I believe in freedom. 
— Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a Japanese animated (anime) film written by Hideaki Anno and directed by Takashi Nakamura, based on SEGA's video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog. The film is produced by Gonzo, under the supervision of SEGA. The film's story is based on the treatment provided by Juely, who served as creative consultant of the project. It was released on April 23, 2016 in Japan, April 26 in Europe and Australia and on June 21, 2016 in the US, as part of the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog series. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans and anthropomorphic animals called the Mobians live separated from each other, under tense relations, a hedgehog named Sonic embarks on a journey, together with his team, to find the 7 legendary Chaos Emeralds in the midst of a war between the Mobians and the Humans, incited by the sinister Dr. Robotnik in an attempt to conquer Mobius. The film addresses the relationship between man and animals as well as topics such as discrimination, freedom and righteousness.
| Sonic the Hedgehog (2016 film) | |
 | |
Produced by | Satoshi Yamaki Shigeru Kitayama |
Directed by | Takashi Nakamura |
Written by | Hideaki Anno |
Storyboard by | Hideaki Anno |
Edited by | Suichi Kakesu |
Score by | Ko Otani |
Distribution Company | Toho (Japan),
ADV Films (North America, Europe) |
Animation Company | Toei Animation |
Production Company | Gonzo |
Release Date(s) |  April 26, 2016
 April 26, 2016 |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese English |
Running time | 109 min |
Preceded by | |
Followed by | |
Story[]
A part of the Land of the Sky
Hundreds of years ago, when humanity had reached the apogee of its technological development, an alien race called the Xorda visited the Earth and bombarded it with gene bombs, wiping out millions and causing massive destruction to the point where humanity's progress was reset. However, the gene bombs had some adverse effects. The animals slowly evolved , their intelligence increased remarkably to the point where they could challenge the Humans themselves. It wasn't long before the Humans and the Mobians, as they came to be known, became sworn enemies, fighting over the world's remaining resources to survive. Moreover, the gene bombs had a drastic effect on the biosphere. Its surface was separated into two layers: one that consisted of floating islands in the sky, an idyllic place known as the Land of the Sky which humans and Mobians desired and was to become the apple of discord of their conflicts. The Land of the Sky was accessable only to the Echidnas, a highly technologically advanced and ancient race, shrouded in mystery. The other layer was the Earth's old surface filled with ruined and decaying cities of the Old World, where the Humans and the Mobians lived in discord. It was to be known as the Land of Darkness. Following a devastating war between the two sides, the Humans and the Mobians signed a treaty of peace and agreed to stay away from each other; the humans returned to their ruined cities and started rebuilding them while the Mobians would retreat and find shelter in the forests, where they founded small kingdoms.
Decaying cities of the Old World in the Land of Darkness
The film opens somewhere in the Land of Darkness where 3 Mobian mercenaries are investigating the area. One of them (Sergeant Simian) witnesses a massive airship entering Milridion, the Humans' biggest city. As soon as they hear soldiers coming, they pack their gear and retreat.
As soon as they return to Knothole, they meet with King Maximilian and his consort at the castle where they inform him about their investigations. Sergeant Simian reports about the huge airship he witnessed entering Milridion and suspects that the Humans are up to something no good. The king on the other hand fears that the Humans are preparing for war and are gathering ammunition. He calls the Council to discuss the matter under low profile from the public and begins his speech. Princess Sally, the king's daughter, as well as Elias, his older son are also in the Council. Sally, along with Rotor Walrus express their disagreement with going to war against the Humans, presenting their arguments. Warlord Kodos appears and takes the other side, urging the King to take action and let him organize the Mobian army. With the discussion ending up being unfruitful, King Maximilian postpones his decision till tomorrow. During the night, Sally disguises herself and heads to the outskirts of the city to visit her friend. The two have a brief conversation about the current situation, with Sally expressing her dismay that being a princess is a tough work that takes courage.
The story switches to Milridion. Commander Aldrich visits Dr. Robotnik's office in Robotnik Corp where he meets Dr. Robotnik. The two make a handshake and have a brief discussion before heading to the laboratory where Dr. Robotnik demonstrates his war machines to the commander and his guard. Dr. Robotnik says that the preperations for war are nearly complete and orders the Commander to start mobilizing the army. He is intending to make a public speech in front of the Humans tonight. The Commander thanks him and departs with is guard with worry. Meanwhile, the Egg Pawns, Dr. Robotnik's and Nate Morgan's first design robots are watching the demonstration. They appear old and rusty, some of them also missing parts. Robotnik orders them to get to work and the robots depart as well.
The next day, all the citizens of Knothole are gathering at the king's castle. Everyone except for Sonic, who is advertising his uncle's chili-dogs
Warlord Kodos, official image from Magic the Gathering
at the store, dressed up as a chili-dog. He wonders what is going on and asks one of the citizens, who tells them that a Human boy has been found dead by a Mobian boy in the forest. The king is about to make a very important statement at the castle today concerning the war against the Humans. Uncle Chuck tells Sonic to go. There, Tig Stripe reads a message issued by the Humans stating that the have waged war against the Mobians in retaliation for the death of the Human child. Warlord Kodos immediately stands up and urges King Maximillian to mobilize their army. Princess Sally tries to reason with Warlord Kodos as she is against the war but Prince Elias intervenes and takes Kodos' side, until the debate sparks commotion with Prince Elias pulling out his sword against his sister. At that point, Sonic intervenes and tries to support Princess Sally with the little arguments he comes up with. Then, after a brief period of thought, the King reaches his final decision: the Mobians will go to war against the Humans. He appoints Kodos to the degree of Warlord once again to unite all the Mobians and lead them to war. There is a brief scene with Sonic and Sally exchanging some words and Sonic trying to cheer up Sally.
On his way home, Sonic spots Tails and the two have a brief conversation. During the night, Sonic is woken up by Bull Bones and Spot Long, two old Freedom Fighters who take Sonic with them secretly to the king's castle. There, Sonic meets King Maximilian, who explains him about the current situation. He tells him that he needs his help to go find 7 emeralds known as the Chaos Emeralds because he suspects that Dr. Robotnik's true intentions are going after them and if Dr. Robotnik gets his hands on all 7 of them, the world is in grave danger. Sonic wonders what these Chaos Emeralds are but hesitates to ask any questions. King Maximilian tells Sonic that the Land of the Sky will be a child's play to Robotnik should he get all of the 7 Chaos Emeralds. With no choice to deny, Sonic agrees to help. King Maximilian tells Sonic that he will be escorted by 4 of is most loyal Freedom Fighters, Tig Stripe, Bull Bones, Spot Long and Sergeant Simian (who is absent from the scene). They will guide him to the Chaos Emeralds and will operate in total secrecy. Meanwhile, Princess Sally is eavesdropping on the king. She doesn't know what the Chaos Emeralds are but she intends to find out. Sonic returns home and on his way there, he spots a strange shadow entity lurking in the darkness. It is tall and slender and has a humanoid appearance. It stands there for a few moments until it disappears.
The next morning Sonic, Tig, Bull, Spot and Sergeant Simian depart. Sonic farewells his friends Tails and Mina, as well as his uncle. The king hands them a device designed by an old friend of his capable of detecting the Chaos Emeralds based on their frequency. Their first destination is an old colony of the Humans, Isoldir.
There is a scene with Dr. Robotnik addressing the Humans in Milridion, prompting them to unite and rise against the Mobians. Large battle units are mobilized and depart from Milridion. He then goes to speak with Snively and tells him that he intends to make Milridion an empire of his own image.
Meanwhile, Sally heads to the city library where she reads about the legendary Chaos Emeralds. Realizing their importance and sensing that something bad is going to happen, she decides to help Sonic by going on her own to find them. She speaks to Rotor, who encourages doing so. Next, she steals the Sword of Acorn from her father's possession and leaves Knothole. Before she leaves, she is spotted by Tails. Sally explains her decision to him. Tails agrees to keep it a secret and wishes her good luck.
The Old World's ruins in the Land of Darkness
Its been many years since the Freedom Fighters left Knothole and ventured across faraway lands. The Land of Darkness was a harsh and barren place with old decaying cities of the Humans, a reminiscent of the Old World's glory before the invasion of the Xorda, which had left the world's surface with little life. Sonic had never visited such places before. Many things come to mind that he wants to ask. Isoldir, however, was a Human city still operating. It was built close to the sea and was heavily fortified. It wasn't long before Dr. Robotnik's army of Humans and robots appeared to surround the area. Tig, Spot, Bull, Sonic and Sergeant Simian disembark from the shuttle and make their way inside the city, where they come face to face with Dr. Robotnik's army. The Human soldiers were easy to defeat but the Freedom Fighters had never faced such robots before. Luckily, with Sonic's speed and cocky attitude, they're able to destroy them and get the 1st Chaos Emerald. There is a brief scene where Sonic prepares to fight against a Human soldier but runs away because he does not want to hurt them. The soldier's name "Scott" is written on a silver plate around his neck. The team congradulates Sonic for his capabilities but find out that their shuttle has been destroyed by the battle. They leave Isoldir by foot and head to find the 2nd Chaos Emerald.
In Knothole, the king learns about Sally's escape as well as the Sword of Acorn gone missing. Convinced that Sally has stolen it and that she has lost her mind, Elias mounts his horse and heads after her.
It is getting night as Tig, Bull, Spot, Sergeant Simian and Sonic reach the ruins of Absidia. They decide to camp there for the night and rest. As Tig, Bull and Spot are arguing over the food, Sonic approaches Sergeant Simian, who is sitting on a pile of ruins, gazing at the horizon. The
Absidia
two have a brief conversation about the Humans. Simian tells him that he has met a Human personally in his life and that he believes that not all of them are bad people. He advises Sonic to never hold grudges against anyone, not even his enemies, because even his own enemies can end up being his closest allies. Suddenly, a noise is heard and the heroes take battle positions. They spot Prince Elias on his horse coming near to them. Surprised to actually stumble upon them, Elias says that he is after Princess Sally, who has stolen the Sword of Acorn and has vanished from Knothole. He also demands to know why Tig and his unit are not out fighting the Humans alongside the other units. Nevertheless, before anyone can respond to him, Sergeant Simian hears noises. Noises coming from the darkness, which he has never heard before and doesn't recognize them. He immediately orders everyone to take battle positions behind the dilapidated buildings. Sergeant Simian looks at the horizon and witnesses a herd of strange humanoid robots that walk on all four coming to their direction at great speed. They appear white coloured. Their face is heavily deformed and has one mechanical eye in the center. They have an open, drooling mouth with razor sharp teeth and blood in their gums. They are partially mechanic and have long extremities. Their body is thin and partially covered with metal. Simian recognizes that these are not Dr. Robotnik's robots.
Tig, Bull, Spot, Sergeant Simian and Sonic attack with all their might while Elias looks at them in fear hiding beneath some ruins. Sonic uses his homing attack and his speed while the rest use their guns. They defeat many robots and Elias joins them but are soon outnumbered as more and more keep coming. They become surrounded. With little ammunition left and with not much opportunities, Tig orders Sergeant Simian to initiate Plan B. Simian blasts a hole on the ground with his gun, grabs Sonic and Elias and jumps inside it as the rest of the team hold the robots back.
In Knothole, Tails boards his Tornado and goes to search for Sally. He is attacked by Dr. Robotnik's robots while in air ending up crash landing somewhere in a mysterious forest.
Meantime, Princess Sally has reached an abandoned theme park. She takes out her computer N.I.C.O.L.E. but is not responding. She hears whispering noises and spots a strange shadow entity lurking in the darkness. It is tall and slender and has a humanoid appearance. It stares at her until she decides to get going. Suddenly, she is attacked by zombie-like, humanoid robots (the same that appeared previously). She tries to fight them using her sword but in vain. She loses her sword and one of them grabs her by the throat with its long and slender arm and holds her in the air, trying to strangle her. One of them bites her arm in attempt to drink blood. When it is about to devour her with its mouth, an arrow strikes the monster in its eye. It lets off Sally from its arm and screams in agony covering its eye with its hands. More arrows come out of nowhere and kill them. Mobian warriors then appear and fight them with arrows and swords. Sally loses her consciousness and falls to the ground.
Sonic, Elias and Sergeant Simian are now in the underground tunnels of Absidia. Sergeant Simian managed to get a gun, the Chaos Emerald tracker and a torch, which he lights. He guides the two through the underground mines of the Humans. They are filled with yet more decaying cities which have been buried beneath the earth after so many years of existence in complete abandonment. Sonic stumbles upon an ancient mural depicting a group of men dressed up like wizards wielding sceptres. He also notices what appears to be a horned creature extending its arms over them. Next to it, there are flames and dead bodies. Sergeant Simian tells him that these are things of the Old World they should not speak of. At that moment, Elias grabs a rock and throws it down the abyss, supposedly just for fun. The rock makes a loud noise which attracts the zombie-like humanoid robots towards them. Simian scolds Elias and the three start running.
In Milridion, Dr. Robotnik is losing signals from his robots. He is suspecting that someone or something is destroying them rampantly. He
Kerry muzzey The fall of Palladio.
Robotropolis rising
Sally wakes up in a hut. She goes outside and finds herself in a village inhabited by wolves. As she wanders around, she stumbles upon Lupe the Wolf, the leader of the Wolf Pack, who takes her to the fire to dine with her. There, she encounters Tails, who was shot down by one of Robotnik's ships on his Tornado and ended up there. While discussing about Sally's intentions, two little Human girls, Aerial and Athena playing around approach Lupe, referring her as their mother. Lupe explains to Sally and Tails that she rescued these two orphan Human girls when they were just infants. She found them in a city the Humans had abandoned when fleeing from war. She took them and grew them up as part of the Wolf Pack but without ever forgetting that they are Humans. Ever since, she has treated them as her own children and believes deeply that Humans and Mobians can live peacefully together if they follow the example of these two innocent children.
At that time, the village is attacked by the Humans. Dr. Robotnik himself appears and addresses the wolves. If they surrender and give him the
Princess Mononoke - The Demon God
Dr. Robotnik's invasion in the village of the Wolf Pack
Chaos Emerald, he will spare their village, but should they try and resist, he will not hesitate to kill every single inhabitant. The Wolf Pack denies and fights back bravely but is no match for Dr. Robotnik's high-tech weaponry. Sensing their defeat, Lupe tells Sally to take the children with her and escape with Tails to the forest, where they will find protection. With tears in her eyes, Sally farewells Lupe and promises that she will rescue her in the near future.
Sonic, Elias and Simian fight their way through the underground caverns of Absidia until they reach the surface and escape. Simian tells the two to head to Calicornia without him to get the next Chaos Emerald while he takes care of some business. Thus, Sonic and Elias head to Calicornia. Calicornia was a casino-themed city owned by the notorious criminal mastermind and gangster Kid Cruel. Its dazzling buildings with colourful, neon lights, luxurious casinos and pinball tables made it an attraction site for both Humans and Mobians. It was a city of amusement and money but also of sin, criminality and corruption. Paradoxically, it was the only place where Humans and Mobians could live together without fighting against themselves. Nevertheless, Sonic and Elias' intentions are not the money, but the yellow Chaos Emerald that is somewhere in this city.
Metropolis soundtrack - 01 metropolis
Calicornia
Meanwhile, in the grandest casino of Calicornia, Bunnie works as an entertainer. As soon as her shift is over, she returns to her dressing room. She looks herself into the mirror with disatisfaction and complains about her life and how she is being harassed by customers. She finds solace in her yellow Chaos Emerald that she keeps inside a small box and holds it in her hands. Sonic and Elias are watching from the window. Elias thinks of busting in through the window and persuading her to give them the Chaos Emerald but Sonic convinces him that that would be immoral. Then, Bunnie is called by Kid Cruel to go visit him in his room. Sonic and Elias walk the streets of Calicornia thinking of a plan to get the Chaos Emerald.
Sonic and Elias come up with a plan. They disguise themselves (since children are not allowed in) and enter the casino where they pretend to be customers. Sonic orders a drink from the bartender (who is the only good guy in the club), who calls Bunnie to deliver it to them. Before long,
The bartender in Calicornia
Tig Stripe, Bull Bones and Spot Long walk in the abandoned ruined cities of the Humans until they find a small helicopter left by the Humans. They repair it rapidly and fly to Knothole.
In the village, Dr. Robotnik interrogates Lupe. He demands to know where the Chaos Emerald is. Lupe remains silent prompting Robotnik to order his troops to burn down the entire forest. He then takes one of the wolves and roboticizes him completely as a demonstration of his newest invention and as a consequence of Lupe's actions. He then returns back to Milridion taking the surviving wolves with him as hostages where he tortures them.
In the meantime, Sally, Tails and the two children escape through the forest while being hunted down by Dr. Robotnik's army. They eventually
The remains of Mother Wisp
The story switches to Sonic, Elias and Bunnie. Bunnie tells the two about her past and how the Chaos Emerald was given to her by her uncle. Because she was the only member of her family she knew when she was little, it means a lot to her. She thanks Sonic and Elias for saving her. Shortly after, they are attacked by a group of robots. Sonic recognizes them as Dr. Robotnik's and attacks them together with Elias. They learn from the robots' communicator that Dr. Robotnik is planning to invade Bivalidur, a city northeast of Calicornia. Before they leave, Sonic notices that one of the robots is wearing a silver plate around its name that says "Scott" and Sonic remembers that he has seen this plate... or maybe this robot before, when it was human.
Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik returns to Milridion where Snively tells him that Commander Aldrich wishes to see him. Aldrich accuses Robotnik of turning the human soldiers into machines with his roboticizer and sending them to their death as mindless robots. Robotnik, however, accepts the accusations and orders his robots to arrest Aldrich as he is of no use anymore and roboticize him. He declares that anyone who does not comply with his decisions will be executed. He orders an attack against Bivalidur for the 5th Chaos Emerald. Robotnik now has full control over humanity and renames Milridion to Robotropolis.
Princess Sally, Tails and the two children Aerial and Athena are led by Thyanys to Bivalidur. It is a very old fortified city consisting of multiple castles, protected by high, impenetrable walls and heavy artillery. It pertained to the Mobians and it was ruled by the D'Coolette family. Sally and the others arrive just in time when the city is preparing for war against the Robotnik Empire and the Humans. Sally speaks to the king about the Chaos Emerald but he refuses to give it to them or to Dr. Robotnik. It is not long before Dr. Robotnik's army, now predominantly comprised of never-before-seen robots and heavy infantry makes its first move against Bivalidur. The Mobians try forcefully to defend their
A roboticized Commander Aldrich now a mere, souless puppet of Dr. Robotnik
walls but soon Dr. Robotnik's army breaks through the walls and enters the city where they clash with the Mobian warriors awaiting inside. The battle is fierce. Numerous Mobians having underestimated Robotnik's army are killed. Before long, Sonic, Prince Elias and Bunnie arrive and join the battle. Prince Elias, Sally and Antoine, the king's son, confront one of Robotnik's mechs piloted by a roboticized Aldrich while Sonic faces against Snively and his mech, who is after the Chaos Emerald in the city (Snively is appointed by Robotnik as commander of his army). Sally, Tails, Antoine, Bunnie and Elias rush to Sonic's side and together they defeat Snively, who escapes.
Harmony of Heroes - Dream Band
Music in the dance scene
Most of Robotnik's army is destroyed, the remaining ones retreat after suffering severe losses. From the Mobians' side, there are many casualties and Bivalidur has suffered a lot of damage. Nevertheless, victory is bestowed to the Mobians, and especially their new and unexpected guests. Sonic and Sally are once again reunited. The king hosts a celebration in honour of their victory. Sonic and Sally dance together in a comical scene where Sonic dances so fast that bewilders everyone. The next day, the king gives the heroes the Chaos Emerald from Bivalidur's vault, after being convinced by the oracle. Antoine, his son will aid the heroes. The team, now comprised of Sonic, Tails, Princess Sally, Bunnie, Prince Elias, Antoine, Athena, Aerial and Thyanys march to their next destination, guided by Thyanys.
In Milridion, now renamed to Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik learns of his army's defeat and failure to retrieve the Chaos Emerald. In his tower, he's interrogating a Human soldier. One of his robots has the soldier grabbed from his face forcing him to kneel before Robotnik. The robot keeps clenching even stronger as Robotnik does not receive the answers he expects, causing the soldier to bleed. When he is done with him, the robot clenches its fist hard enough and squashes the soldier's head and spilling blood on the floor. Robotnik orders a massive attack against the Mobians and sends a special unit to lure Sonic and his friends to Robotropolis, where he himself will deal with him. In the meantime, Tig, Bull and Spot are flying in their small helicopter to Knothole when barely among the clouds they see a small fleet of battleships. They wonder what it could be but decide to stay away from it and continue to Knothole. Sonic, Sally, Tails, Elias, Bunnie, Antoine and the two girls Aerial and Athena, led by Thyanys are heading to their next destination. They find a farmhouse where a Human resides and Sally decides to give the children to them. The team continues until they stumble upon Fang the Sniper and his gang of bandits, who seek revenge. In the midst of the battle, Dr. Robotnik's robots appear from the sky and abduct Bunnie and her Chaos Emerald, taking her to Robotropolis.
Robotropolis, center, image from Cloud Atlas
Thus, Sonic and the team head to Robotropolis, the Human's biggest city as well as Dr. Robotnik's base of operations. It was a grim looking megalopolis constantly bathed in a sea of fog and fumes as a result of Robotnik's ambitious industrialization of the city. The buildings were old and dark, reserved for the poor but as one delved deeper into the city, it changed to a metropolis with super-tall skyscrapers. Robotnik[ has already begun the reconstruction of his new city on top of the crumbling Milridion. The streets were crowded with soldiers, who were slowly beginning to be replaced by Dr. Robotnik's robots. Tanks and infantry were to be found everywhere as well as discarded Egg Pawns, Dr. Morgan's original robot helpers who were deemed useless by Robotik and thrown into disregard, fated to wander around the streets of Robotropolis like beggars. In the center of the city lied the premises of RobotnikCorp; a complex consisting of a factory and a skyscraper, surrounded by numerous nuclear chimneys. Just the look of it sent shivers down the spine of Sonic and his friends. They would have to traverse the city and reach Robotnik's headquarters where Bunnie was being held captive.
In Knothole, Tig, Bull and Spot ask to speak to the king but Warlord Kodos informs them that he is unavailable at the moment and orders the three to join the Mobian army that is headed for Koratis in order to battle against Dr. Robotnik's army. Rotor Walrus in the meantime, is suspecting something on Kodos' behaviour.
Sonic running at high speed in the blue-light highways of Robotropolis; image from Cloud Atlas
Sonic and the team disguise themselves and walk the streets of the city unnoticed. There, they witness the harsh conditions humans are living in as well as the maltreatment of the old robots. Sonic slowly begins to grow an understanding of the human way of life and how Robotnik has oppressed his own people. They also stumble upon a Mobian wolf from the Wolf Pack sleeping on the pavement whom Sally recognizes. He tells her that Lupe has been captured by Robotnik and is being held captive. They sneek into Dr. Robotnik's base by going underground through the pipeline. Thanks to his speed, Sonic manages to pass through the cameras, disable the guards and open the gates. The heroes enter the abandoned laboratory facility where it now serves as a prison and torture room and they decide to split up. Sonic and Sally go together while Tails, Elias and Antoine go in another direction. Eventually, while searching for Bunnie Sonic and Sally reach a dead-end. They suddenly hear a voice telling them "You won't find anything here". They spot an old, short scientist walking from the shadows. Sally recognizes him as Dr. Nate Morgan, one of her father's former scientific advisors and old friend. He tells them that long ago , he and Dr. Robotnik were colleagues and were working together here to build the first artificial life form. Dr. Morgan succeeded in doing so, creating the first Egg Pawns, which would serve for the betterment of mankind. However, Dr. Robotnik's intentions were different, as he had already begun forming his plans for world domination and extermination of the Mobians. He framed Nate Morgan by accusing him of conducting experiments on fellow Humans, which resulted to his imprisonment. Dr. Robotnik took control of their company, renaming it to RobotnikCorp and perfecting the robots. Thanks to his genious, he was able to create very sophisticated war machines which he now intends to use to build an army of them and conquer the world.
Nate takes Sonic and Sally to the roboticizing room. There, they witness corpses of Mobians, which had been brutally tortured and experimented on prior to their execution, some of them missing limbs, some of them fresh and some of them partly roboticized. Blood is everywhere. Sally falls to her legs and closes her eyes, unable to watch. In the end of the corridor they find an unconscious Bunnie. The three rush immediately to her side only to find out that one of her arms and her two legs have been completely roboticized. She is also missing her Chaos Emerald. Sonic takes her on his shoulder and they escape quickly where they meet up with Tails, Elias and Antoine. The alarm goes off and Sally wishes to go back to save Lupe, but it is too late as the place is being infiltrated by Human soldiers.
Robotnik's aircrafts shooting at Sonic
The heroes split into three: Sonic will go face Dr. Robotnik to get the Chaos Emerald, Tails, Antoine and Nate will head to the engine room by Nate Morgan's request while Sally, Elias and Thyanys will escape from the city with Bunnie. Sonic manages to hijack a car for Sally, Elias and Bunnie to get in and escape as he runs super-fast in the blue-lit highways, dodging cars and missiles while being chased by Dr. Robotnik's aircrafts as he heads to Robotnik's tower to confront him.
Robotnik meets Sonic for the first time in person and introduces himself.
While escaping from the city, Sally gives the wheel to Elias and tells him to escape without her. She jumps off the vehicle and heads alone to rescue Lupe. Robotnik unleashes a vicous chase against Sonic, seeing that his aircrafts are falling one after the other from their own mistakes. He mobilizes all his units, but still they are no match for Sonic's speed. Eventually, Robotnik's aircrafts surround Sonic. Robotnik descends from one of them and introduces himself to Sonic, telling him to surrender. He then reveals a roboticized Sergeant Simian and the two face each other out. Robotnik spots Sally running in the city and has the tanks fire at her. As she tries to run, she gets shot and falls down. Unable to react, Sonic watches in horror and struggles to defeat Simian. Tails, Antoine and Nate reach the engine room. Nate takes out a cube-like device from his pocket and places it in a socket. The device activates, causing all of the Egg Pawns to revolt. They pour out to the streets; grab whatever weapon they find and attack against the Humans and their robot successors. Robotnik watches the havoc in his city from above and orders his ships to fire at them. The endless shooting starts a fire, which rapidly spreads. Just as Simian is about to throw Sonic off the street, he regains his consciousness for a brief moment, pulls Sonic up and with full force he throws him in the sky, yelling "LIVE SONIC!!!". Baffled and unexpected, Robotnik orders his troops to shoot at and destroy Simian's robotic body. Sonic jumps and attacks Robotnik but Robotnik escapes, merges inside a flying robot and confronts Sonic personally. After sustaining critical damage from a long battle, Robotnik retreats to his base and orders Snively to begin Operation: ENDGAME and unleash his powerful weapon.
Robotropolis burning
With Robotnik's army distracted by the Egg Pawns, Tails, Nate and Antoine escape from the base and retreat while Elias returns back with the vehicle and rescues Lupe and a small number of wolves, unaware of Sally's fate. All of a sudden, the city starts trembling. The heroes cannot believe their eyes: Robotnik's massive battleship rises into the air accompanied by hundreds of flagships, turning the night sky into day with their lights. The airships fire at the city to intensify the fire, which soon spreads and consumes a very large part of the city. As the city burns down, Sonic hectically tries to find Simian's head but only manages to find his arm, which he takes with him. He then jumps into the fire trying to find Sally. He wanders around crying for her name until he starts losing his consciousness from the smoke and falls down. Then, a hand appears, grabs him and pulls him back to his feet. Unable to see who it is, the mysterious figure runs together with him and guides him to Sally, who is lying unconscious in a pool of blood. Sonic grabs her in his arms and runs full speed. As he starts running, he briefly turns his head back to see who it was. He sees a Human boy watching at him as it is consumed by the fire.
Back in Knothole, the king is informed about Dr. Robotnik's actions from Lupe and the Wolf Pack, who arrive just after the events in Robotropolis. Kodos urges the king to prepare for battle at Koratis, where the Human soldiers are heading. The King agrees and mobilizes an army of 3000 Mobian men to battle. As soon as the team hears this, Tig, Bull and Spot decide to go to Robotropolis to investigate.
The fire kept burning overnight until it ceased. Sonic is informed by Nate that Sally has lost a lot of blood but he managed to remove the bullets from her body and she will be ok. Elias is constantly looking after her and blames himself for what happened to her. Bunnie wakes up to discover that her body has been partially roboticized and bursts into tears. Morgan tells Sonic that Simian came to Robotropolis a few days earlier and returned him this device by which he could control the Egg Pawns. He told him that this would help him confront Robotnik and that Sonic would come and save him. Simian also told him how much he believed in Sonic that he can defeat Robotnik and end the war. With this thought, he marched to his own death as he could now die happily, knowing that the world will once again know peace and prosperity. He was captured by Robotnik and roboticized. However, it turns out that even in roboticized form, one can still retain his soul and not forget how it's like to be a living being, in Simian's case because of love. Sonic decides to take a walk around the ruined city while in deep thought. Robotnik betrayed his own people and ruthlessly let them die or get eaten by the fire. He constantly thinks of that boy that saved his life. He feels guilt for not grabbing its arm and rescuing it. Sonic now understands that Humans themselves are good and that they can live peacefully together with the Mobians. As he wanders around the city, he steps on a banner with the word "FREEDOM" painted on it. Sonic grabs it and grips it tightly in his fist.
Robotropolis after the fire
Sonic declares that he will go get the next Chaos Emerald and confront Robotnik by himself as he does not want to put his friends' lives in danger any more. Before he leaves, he tells them to return to Knothole, where they will be safe and takes Thyanys with him. Everyone is upset. The team breaks. Elias takes his unconscious sister and after he quarrels with Tails, who insists on going with Sonic, finds a vehicle and departs for Knothole. Bunnie also goes with him while Nate and a confused Antoine remain in Robotropolis. Some time later, Tails, Nate and Antoine are found by Tig, Bull and Spot, who arrive at Robotropolis crammed in their small flying machine. They inform the three that they spotted Robotnik's massive fleet heading towards the Land of the Sky and that he is preparing for an attack. The six go find Sonic to inform him immediately.
The monstrosity being formed
Sally wakes up in her bedroom in Knothole. There, she speaks to Rotor and is told of the situation in the kingdom and about Kodos' suspicious behaviour. She finds and speaks to Warlord Kodos, accusing him as a murderer of both Mobians and Humans right in front of the public while demanding that no more blood be spilt. She realizes from his words that it was him who orchestrated the incident involving the death of the Human boy by the Mobian child all along and made a secret agreement with Dr. Robotnik in order to spark the war. Widely denounced by the public, Sally is imprisoned in the dungeon while Kodos, now appointed as Warlord heads with his army to Koratis to slay Humans and satisfy his war-loving behaviour.
The monstrosity Sonic and his friends battle against
Sonic reaches the city of Koratis where he fights against an army of Dr. Robotnik's mechs. Meanwhile, Elias, Bunnie and Rotor rescue Sally from the dungeon and by her command head as quickly as possible to Koratis to stop Kodos and help Sonic. Tails, Antoine, Morgan, Tig, Bull and Spot arrive at Koratis to aid Sonic as well. Sally arrives at the battlefield and witnesses the fearsome war between the Mobians and the Humans with both sides fighting fiercely. She grabs the Sword of Acorn and confronts Warlord Kodos herself. Kodos easily manages to disarm her but before he can finish her off Elias appears and blocks Kodos' strike with his sword. Elias fights bravely until his sword breaks to pieces and is stabbed by Kodos. King Maximilian witnesses his son's injury and charges against Kodos to protect his children. In the meantime, Sonic and his friends finish off all of Robotnik's mechs until they face a new threat. These anthropomorphic shadowy entities that walk on all four, partially covered in metal which they had witnessed before on their journey appear in vast numbers. The monsters, once defeated, fuse with each other and form a gigantic monstrosity with 6 limbs, tentacles and metal compartments. Sonic, Tails, Antoine, Bunnie, Tig, Bull, Spot and Nate battle against it and discover that inside of it there are fused corpses of Humans. Eventually, the team defeats it and takes the Chaos Emerald that was hidden inside of it. In the meantime, King Maximilian fights against Warlord Kodos, until he gets shot in the back by a robot and falls to the ground. Sally grabs her sword and stabs Warlord Kodos thus disabling him.
A Human head inside the monster's body
Sonic and the rest appear at the side of their king. Warlord Kodos then confesses to the team that he is a long-time member of the Order of Ixis. These words are enough for Nate to understand Kodos' true intentions and that evil far more worse than Dr. Robotnik is rising. Nate tells them that war, death, pain, hatred, suffering, anguish, misery are all forces generated by the Mobians and the Humans' hostility towards each other and their energy feeds an evil that helps it grow and expand on this planet. Kodos refers to it as The Shadowmaker and is responsible for mobilizing these shadowy entities, which serve as its minions because that evil itself cannot operate on its own. It is too weak and is in need of energy far more powerful than the energy it currently feeds on. The Order of Ixis serves as its faithful servant and is responsible for inciting the war undercover in order to produce these emotions but Kodos is not the sole active member. Sonic questions whether Robotnik is intending to manipulate this force since he does not know of the Order's existence.
The battle between the Humans and the Mobians ceases. Tig, Bull and Spot tell their king that Robotnik's massive fleet is heading to the Land of the Sky, presumably to take the last Chaos Emerald and conquer the floating islands. Sonic decides to go confront Robotnik himself at his flagship. All his friends wish him good luck. Sonic and Tails run to Knothole, take Tails' Tornado and go after Dr. Robotnik's fleet.
Robotnik's armada. The Decimator in the center.
It is evening and the sky is purple-red. Sonic and Tails pursue Robotnik's fleet in the sky. At first, the fleet is hiding under the clouds. Then, the ships ascend and reveal themselves and start shooting at the Tornado. Tails manages to avoid every shot until suddenly the main flagship, the Decimator emerges from below. Tails tries to approach the flagship for Sonic to land on while dodging all the attacks. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik addresses to the Echidnas in the Land of the Sky and demands that they either surrender and give him the Chaos Emerald or there will be consequences. He unleashes the Decimator's most powerful weapon: a massive cannon, powered by 2 Chaos Emeralds that shoots and destroys a significant chunk of the Land of the Sky. The blast almost blinds everyone and creates a mushroom cloud visible in the horizon. The Echidnas prepare for battle. They activate the defense units of the floating islands and ready their ancient airships for war.
The Land of the Sky's ancient defense units are activated.
Sonic jumps on the Decimator's deck where he battles his way through Robotnik's robots and bypasses its defenses. He and Dr. Robotnik eventually confront each other, Dr. Robotnik inside his newly built mech powered by the two Chaos Emeralds. When Sonic sees Robotnik he exclaims "Hey Eggman! Over here!", which infuriates him. The two have an aggressive fight jumping from battleship to battleship in the midst of the battle against the Echidnas in the Floating Islands. Before long, Robotnik manages to disable Sonic and brutally beat him so badly that he starts bleeding. However, Sonic doesn't give up and with a smile on his face charges continuously at Robotnik but gets repeatedly pushed to the ground. Robotnik declares that this is the end of the Mobians and the beginning of his own rule across Mobius. All of a sudden, the Chaos Emeralds start glowing and generate a powerful light which blinds everyone on board.
Into the Zone of Silence
Sonic and Dr. Robotnik wake up in a dark and foggy place known as the Zone of Silence. Robotnik realizes that Chaos Control must have been triggered and they have been teleported in this place. They both walk reluctantly on the same small path which leads deeper into the dark area. They witness one of these shadowy, partially mechanical servants of the Order of Ixis engorging on a Human cadaver. It spots them both but retreats deeper into the Zone of Silence and Sonic decides to follow it. Robotnik follows him. The two then arrive in an open field and witness a figure standing on top of a hill with his arms raised in the air and surrounded by the 7 Chaos Emeralds. The figure, who appears to be hooded, chants and summons before him a giant fiend which is revealed to be Ixis Naugus , the entity which the Order of Ixis serves. A powerful and ancient wizard, he has now grown powerful thanks to all of the negative energy produced by the Mobians' and the Humans' actions against each other. The hooded figure is revealed to be Snively, who betrayed Robotnik and became one of the most prominent members of the Order of Ixis. Sonic then remembers about the mural he and Simian had seen in the underground tunnels of Absidia. It was Ixis Naugus, who has existed for thousands of years and identified as an entity that grows to life whenever there is enough negativity in the world for it to feed on. He used Chaos Control to bring all of the Chaos Emeralds together to accomplish its goal. It absorbs the Chaos Emeralds and shapeshifts into an amorphous black cloud that rises and covers the entire dark sky. It heads to the Land of the Sky to expand and drown all of Mobius into darkness. Snively departs in his mobile and takes control over Robotnik's Decimator and his armada. Sonic and Robotnik are left stranded in the Zone of Silence surrounded by a myriad of Ixis' servants ready to engorge on the two.
Robotnik pulls out his blaster and shoots at the creatures, creating a path that helps him and Sonic escape. They run to Robotnik's mech, which was also teleported here by the Chaos Control and escape from the Zone of Silence using his Mobile. They go after Ixis in the Land of the Sky and arrive in the midst of the battle between Robotnik's (now Snively's) armada and the Echidnas'. Sonic jumps on the main flagship, the Decimator and heads to confront Snively while Robotnik hijacks one of his battleships, takes control of it and orders his troops to attack the Decimator. Sonic and Snively himself face each other until Dr. Robotnik rams the Decimator with one of his battleships and causes Snively to lose his footing from the explosion and fall off the deck. Sonic jumps from one battleship to another until he lands on the Land of the Sky.
The Mobians have all boarded their flying machines and are watching from afar. Ixis covers the sky above the Land of the Sky and unleashes his minions from his body. Sonic, the Echidnas, the Humans and Robotnik's robots fight against them. Then, Sonic is attacked by Ixis and is consumed by his shapeshifting body. Inside of him, Ixis communicates to him visions of the Old World, the Forgotten War and the Great War, all of which show to him the evil that has always been present in the hearts of Humans and Mobians and is what binds them together. Sonic refuses to succumb to Ixis' words and focuses his thoughts on his friends and on all those Humans who helped him throughout his journey. This causes the Chaos Emeralds to shine, transforming Sonic into Super Sonic. Everybody watches in awe as the sky is turned bright by Super Sonic's light. Ixis tries to attack him but Super Sonic repels the attack. Super Sonic and Ixis battle in an epic and climatic fight that takes them to the skies of the Land of the Sky. In the end, Ixis sustains enough damage to weaken him significantly. Super Sonic then gives the signal to Robotnik, who unleashes the cannon from the damaged Decimator and delivers the final blow to Ixis.
The Wisps appear.
Super Sonic loses his consciousness, transforms into Sonic and falls down the sky. Thyanys and the rest of the Wisps appear and form a platform with their bodies that catch Sonic in mid-air and place him on the ground. Robotnik watches from afar and departs with his destroyed fleet. Sonic wakes up to find himself surrounded by his friends. He tells them briefly about the visions he saw without much explanation and that Ixis will one day rise again from the Zone of Silence when hatred plunges the world of Mobius. That is why they must ensure that Humans and Mobians live peacefully together in a world of peace, prosperity and freedom.
THE END
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxunu25aM7c (Credits theme)
Cast[]
| Cast (move the cursor on the images to see the names) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
                   
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- Jun'ichi Kanemaru/Ryan Drummond as Sonic the Hedgehog:
The film's protagonist. Early in the film, Sonic is introduced as a nobody who lives with his uncle and advertises his chili-dogs dressed up as a chili-dog, widely unknown by the public. Soon, however, he is chosen by the king secretly to undertake a task to find the 7 Chaos Emeralds before Robotnik does. It is his energetic spirit, his kind and incorruptible soul that leads King Maximillian to this decision, that he is the only one who can face Robotnik. Throughout the film, Sonic develops an understanding of the harsh reality the Humans and the Mobians experience and it is when he finds a flag among the rubbles with the word "FREEDOM" written on it, left by the Humans, that he is imbued by the concept of freedom. From then on, Sonic acknowledges that his purpose is not only to defeat Robotnik; he is destined to end the endless war between the Humans and the Mobians so that the world can know peace once more.
- Kotaro Nakamura/Mike Pollock as Dr. Ivo Robotnik:
Sonic's arch-nemesis and the main antagonist of the film. In the film, Dr. Robotnik is the Chairman of Robotnik Corp, a multi-dollar corporation that produced the first artificial intelligence machines known to man. He is depicted as a cunning and calculating individual who is willing to do everything to achieve his goals, even if this means enslaving the entire humanity. He has lost all his comical aspects of his character from the games and he is always calm, never losing his temper as he does in the games. He is a ruthless dictator, a genious inventor and a powerful speaker. Early in the film, Robotnik manages to climb to power, imprison Nate Morgan, his fellow scientist and co-inventor of the robots, take control of Milridion, renaming it to Robotropolis and lead the Humans to a war against the Mobians. However, as the story progresses, Robotnik reveals his true intentions to the Humans and eventually enslaves them to the point where roboticizes his own people. Robotnik has received a drastic redesign, which can be seen here. Throughout the entire film, he is refered to as "Dr. Robotnik". He also refers to himself as Dr. Robotnik. The name "Eggman" is never heared in the film, except once from Sonic close to the climax when he taunts him, to which Robotnik (for the first time) becomes enraged. Since the Japanese voice actor of Dr. Robotnik in the games passed away only recently, Dr. Robotnik's Japansese voice actor is currently unknown.
- Fumiko Orikasa/Kath Soucie as Sally Acorn:
The daughter of King Maximillian Acorn and future heiress of the throne of the Kingdom of Acorn. Initially, her role in the film is to act as a member of the Council of Acorn, voting against the idea of going to war with the Humans. Later, however, when King Maximillain decides to send troops to fight in the war, Sally secretly learns of the Chaos Emeralds and their power. She steals the Sword of Acorn from her father and sets off alone to go find them before Robotnik does. In the film, Sally has a strong sense of justice and morality. Even though she is a princess, she rejects any lifestyle associated with luxury and is willing to sacrifice her own life for the sake of her people and humanity. Sally is always refered to as Princess, even by Sonic himself. Her design is largely unaltered from her Pre-Genesis Wave appearence in the Archie comics. The only difference is that her hair is slightly longer.
- Ryo Hirohashi/Kate Higgins as Miles "Tails" Prower:
Sonic's trusted mechanic and best friend. He initially joins Sally's quest to find the 7 Chaos Emeralds in order to help Sonic. His design is the same as in the games.
- Rumi Ochiai/Shanelle Workman as Bunnie Rabbot:
A rabbit employed as an entertainer in Calicornia's most luxurious casino who is captured by Dr. Robotnik and is partially roboticized during the middle of the film, thanks to which she acquired new powers. She joins the team in order to find the 7 Chaos Emeralds. In the English dub, she has an Australian accent. Her design bares some resemblance to her Pre-Genesis Wave appearance in the Archie comics. Her roboticized form can be seen here.
- Masashi Ebara/Rob Paulsen as Antoine D'Coolette:
A cowardly yet kind-hearted swordsman, his bravery is tested various times throughout the film as he serves as a comic relief character. He accompanies Sonic, Tails, Sally, Bunnie and Elias on their quest. His design is largely the same from his Pre-Genesis appearance in the comics. Like in the series, Antoine has a French accent.
- Mitsuo Iwata/Matt Levin as Prince Elias Acorn:
Sally's older brother. Like Sally, he has a strong sense of justice but has a strong animosity towards the Humans. He is in favour of going into war against Robotnik and the Humans and is the one to eventually persuade his father to do so. When he learns that Sally has run off with the sacred Sword of Acorns, he mounts his horse and goes after her to retrieve it. He eventually becomes part of Sonic's team on their journey to find the Chaos Emeralds, even though he is less willing to do so. He is a master swordsman. His appearance in the film would look like this.
- Hideyuki Tanaka/Jim Cummings as Tig Stripe:
An old Freedom Fighter who agrees to guide Sonic on his quest to find the 7 Chaos Emeralds, together with his team Spot Long, Bull Hound and Sergeant Simian, after an order by the king. He acts as the de-facto leader of the team and serves as a comic-relief character, along with Bull and Spot. He is absent-minded and careless but possesses great intellect.
- Taketora/Phil LaMarr as Sergeant Simian:
Sergeant Simian is a member of the old Freedom Fighters along with Tig, Spot and Bull. He is quite different from the other three in that he does not serve as a comical character but on the contrary as a tragic one. Simian is also an original character not present in the comics. He is the oldest of them and a wise individual. He is a character who, even though his knowledge and skills are unknown to the others or are overshadowed, he acknowledges his own value. He acts as a mentor to Sonic and is the one who understands him better. He is the very first character we see in the film and the only character who does not originate from the comics, along with Commander Aldrich.
- Masaru Hamaguchi/John DiMaggio as Bull Bones:
An old Freedom Fighter and close friend of Tig Stripe. He is a short-tempered bulldog obsessed with the military. Even though he acts strict, he is in fact very goofy. He acts as a comic-relief character along with Tig and Spot as the three can never seem to agree on one thing or work co-operatively.
- Michihiro Ikemizu/James Lyon as Spot Long:
The third member of the old Freedom Fighter team. He also acts as a comic-relief character along with the aforementioned characters. His design is slightly altered from that in the comics. In addition to wearing a completely new outfit and boots, as the rest of the old Freedom Fighters, he wears glasses and has a grey goatie and hair.
- Joji Nakata/James Earl Jones as Warlord Kodos:
A legendary Mobian-lion warrior of old age who led the Mobians in the Great War against the Humans many years prior to the events in the film. He encourages the king to go to war once again against Robotnik. Kodos is an ambitious and war-loving individual. While his swords have tasted the blood of many Humans, deep down he himself is a victim of war. Having fought in so many wars for so long, Kodos has lost his compassion, has been physically wounded and mentally injured. He is nevertheless adored by many, respected by others and feared by his enemies. His appearence reflects his courage, magnificence, yet the dark side of his personality. He has multiple scars in his body including the loss of his left eye, which is permanently closed.
- Mitsuru Ogata/Andy Serkis as Snively:
Robotnik's nephew and right-hand man. In the film, Snively acts as a subordinate of his uncle, always doing his biding. Most of the times he
Snively's redesign
appears next to him. Snively's behaviour is suspicious throughout the film and his role becomes very important later during the story. Of all the characters in the film, Snively has received the most drastic redesign. He sports a ninja-like appearance, wears a stealth suit and uses a spear as a weapon during combat. His face appears deformed and his teeth misshapen. He overall has a more scary vibe.
- Shinya Kote/Morgan Freeman as Nate Morgan :
One of the most brilliant inventors of humanity and an assistant of Dr. Robotnik. Together, they co-invented the first robots. However, prior to the events depicted in the film, Dr. Robotnik framed Morgan by accusing him of experimenting on Humans, which led to his imprisonment and Dr. Robotnik's acquisition of the corporation, renaming it to Robotnik Corp, in order to steal the robots and use them for war against the Mobians and world domination. Morgan is later freed by the Freedom Fighters and, surprisingly, accompanies them throughout their journey for the Chaos Emeralds.
- Tetsu Inada/Daniel Woren as King Maximilian Acorn:
The king of the House of Acorns and ruler of Knothole, together with his wife Alicia Acorn. He is the father of Sally and Elias Acorn. His appearance in the film is the same as in the pre-Genesis wave in the comics. In the end of the film, he becomes imobile when he receives a shot on his back by one of Robotnik's robots during the war.
- Kappei Yamaguchi/Jim Cummings as Rotor Walrus:
A mechanic, member of the Council of Acorn. His role in the film is significantly reduced compared to that in the Archie comics. His main role is to communicate with the Freedom Fighters concerning the situation in the kingdom. Although a Freedom Fighter himself, he does not join the rest on their journey. He is the only one that knows Sally's secret plan to go find the Chaos Emeralds on her own. Rotor's design incorporates elements from his current appearance in the comics with those of his new one. He appears to be more aged than his comic counterpart.
- Atsuko Tanaka/Pam Dougherty as Lupe the Wolf:
Leader of the Wolf Pack. She is a kind wolf warrior who rescues Sally when searching for the Chaos Emeralds. She gives her temporary shelter and guides her to the forest where the Wisps live. Her design is more or less the same as in the comics.
- Banjo Ginga/Brian Bloom as Commander Aldrich:
A commander of the Humans, he works in close association with Dr. Robotnik in carrying out the war. He is roboticized by Robotnik when he realizes that he and the rest of humanity has been betrayed by the evil genius. He and Sergeant Simian are the only characters that were made exclusively for the film.
- Hiroaki Hirata/Nolan North as Kid Cruel:
A ruthless, simian gangster and Mafia member, owner of the Emerald Casino at Calicornia, which attracts Human and Mobian customers alike. The yellow Chaos Emerald is in his possession.
Two Human girls, members of the Wolf Pack, adopted by Lupe Wolf when they were found abandoned in the decaying cities of the Old World. Sally remarks how the Humans and the Mobians could live peacefully together by following the two girls' example.
- Takahiro Yokokawa/Jeff Bergman as Fang the Sniper:
A dastradly bounty-hunter who is encountered by Sonic and Elias in Calicornia. He fights using numerous pistols and machine guns.
- Ryuzaburo Otomo/Sean Schemmel as Ixis:
An ancient wizard from the Old World, a wicked entity that resides in the Zone of Silence, formed by the fusion of three different entities: Agunus, Nusgau and Suguna; one of the most powerful evil sorcerers of the Old World who lived long enough to witness every major historical event of planet Mobius. In the film, he is portrayed as a wicked, shapeshifting entity that it too weak by itself to leave the Zone of Silence and operates through its servants who comprise the Order of Ixis in order to acquire the 7 Chaos Emeralds and restore itself to power. Ixis feeds on negative energy such as hatred, death, malice and suffering and grows stronger whenever the world is consumed by these emotions. It is able to create shadowy entities from its body that are vesseled into semi-robotic monsters by S****** as an extension of itself in order to carry out its intentions. Ixis does not speak, except through Sonic's mind and in an incomprehensible language. He is always referred to as Ixis; the name Naugus is never heared in the film. He differs very much from his appearance in the comics, resembling more a skeletal demon than a troll, clad in a long purple robe that covers his entire body, his signature colour. He is described as being 13 meters tall. He also possesses long horns.
In addition to all these characters, Mina Mongoose, Big the Cat, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, N.I.C.O.L.E. (in her computer form) and many more characters make cameo appearances in the film. Some characters such as Thyanys the Wisp and the Chao do not have a voice actor.
Development[]
The film was originally conceived in September 2015 and was announced on the same month of the year. Its working title was Whisper of the Wind and the phrase itself was to be said by Sergeant Simian during some part of the film. However, fearing that the title Whisper of the Wind would obscure the fact that it was a Sonic the Hedgehog film, it was changed to Sonic the Hedgehog so that the protagonist's name was featured in the title. It was also done for marketing reasons. The film was intented to celebrate Sonic's 25th anniversary.
How the storyline was developed
Early in development it was decided that the film would be traditionally hand-drawn anime as opposed to 3D CGI animated as Juely, the team's creative consultant felt that a 3D CGI film 109 minutes long would be tiresome for the eyes of the viewer. The story of the film was conceived by Juely and provided the basis for his treatment, on which Hideaki Anno would write the storyboard and the film's script. He was chosen primarily for his long experience in anime and for his talent for being a storyboarder, animator, director, writer and even voice actor in numerous important anime films, particularly on Nadia: the Secret of Blue Water and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, on which the film draws inspirations. Suichi Kakesu was chosen as editor
Layout of the film's storyline during the third act.
while Ko Otani was hired to compose the original score for the film. Finally, Nakashi Nakamura was chosen as the director of the film mainly because of him directing A Tree of Palme, released in 2002, from which the film draws numerous elements such as background design, art direction, numerous creatures as well as the Wisps' new design as more jellyfish looking.
Juely decided that the film's premise follow its own continuity outside of the video games. It ended up mixing elements both from the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA and predominantly from the Archie comics. The film's setting taking place during a post-apocalyptic era where Humans and Mobians are in war with each other, before Sonic and Dr. Robotnik having become significant characters in their worlds, let alone meet each other, made the film, according to Juely, stronger and highlighted the blue hedgehog's origins, giving them much more realistic aspects. Numerous characters from the Archie comics were brought back, with some of the old voice actors reprising their roles from the TV show. Other characters underwent drastic redesign to the point where they were unrecognizable but still kept some elements from the comics, such as Ixis' signature purple colour in his garments.
Ayreon - Ride the Comet
Music for the American and European trailer
Major importance was placed on the film's theme, which would be delivered by means of powerful imagery and strong dialogue. Character designs were made to give the film a more mature look, the settings, the art direction and the tone more dark and overall the atmosphere of the film much darker and violent as compared to the games. Indeed it was intended from the start that the film featured lots of violence, blood and gore, an unfamiliar feature in Sonic games which the creative consultant had hoped would help the film antagonize other well-known anime films in the industry. The film was first released in Japan in April 23, 2016 and is scheduled for release in the other continents by end of April.
Soundtrack[]
The film's soundtrack is composed by Ko Otani. He is renowned for his soundtrack in the game Shadow of the Colossus. All tracks are written by Ko Otani. Below are listed all of the tracks in order of appearance within the film. Theme of Love is the film's de facto main theme. It is played numerous times throughout the film and has two different versions in the CD; track 11 and 30. Secrets of the Old World contains some parts of Theme of Love while A Hero Lives is a remix of Theme of Love.
- Whisper of the Wind
- Knothole
- Sonic the Chili-Dog
- The Decision is Made
- Night in Knothole
- Robotnik
- War Continues
- Legend of the Chaos Emeralds
- Princess Sally
- I Believe in Freedom
- Theme of Love
- Ambush in the Shadows
- The Wolf Pack
- Into the Forest of Wisp
- Calicornia
- Bivalidur
- Reunion
- Robotropolis
- The Robots' Rebellion
- The Great Fire
- Sonic and the Freedom Fighters
- Koratis
- The Way Forward
- Secrets of the Old World
- Kodos' Betrayal
- Confronting Robotnik
- Ixis
- Battle of the Floating Islands
- A Hero Lives
- Theme of Love (Reprise)
- End Credits
Parent Advisory[]
- Violence/Gore: 7/10
The film contains a very large amount of violence, something unprecedented to the Sonic franchise. Blood is very often seen when a character is being hit or physically abused, and this happens many times throughout the film. Guns are used by virtually every human on screen. Shootings, explosions, beheadings, experiments, stabbings, burnings, executions, tortures, roboticizations and deaths are also very frequently seen throughout the film. Dr. Robotnik, the film's main antagonist is much more evil than his game counterpart. Numerous characters are shot repeatedly right on screen. For example, in one of the scenes, Sally is shot three times by a gatling gun-shooting tank, in her abdomen, chest and arm and falls down to the ground covered in blood. When Sonic finds her, she lies unconscious in a pool of her own blood. Elias is stabbed in his chest, King Maximilian is shot in his spinal cord making him permanently disabled, Sally is nearly choked to death, a Human soldier has his head squashed by a robot's grip (the scene is one of the most violent in the entire film) and Sonic is beaten up by Robotnik's mech so badly that he breaks his arm, leg and bleeds from his mouth, nose and arms. A man falls off a deck 5000 meters from the ground, a boy is consumed by a fire and is presumably (definitely) killed, a man is seen being eaten alive by shadowy monsters and an entire forest and all its inhabitants are burned down. The process of roboticization may be found disturbing for some younger viewers.
- Frightening/Intense Scenes: 7/10
In spite of the film being based on a children's video game with happy little animals, it has an unusually dark atmosphere and mature tone that might be scary for children below the age 8, if not completely unsuitable for its large amount of graphic imagery and frightening scenes. The film contains some very frightening monsters which walk on all four, have long, slender extremities, are partially covered with metallic parts, have a severely deformed face, including one eye and razor-sharp teeth filled with blood. In some scenes they are seen eating fallen Human soldiers, some of them being alive. Internal organs and bones are seen. Numerous scenes with shadowy entities lurking in the darkness and then disappearing. Ixis' appearance and accompanying music may be scary for young audience. The monstrosity Sonic and his friends face in one part of the film is very frightening in appearance. Human heads with their eyes open can be seen inside of it. Numerous corpses are seen throughout the film. The scene with Sonic and Sally in the roboticization room together with Nate is very intense and may upset even older audience. There are scenes in Robotropolis with Mobians being tortured, abused or experimented on which are very disturbing.
- Profanity/Bad Language: 1/10
Just one use of the word "Damn" and "Bastard".
- Drugs/Alcohol: 1/10
There is some minor alcohol use by some gamblers in Calicornia but nothing special.
- Nudity/Sexual Content: 0/10
- Discrimination: 1/10
In Robotropolis, Egg Pawns are treated as either junk or slaves. Mobians are regarded by Humans as filthy animals while Mobians see Humans as criminals responsible for the destruction and the current state of the planet.
Behind the Scenes[]
- The film takes place in a seperate continuity from that of the games or the comics. It takes place on the fictional planet of Mobius 1000 years after an event referred to as "The Fall" when the alien race Xorda bombarded the entire planet with Gene Bombs which wiped out a very large percentage of humanity while giving rise to the Mobians, who evolved from animals after the effects of the gene bombs on the latter's genetic code. The world which Sonic lives in still has some remnants of the Old World, the world as it was before its destruction, such as decaying cities of the humans which in the film are referred to as Ancient Relics by the Mobians. As such, the world of Mobius differs significantly from its comic counterpart, being a devestated world set in a post-apocalyptic timeline where Humans try to restore their lost civilization and the Mobians to survive.
- The Old World possesses many secrets which are never revealed in depth in the film. Instead, the viewer is left with only a vague impression of how much technologically advanced the Old World was.
- Sonic and Dr. Robotnik meet each other for the first time in the film, but it is implied that Dr. Robotnik knows of Sonic prior to the events in the film. Sonic, on the other hand does not know who Robotnik is.
- Initially in the film, Dr. Robotnik's army consists only of Human soldiers. As the story goes and he slowly builds his empire, Humans are replaced by robots but still Humans comprise a bigger part of Robotnik's army throughout the entire film.
- Ixis Naugus has been completely redesigned (compare this to this). He no longer resembles a troll but a 12 meter-tall, shape-shifting demon god. A more detailed description of his in-film appearance can be seen in the Cast section. In the film he is simply referred to as Ixis.
- The Land of the Sky is an extenion of the Angel Island. Only Echidnas reside there.
- N.I.C.O.L.E. is depicted as a cell-phone sized computer carried by Sally. A digital, 16-bit lynx can be seen on the screen as a reminiscent of her lynx appearance in the comics. She does not speak at all in the film and makes a brief cameo.
- The Chaos Emeralds' status goes like this: 1st Chaos Emerald acquired by Sonic, Tig, Bull, Spot and Simian in Isoldir. 2nd Chaos Emerald already possessed by Dr. Robotnik from the beginning. 3rd from Calicornia by Sonic, Elias and Bunnie, then stolen by Robotnik. 4th found by Sally, Tails, Aerial and Athena inside the Mother Wisp in the forest of Wisp. 5th acquired by Sonic and the team in Bivalidur. 6th found inside the monster fought by Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in Koratis. The 7th was in the Land of the Sky, close to where Sonic and Robotnik were fighting on top of the Decimator. Ixis activated Chaos Control when he sensed them all being close together.
- The shadowy entities Sonic and Sally witness during the beginning of the film are an extension of Ixis' soul manifesting as amorphous human-like figures in search of a vessel. The vessels are provided by Snively, who uses Robotnik's roboticizer to build bio-organic bodies that house Ixis' shadows. Their purpose is to reproduce negative energy in the world so that to enforce Ixis and empower themselves by eating human or Mobian flesh and drinking blood.
Reception[]
The film received mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised the film's coherent narrative yet simple but original storyline as well as the messages of freedom, righteousness and love that it conveyed to the viewer, the emphasis on Sonic's trademark speed as well as the action packed scenes. The film's voice acting was also very well received. In addition, critics praised the art direction, the imaginative locations as well as the hand-drawn animation style, which conveyed a sense of nostalgia. Character development was praised by some for being true to the comics and games while not praised by others for being too superficial. Reactions to character designs were mixed. Another well-received feature was the addition of many characters from the comics and games. The film's musical score was highly acclaimed by critics and is regarded as one of the best compositions in Ko Otani's career next to Shadow of the Colossus.
The film was criticized for its over-the-top violence, never before seen in the Sonic chronicles. While some critics praised its value in giving a more serious, mature and dark tone to the film, most critics felt that it was either "unnecessary" or that it held off younger audience from viewing the film. Moreoever, critics insisted that violence does not match with Sonic's character since his games are intended for children not for adults. The use of guns was not viewed as a good addition by some. Creative consultant Juely denied the allegations and defended the creators' decision stating that "it would help place Sonic in a more mature level and therefore to compete with other anime films in the anime film industry". The film's dark tone was also not well received by many critics. Other reviewers felt that the film's duration was too long for a Sonic film. The film holds a 55% in Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4 in IMDB.