The Detective Pikachu trailer does not have the market cornered on upsetting takes on our favorite video game characters. No, there’s still, really, a live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie on the way (with a computer animated Sonic) and this first motion post that gives us a quick look at the blue bur reaches Mr. Mime levels of unsettling.
It also looks kind of like a college sports mascot—like a person in a furry suit wearing a comically oversized head. Just look at his tiny, gloveless, human-like hands and tell me he doesn’t look like yet another Fullmetal Alchemist experiment gone wrong, but also somehow simultaneously like a fancy sneaker ad.
And no, it’s not likely to get any less weird in context. Scant plot details so far have described Sonic as a “juvenile delinquent” in a rural environment, who teams up with a human police officer probably played by James Marsden. And Robotnik/Eggman may be played by Jim Carrey? Seriously, what is this movie?
Back to that poster, though … sure, it makes sense that Sonic, known for running incredibly fast, is built like an athlete, but there’s a very fine line between that and looking like something out of the “dumb running Sonic” Tumblr. (Totally understandable if this is what your mind conjures up for “Sonic the Hedgehog from the producer of The Fast and the Furious.”)
Could this still turn out to be an enjoyable movie with a fun, oddball take on one of the most famous characters in video games? Sure, Detective Pikachu is incredibly, and similarly, weird and already at the top of a lot of people’s must-see movie lists, but it helps that the titular Pikachu himself looks a lot cuter than some of the movie’s other reimagined Pokémon.
That movie’s trailer also sailed along on the charm of its ridiculous premise—not to mention embracing the comedic component—which had already ingratiated itself with the internet when the game debuted. Meanwhile, we know next to nothing about this movie aside from the seemingly absurd details list above, so we’ll have to wait and see if it can accomplish the same feat.
(via IGN on Instagram, image: Sega)
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