Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director Jeff Fowler recently revealed the secret to creating a good video game adaptation.
Fowler shared his character and story-driven approach to video game movies, in an interview with Fandom. "I think the trick to making movies based off of video games is to completely forget that you’re making a movie based off a video game," he said. "Because I think all movies are about character no matter where they come from."
“Whether it's a comic book, a video game, a novel, or whatever, I think you really have to approach it like, 'What's a great story, what's a great character story?' Fowler added. "If someone is sitting in that theater and knows nothing about the video game, are they still going to have a great time, are they still going to be invested in this character and this story? That was our approach."
While Fowler makes it clear he wants Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to cater to casual viewers as well as hardcore fans of the franchise, he also promised the upcoming sequel will be "chock full" of video game Easter eggs. "[A]s we were sort of setting out to plot Sonic 2, I think we all got excited to pull in that great imagery that all of the fans are going to get excited about when they see it on the big screen and create a cinematic version of the stuff that fans have loved from [the games]," the director said.
This balance between accessibility and fan service appears to have paid off for Fowler if Sonic the Hedgehog 2's positive early reviews are anything to go by. Many reviewers have hailed the movie as a marked improvement over its predecessor, praising its action scenes and expanded cast of characters. That said, some have criticized the adaptation for relying too heavily on overused blockbuster movie tropes, and later reviews of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 have been more mixed.
This isn't likely to put the breaks on Paramount Pictures' plans for the Sonic franchise, though. The distributor confirmed in February that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is already in development. A month later, producer Toby Ascher announced that plans were now underway to expand the franchise even further. "We’re creating a Sonic cinematic universe, so we knew we were going to add characters, like Tails and Knuckles; new to the films but beloved by gamers all over the world," Ascher said.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races into theaters on April 8.
Source: Fandom