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Sonic’s redesign is finally here

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Following the disastrous first reveal of the Sonic The Hedgehog movie back in May, Paramount has just dropped a new trailer with a fresh design and it looks so much better.

When SEGA announced that a live-action Sonic The Hedgehog movie was in production, there was an almost universal groan from fans. Being an advocate of the iconic 90s blue blur has become an embarrassing admission, as each project in the franchise winds up being a progressively worse misstep. You can forgive most, then, for approaching the new film with a hefty sense of scepticism.

It seemed most were right to be cautious when Paramount dropped the first trailer for the film in May, which featured a nightmarishly disproportioned CGI thing that was supposedly Sonic. There was an unsurprising outcry and the studio promised a delay and a redesign. Now, five months on, the new look has been unveiled and it looks so, so much better – you can watch the new trailer below.

https://youtu.be/szby7ZHLnkA

First off, the new look outdoes the first one in spades , staying true to the original gloves, large shoes, and big eyes that made Sonic a household name in the first place. This trailer also shows off a lot more of the narrative beats we should expect in the final film, with a focus on the characters and stories we’ll get to see rather than just the visuals. After several viewings I noticed a quite a few hints and nods to the lore of the franchise (yes, I’m saying that unironically and it’s lame, I know), such as the classic emblem logo from the first games and various signs with names of original zones.

Jim Carrey gets a bit more time to shine in this trailer, too, and it looks like his performance will be treading a line that’s somewhere between the larger-than-life Ace Ventura and the unsettling antagonist in Cable Guy. Expect quirky over-the-top Carrey, though whether it’ll pay off in 2020 is yet to be seen.

Either way, the fact that Paramount and SEGA listened to universally negative feedback and made a change is admirable. There are concerns about how much audience judgement will affect films such as this in the future (our very own videographer and film lover Elliot is uneasy about big changes happening post-trailer releases) but, in a case like this, the changes have unquestionably improved the tone, vibe, and reception of the film. We’ve yet to actually watch it, but it already looks leaps better than what we were first shown.

https://youtu.be/4mW9FE5ILJs

The Sonic The Hedgehog movie is unlikely to be a cinematic masterpiece for the ages, but it at least now looks the part, and is less likely to give us all blue, CGI-infested nightmares. The film will be releasing on February 14th, 2020 and if you’re curious, you can watch the original trailer with the old design above. Be warned, though – it’s not pretty.

Editor In Chief London, UK

I’m Charlie (He/Him), the Editor In Chief at Thred. I studied English at the University of Birmingham and as a music and gaming enthusiast, I’m a nerd for pop culture. You can find me curating playlists, designing article headline images, and sipping cider on a Thursday. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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