It’s a good thing ankleThe six-part Paramount+ miniseries arrives amid feverish hype Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The series debuts on the streaming service on April 26th, at a time when fans are eager to get back into the live-action universe thanks to announcements like… Keanu Reeves play the Blue Blur’s rival, Shadow the hedgehog. And Knuckles is a succinct reminder of what these films actually are and what they are not.
First, let’s get the good stuff out of the way (it won’t take long). Cyberpunk 2077 And Luther Star Idris Elba continues to appear as Knuckles in the live-action sound Universe. He stays true to his cause and performs miracles with the material he is given. Elba was easily the best part of it Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and remains the ray of hope in the ankle show. It’s just a shame that the rest of the show doesn’t even try to reach its level.
Knuckles is barely on his own show
To clarify the matter: ankle is not a show about the titular echidna. It’s about Adam Pally’s Wade Whipple, the comic relief cop who was tolerable in low doses Sonic the Hedgehog films, but puts almost the entire six-episode show in the spotlight, resulting in irretrievably diminishing returns. See, Knuckles is listless after joining Sonic and Tails on Earth in the second film. To find meaning on this new planet, he agrees to train Wade for a bowling tournament in Reno. A road trip follows with a group of bounty hunters hot on their trail – the film isn’t all that different from the original sound
Wade wears out his welcome at the end of almost every scene, or in some cases at the end of every line. Pally is clearly having a blast when the series gets into its craziest shenanigans, like a musical number and an elaborate action movie rescue mission fantasy. I find him endearing as an actor, but any extended play lasts just long enough to become annoying. This isn’t anyone’s fault, but the writers who write jokes for children assume they have no idea about comedic timing and think they’re just laughing at a man who’s screaming and/or out of breath.
Knuckles and Wade’s dynamic of a confident warrior and the absolute biggest fool this side of your high school graduation should work. It could be such a fun reversal of the first film, where Sonic was the uncontrollable force while being kept in check by the most well-behaved old cop imaginable. But Knuckles is conspicuously absent from much of the series and there’s nothing to contradict Wade’s whims.
Even when Knuckles is around, he doesn’t actually do much. He makes the decision to train Wade at the beginning, beats the bad guys when they appear, and then disappears for a short time without explanation. Whenever Knuckles isn’t on screen, all the other characters should ask, “Where’s Knuckles?” But no one ever does. I simply ask it in the open air of my apartment office as I watch Wade get stabbed with a fork by his aggressive FBI sister. (Note: Knuckles was sitting at the dinner table in this scene, but great care was taken not to say anything significant so the camera wouldn’t have to pan to him.)
At times, Knuckles exploits his ostensible protagonist’s passive role in Wade’s story to surprisingly touching effect. There’s actually a surprisingly poignant episode in which Knuckles learns about Wade’s family and their Jewish history, buoyed by Stockard Channing’s portrayal of Wade’s mother. And sometimes the action sequences perfectly combine the fantastical elements of the film sound Series with the live-action series’ focus on original, human characters in a truly delightful way. But these moments are rare because ankle doesn’t know how to reconcile its human (literal, not figurative) elements and the story we came here to see.
What does ankle mean for them sound Live-action universe?
That’s a problem sound Movies have been struggling since 2020, but that’s not the only problem that persists here. The product placement is so obvious that it feels like entire scenes are designed to show our hero with a bag of Doritos, and the show relies too heavily on licensed needlepoints when there’s an excellent video game soundtrack right there for the taking . Half of his jokes are pop culture references, which worked in the first film when it established Sonic’s connection to the rest of the world, but here it feels like the writers are running out of material.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was at its best when it leaned into all the video game dressing that makes the series so special. ankle is the video game adaptation equivalent of LaCroix that tastes like water sitting next to a fruit on the way to the store, rather than sparkling water with a delicious fruit flavor. Sure, it has some video gaming in it, but nothing significant that would make it seem like it’s more than just a win from a recognizable, popular character without much of a payoff. When I was halfway through the show, I hoped so ankle would have been more than a family sitcom with a passing echidna, shattered.
ankle is a useful show to watch in the months between now and Sonic the Hedgehog 3Premiere takes place on December 20th. At the moment we are excited about it stacked castingsuggests that it could be one Adaptation of the much-loved one Sonic Adventure 2and promise that it will include this game iconic theme song Somewhere in the movie. But this show drew me back to Earth faster than Space Colony Ark hurtling toward the planet’s surface. With a bigger budget, I don’t expect Sonic, his friends and his rival to be sidelined like Knuckles was here, but ankle reminds me that these films still aim for the friendliest family-friendly atmosphere. My hope that we would see the full extent of Shadow’s tragic backstory has been dashed. I don’t think these films can even imagine that.
