey's mugging, scene-stealing antics are one of the best parts of Sonic the Hedgehog, but they also might be the most unbelievable. Given that this is about a super-fast alien hedgehog who can talk, that's really saying something.
Tom would never be able to go back to the real world
During Sonic the Hedgehog, Tom is deemed a terrorist — yet when Dr. Robotnik magically disappears, he's apparently able to go right back to his normal life. Green Hills clearly isn't a major city, which would seem to make it incredibly difficult for Tom to even show his face outside the house, but once the government decides all's well that ends well, his fellow citizens seem to agree. Even if he were somehow able to offer the entire world proof of his innocence, there's no way life would return to normal that quickly.
In the real world, people tend to attach negative connotations to those accused of major crimes whether or not they're eventually convicted. Tom's career in law enforcement would seem to be yet another complicating factor — what kind of small-town cop would get to go back on patrol after getting himself mixed up in something like this?
An Olive Garden gift card is a terrible bribe
While the government rewarding Tom with an Olive Garden gift card is meant to be funny, it's also an absolutely terrible way to say "Thanks for saving the world." While Olive Garden's salad and breadsticks have their fans, most sane adults wouldn't be content with receiving any kind of gift card — at any amount — for what Tom and his family went through. A $50 meal at a chain restaurant doesn't relieve any kind of trauma, let alone pay for the damage done to Tom and Maddie's home and personal belongings.
The government, at the very least, should be concerned about Dr. Robotnik, their main asset. What happened is a big deal and deserves answers, yet the world seems content with simply forgetting anything ever happened and moving on. Sonic and the Wachowskis deserve a happy ending and it's a sweet, funny way of concluding this feel-good tale, but for anyone with a job and a mortgage, Sonic the Hedgehog's conclusion will make absolutely no sense.