Does the Sonic Movie Redesign Translate to More Viewers?

The internet is screaming and hollering about the brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer right now, and for good reason; the redesign not only looks faithful to the original blue blur, but also doesn't stand out as a crime against nature when compared to heartthrobs like Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik(and James Marsden I guess. X-Men movies notwithstanding.)

There's a lot to like about this new trailer. Green Hill Zone has never looked so realistic and inviting. Ben Schwartz delivers an amazing voice acting job. The new footage of Jim Carrey dancing around pre-latte looks fun. There isn't any hint of the effects seeming "rushed". The creation of the new design did delay the release of the movie by four months, to February 2020. Paramount recruited Tyson Hesse, prolific animator and director of the Sonic Mania Adventures shorts, to fix it and it seems to have worked. The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is saved! 

Who is this Sonic movie for, exactly?

The previous iteration did upset a lot of people who are invested in the Sonic universe. Looking back at the first iteration of the trailer, however, it is apparent that these aren't the people who Paramount was interested in courting. It reads like a movie starring an unknown creature with supernatural powers, who just happens to also be Sonic the Hedgehog. The Gangsta's Paradise soundtrack reinforces this; poking fun at the absurdity of a supersonic animal.

The new trailer opens with Green Hill Zone, only the most iconic of Sonic the Hedgehog stages. The overlayed song is Supersonic by J.J. Fad, a deeper cut with a reference to the hedgehog's supersonic speeds we all expect. If you look closely, you can see Sonic do his ledge-wobbling animation from the games. These references make this movie a powerful engine for nostalgia. Have the producers of the movie finally listened to the fans?

Somehow, I doubt it.

It's worth remembering that there was another movie about animated creatures being reviewed around the world at the same time as the god-awful first trailer came out. Detective Pikachu is one of the biggest commercial and critical success for any movie based on a video game with its release in May of this year, but compared to other top-charting movies, it barely ranks in the top 400 lifetime gross earnings. This is for a movie based on the largest media franchise of all-time. 

Comparing Sonic news to the groundswell that came before Detective Pikachu, there's a lot of goodwill garnered for this new trailer. But is this goodwill going to get people in movie theater seats? It might. But they're still going to have to buy the tickets for what is essentially a meme. 

I don't think I'm going to be seeing this movie in theaters. Personally, as someone who has a lot of fond memories of Sonic games, I'll watch it if it's convenient enough(a Netflix stream, perhaps.) Do you think you'll buy a ticket to see the Sonic movie? Leave a comment below telling us why!