Kotaku: Knuckles is barely in his own show

[Lord Vatek]

Having seen it, it's pretty undeniable that this is a story about random human man and his family with Knuckles in a supporting role. If you get hung up on the fact that while Knuckles is technically on-screen a lot, you miss the fact that he barely does anything interesting with that screentime.

Whether or not you still like it is up to you but complaining that a show about a Sonic character has very little actual Sonic content in it is entirely valid.

Personally I also despise this PG Adam Sandler-style humor but that's beside the point.

 

[Sanjuro]

Oh you just dont enjoy the series i guess

Click to shrink...

What are you talking about?

 

[The Deleter]

Yeah having watched it multiple times this is only technically inaccurate. Knuckles is there a lot in the first three episodes, episode 4 can be considered about Knuckles in ways, but this is barely anything to do with Knuckles himself and focuses so much on Wade that Knuckles only has like, one tangently serious plot thread to actually wrap up for his character.

The last two episodes technically have more footage involving Knuckles than episode 4, but for some reason it feels like it's less, and the last fight scene is almost completely repurposed to be more focused on Wade than it was originally.

I had a LOT of fun watching it with how ridiculous and crazy it is, and some legit "wtf" moments in terms of stuff they wrote/included into the episodes... but I also completely understand people who aren't here for the stupid to be letdown lol

 

[GoodGrief]

Hilarious reading some people in this thread talking shit about the article when it turned out to be exactly right

 

[ArchedThunder]

Hilarious reading some people in this thread talking shit about the article when it turned out to be exactly right

Click to shrink...

I'd say he only really feels absent in the last 2 episodes.

 

[kurahador]

Andor is barely in his own show too.

 

[The Deleter]

Hilarious reading some people in this thread talking shit about the article when it turned out to be exactly right

Click to shrink...

If people don't understand that the 76 minutes of Knuckles are practically 85% contained in the first three episodes, then they're likely in favor of Wade getting significantly more screen time comparatively and being the primary protagonist of the TV show to begin with. It just is what it is.

The fact that people were justifying it with stuff like Beetlejuice and Godzilla screentime presence during prerelease was wild tbh

 

[Aadiboy]

I don't get why live action Sonic is so obsessed with the human plotlines. I get it with the Monsterverse, since you need humans to really carry the plot from setpiece to setpiece, but we don't need that much for Sonic. The non-Eggman humans should probably have as much screentime as the mom and dad in Home Alone, meaning not much.

 

[roguesquirrel]

Hilarious reading some people in this thread talking shit about the article when it turned out to be exactly right

Click to shrink...

I still think the "barely" headline is pretty disingenuous when talking about the series as a whole & not solely the last two episodes (the fourth kind of straddles the line where it doesnt have Knuckles but it revolves around him).

I stand by saying when you say "barely" Im expecting something like Beetlejuice where its legitimately only a few minutes of screentime for the title character but apparently thats wIlD to sonic fans on here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[The Deleter]

I still think the "barely" headline is pretty disingenuous when talking about the series as a whole & not solely the last two episodes (the fourth kind of straddles the line where it doesnt have Knuckles but it revolves around him).

I stand by saying when you say "barely" Im expecting something like Beetlejuice where its legitimately only a few minutes of screentime for the title character but apparently thats wIlD to sonic fans on here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Click to shrink...

Most of it was happening off-site on twitter and discord servers; instances where people would bring up reviews outside of Kotaku's mentioning a lack of knuckles, saying how worried they were about it, then people (Sonic fans specifically, fans who were pre-emptively looking forward to it no matter what) would continually cite all these examples of protagonist screen time being low, screen time not mattering, the actual screen time of knuckles that Kotaku posted obviously refuting how little he shows up, etc. And then those people are the ones who are trying to be positive so trying to dispute anything in casual conversation just makes the doubters look like assholes for arguing it.

It might be fair that Kotaku's headline might be more clickbait than not, but the issue revolved around a lot more voices stating it early and being readily dismissed because of the supposed incorrect Kotaku article in turn, imo

 

[Mekanos]

Better Call Saul feels like a pretty good example where the show at least to me stopped being about its protagonist after Season 3. S4 through S5 and early S6 really felt like a Mike/Gus show where Saul mostly spent time to moonlight as a hustler or comic relief.

Mind you I admit that despite the show being loved, I'm an outlier in that I kind of dropped off of the show because of it since Saul's story was the most compelling thing about its early days; like it was good enough that the whole show could've worked without the knowledge of it being a Breaking Bad prequel. So if a criticism with the Knuckles show is that Knuckles is the more compelling part about it but he feels absent, I'd probably feel similar -- even if I still think measuring minutes is stupid.

Click to shrink...

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way. The more BCS got deeper into the "BB prequel" stuff the less interested I was in it.

 

[darz1]

If we are being honest, this is on brand. Sonic was kind of barely even in the Sonic 2 movie. Like he was in it but kind of pointless for most of the film.

Between Tails, Knuckles, Robotnik and his underling with the coffee shop, the human characters and the whole wedding b-plot (or c-plot if we're ring honest) with side characters who were even the main side characters which has an awkward chunk of the film in the middle somewhere, Sonic was just kind of there for the most part.

I find it so weird people liked Sonic 2 as much as they do, it was a major step down from the first Sonic movie, with weird pacing and some strange narrative choices, and that lame dance off.

Sorry, I realise I'm not on topic, but I had to vent as I recently had to sit through Sonic 2

 

[louisacommie]

Having seen it, it's pretty undeniable that this is a story about random human man and his family with Knuckles in a supporting role. If you get hung up on the fact that while Knuckles is technically on-screen a lot, you miss the fact that he barely does anything interesting with that screentime.

Whether or not you still like it is up to you but complaining that a show about a Sonic character has very little actual Sonic content in it is entirely valid.

Personally I also despise this PG Adam Sandler-style humor but that's beside the point.

Click to shrink...

A lot of the defense of the show comes from people seemingly playing devil's advocate and imaging themselves as a paramount shareholder happy the budget was kept low.

 

[Squarehard]

John Malkovich is barely even in Being John Malkovich.

 

[PAFenix]

Just wrapped up watching it with the kids. I didn't like it as much as the movies, but it was cute. My kids loved it though!

My son's biggest hangup was he was worried about what happened to the two agents who got caught in the portals when the rings collided. It REALLY bothered him lmao

My thoughts: When Knuckles was doing stuff, even if it was just sitting around and talking, I loved it. Wade was fine, but I will admit to pulling up my phone whenever it looked like it was solely focused on him. Big fan of Cary Elwes and he chewed up every scene he was in too lol I also felt Rory McCann was underutilized. Would've loved to see him have more screen time.

 

[Friskykillface]

On episode 3 and it's been a decent show so far

Wanda ain't so bad if you've seen The Righteous Gemstones

 

[Scorpion Soldier]

I don't get why live action Sonic is so obsessed with the human plotlines. I get it with the Monsterverse, since you need humans to really carry the plot from setpiece to setpiece, but we don't need that much for Sonic. The non-Eggman humans should probably have as much screentime as the mom and dad in Home Alone, meaning not much.

Click to shrink...

Budget mostly. CG characters are expensive and you save screentime on them by adding secondary characters to fill in the blanks in between their scenes.

 

[Mister Ursine]

Having finished the series, I have to ask: Why wasn't this just a movie? Everything, even the level of actors they have in the supporting cast is on par with Sonic 1 & 2. You could easily edit this down to 2hrs so it has a comparable runtime to Sonic 2. Maybe beef up the last fight a little and give Rory McCann some more scenes sprinkled throughout and you're cooking. Seems weird to dump this on a streaming service when you could make real $$$ in theaters. But I'm not a studio executive, what do I know

 

[The_Iceman2288]

Just finished it and had a blast with it. It definitely gets Knuckles-light after episode 3 but for the most part that's earned.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Having finished the series, I have to ask: Why wasn't this just a movie? Everything, even the level of actors they have in the supporting cast is on par with Sonic 1 & 2. You could easily edit this down to 2hrs so it has a comparable runtime to Sonic 2. Maybe beef up the last fight a little and give Rory McCann some more scenes sprinkled throughout and you're cooking. Seems weird to dump this on a streaming service when you could make real $$$ in theaters. But I'm not a studio executive, what do I know

Click to shrink...

They have to try and release new content on Paramount+ to try and get those sub numbers up. Plus they might not want to try releasing 2 Sonic movies in one year and risk over-exposing the IP.

 

[Lotus]

Having finished the series, I have to ask: Why wasn't this just a movie? Everything, even the level of actors they have in the supporting cast is on par with Sonic 1 & 2. You could easily edit this down to 2hrs so it has a comparable runtime to Sonic 2. Maybe beef up the last fight a little and give Rory McCann some more scenes sprinkled throughout and you're cooking. Seems weird to dump this on a streaming service when you could make real $$$ in theaters. But I'm not a studio executive, what do I know

Click to shrink...

Granted, I don't know how the whole streaming stuff works in terms of money, but nothing about this show's plot (Knuckles helps Wade win a bowling tournament) merits being on the big screen.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Just finished. Loved it. Some of the casting was crazy. The humour landed. The story seemed a little darker than your usual family friendly affair.

Then it turned into a remake of Kingpin, and I like that movie. It was great.

No notes. I hope Sonic 3 continues the streak of surprisingly entertaining and absurd Sonic universe comedy.

 

[TaySan]

Up to episode 4 now and in enjoying it. Adam Pally does a great job in this one. Not sure what the article is on about Knuckles is in this show plenty

 

[ISureKnowMyStuff]

Maybe this Wade guy should've been the lead opposite of Sonic all along

 

[Tansut]

This article can kick rocks. I just finished episode 4 and it was the best one by far by a wide margin and had great nods to the games. Knuckles is mostly absent in the episode but his presence is there throughout as a moment of development for Wade in a genuinely inspired form of storytelling.

Also counting the literal minutes a character is present reeks of loser chud energy.

 

[werezompire]

The kids loved it. This kind of analysis feel shallow when episode 4 (the one where Knuckles is barely in it) is more focused on the Sonic-verse than any other episode AND is hysterical.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

what's the music with the shredding guitar that plays in the final fight?

 

[Sanjuro]

Up to episode 4 now and in enjoying it. Adam Pally does a great job in this one. Not sure what the article is on about Knuckles is in this show plenty

Click to shrink...

I watched one of the episodes when there was this kid around and he was losing his mind.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Watched the first 2 episodes. Definitely fun and definitely filling that 90's slapstick comedy hole that has been long missing. I don't mind Wade, but I am exhausted with the hapless white guy man child type character. The actor plays him likably at least.

Sonic should be a freedom fighter protecting woodland creatures from being turned into robots, collecting infinity gems & going super sayian... not palling around with an goofy cuddly old white cop

Click to shrink...

At least for live action, this would be prohibitively expensive to do, especially for a show. As for the premises you described, dozens of other shows and comics already have variants of this. The point of the live action movies/shows like this is to give audiences that would normally walk past the usual Sonic affair and style something different enough that they give it a second look. They're not after the hardcore fans with projects like these (they'll likely show up anyway), they're looking to expand the demographics.

 

[PinguThePenguin]

Dammit, I'm here to watch Sonic and friends. Not these humans trying to tangle with their first-world issues.

 

[Sanjuro]

I don't mind Wade, but I am exhausted with the hapless white guy man child type character.

Click to shrink...

I would have tried to get in more interactions between him and Cudi. They were both hapless in their own ways and I did enjoy him pausing to take a call from his mom. I think honing in on that would have made for a better threat dynamic.

 

[PlatStrat]

Dammit, I'm here to watch Sonic and friends. Not these humans trying to tangle with their first-world issues.

Click to shrink...

This ^
For me, I didn't hate the stuff with Wade, but fr I wanted a show about KNUCKLES not Wade (*ft. Knuckles sometimes). Like this would've been the perfect opportunity to introduce more Sonic characters but nooo that would be too expensive with CGI. If that was the case then just turn it into a 90 minute movie straight to Paramount+ and put the focus on Knuckles adjusting to the new world or interacting with Sonic and Tails more or have him run into Rouge or Amy or have him hunt for master emerald shards or ANYTHING that doesn't focus on the human characters.

 

[Bossking]

Love all these posts that are just "this article saying Knuckles is only there for half of the show is dumb, I just finished half of the show and he was in there plenty!"

 

[Hannibal Barbera]

Anyone else getting the vibe that these movies might not introduce any other Sonic characters outside of the main trio and Shadow? The overt focus on the humans makes me a lil worried on that front.

 

[Lord Vatek]

Love all these posts that are just "this article saying Knuckles is only there for half of the show is dumb, I just finished half of the show and he was in there plenty!"

Click to shrink...

Yeah the problem isn't screentime.

 

[RagnarokX]

Anyone else getting the vibe that these movies might not introduce any other Sonic characters outside of the main trio and Shadow? The overt focus on the humans makes me a lil worried on that front.

Click to shrink...

 

[Hercule]

The sister has her honeymoon at space colony ark

 

[RagnarokX]

The sister has her honeymoon at space colony ark

Click to shrink...

It will turn out that Maria never actually died and Maddie is actually Maria who got amnesia after being awoken from stasis 30 years ago, making Shadow Donut Lord's brother-in-law and Sonic's uncle.

 

[Simba]

the best thing this show did was make me sort of care about a minor side character from the first two movies

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Anyone else getting the vibe that these movies might not introduce any other Sonic characters outside of the main trio and Shadow? The overt focus on the humans makes me a lil worried on that front.

Click to shrink...

With Shadow's intro, the gender balance amongst the animal cast (which is generally really important to execs for these kind of things) will be way out of wack. There is no way we leave the third movie without Rouge or Amy being introduced.

 

[KilgoreTrout696]

Pretty funny little show. Episode 4 was legit good.

 

[shaneo632]

Just finished it. Was definitely surprised how much Knuckles was off-screen in favour of Wade. I think maybe this would've worked better as a bite-sized series of 10-15 minute episodes, more like what Disney+ does with a lot of their franchises.

The musical episode was great though and Cary Elwes definitely understood the assignment.

 

[Sayuz]

I feel like Knuckles himself was definitely sidelined a bit in the last two episodes, but even so, the best episode of the show (#4) barely has Knuckles in it at all, so I feel that his screentime alone doesn't indicate quality.

I think overall the show was pretty funny, and the action scenes were pretty entertaining (I do wish the final battle had gone on a bit longer, though), though I do feel the show wad a bit stronger in the first third than the last quarter.

I also really liked the lore introduced through the show, like Knuckles' backstory, and the minor reveal that the military organization that Robotnik oversaw in the first film was reorganized into G.U.N. following the events of said movie. I didn't see that coming, but it actually makes a lot of sense for this version of the canon in which G.U.N. is a more recent organization.

Overall, I don't think the show added a ton to the movies, but it was also allowed to be even weirder and more experimental, which is a good thing in its own right.

Hopefully they can continue this energy in the future and keep making other weird Sonic spinoff shows, assuming we don't get another season.