SEGA/Paramount PicturesIf you’ve ever spent hours poring over any of the Sonic the Hedgehog games, you’ll already know that little blue guy just loves collecting gold rings.
But, did anyone really understand what they actually meant?
My understanding was always that Sonic must collect the rings for protection, but if the new movie has anything to go by, they could have a different meaning entirely.
Paramount PicturesThe Sonic the Hedgehog film certainly has taken its own path in terms of interpreting what the big gold rings meant.
The film sees Sonic’s guardian, Longclaw the owl, providing his accomplice with a bag of golden rings, without him even needing to head out and collect them for himself.
This is because Longclaw believes Sonic should remain hidden due to his unique powers, and therefore shows Sonic how the rings act as portals from one part of the universe to another, creating a method of instantly moving between worlds. I know, crazy right?
Using said rings, this is how the blue hedgehog travels from his own home planet to Earth and then, later, the mushroom world, after being discovered by Dr Robotnik.
Its basically jammed with multiple twists on how things work in the Sonic games:
-sonic carries rings with him and drops them when hurt
-he needs to keep at least one ring to not die
-Big rings are an exit from the area
-teleportation to other zonesAgain. its genius~ pic.twitter.com/tYINARZVMZ
— 🌟PicsAndPixels (@pics_pixels) February 15, 2020
Fortunately for Sonic, all he has to do is simply think about a destination, which allows him to use the rings to move rapidly across Earth during the final fight with Carrey’s evil genius.
It’s definitely very different to how myself, and millions of others of Sonic gamers interpreted the rings, but it would appear to be working, as the movie has successfully made its way to the top of the box office.
Sonic the Hedgehog earned $21 million at the box office on its first day, including $3 million in Thursday, February 13, night’s preview.
The film has received mixed reviews from critics since its release over the weekend, however it’s currently ranked as ‘fresh’ on reviewing site Rotten Tomatoes, but not ‘certified fresh’.
Comicbook’s Spencer Perry gave the film three-out-of-five, writing:
Since the conversation will naturally always land there, I don’t think Sonic is the best video game movie to date but the competition is so slim that the argument could certainly be made by parties about its claim to the crown.
Sonic the Hedgehog succeeds where so many other video game adaptations fail because it captures the spirit of the games and the character. It doesn’t matter that it’s not a 1:1 adaptation of the games, because Sonic’s core personality and need for adventure are fully on display and the good-natured narrative at its center is heartwarming and wholesome entertainment.
Sonic the Hedgehog is in cinemas now.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.