Tim Burton's Sonic

Tim Burton's Sonic is a 2023 stop-motion animated action-adventure, science-fantasy film. It's based on the video game series of the same name by Sega, which features an original story not based on any of the games or taking place within the same universe as the games; instead it is billed as a film that characters within the main Sonic the Hedgehog multiverse have watched, in which Sonic was once a human before he became a hedgehog. The film was directed by both Tim Burton and Mike Johnson, co-written by John August and Pat Casey, produced by Galyn Susman and Allison Abbate, and stars Finn Wolfhard as the titular character, alongside Richard E. Grant as the main villain, Dr. Robotnik.

Tim Burton's Sonic tells the story of a high school student who becomes a blue hedgehog with supersonic speed from a magical hedgehog artifact and gets engaged in a conflict with a mad scientist who's plotting for world dominance. The concept of a human Sonic was introduced when it was used in TGS (Tokyo Game Show 2001). After finishing working on the first season of Wednesday on Netflix, Burton pitched the idea of making a original story about Sonic the Hedgehog, with the animators giving the film a "cinematic" look.

The film premiered and released on December 18, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, voice acting, plot, storyline, darker tone and entertainment value.

Plot
In Green Hills, California, Cillian Darcy has an ordinary life. He lives with his abusive father and six older brothers. He had friends that he could trust, but they ditched him because someone started a rumor about him, and for that, his girlfriend, Emily Pond, was forced by her parents to stop seeing Cillian after he made a fool of himself in front of them.

When Cillian discovers that Emily starts hanging around with a new group of people from a cult called the Centre, he decides to leave town where he discovers an odd/supernatural/curiosity store owned by a mysterious owner and caretaker Dr. Beaumont. He discovers a collection of animal statues and decides to buy a hedgehog. Out on a two-lane country road, Cillian enjoys riding out on a motorbike and enjoys his road trip. He sees the passenger in the truck reach for a shotgun, saying he will scare him. As they pass him, the passenger attempts to fire, but fails. The truck passes Cillian who stops, and rides towards them. He then rides down the road towards the pickup as it makes a U-turn. Passing in the opposite direction, the passenger fires the shotgun again, this time through the driver's-side window. Cillian's riderless motorcycle flies through the air and comes apart before landing and becoming engulfed in flames. When the hedgehog statue in his jacket begins to glow blue, Cillian manages to stand up and catch up with the passenger.

Cillian runs pretty fast and attacks the passenger as payback for blowing up his motorcycle. When the weather changes as the rain becomes to pour down, Cillian passes out on the middle of the road in exhaustion as the hedgehog statue glows blue in his jacket. At the morning, Cillian wakes up to find that the hedgehog statue is gone, and that he is fully transformed into a blue hedgehog with white gloves and red shoes. Dr. Beaumont appears and explains that the hedgehog statue granted him supersonic speed. He tasks Cillian to collect the seven ancient gemstones known as the Chaos Emeralds in a mysterious bizzare world similar to Earth and warns him about the dangerous creatures that are guarding the emeralds. Unknownest to them, a mysterious scientist known as Dr. Robotnik is hunting them, planning to find the hedgehog and use his powers to complete world domination. He forms an alliance with Cillian's father to find and capture him.

In the bizarre world, Cillian and Dr. Beaumont manage to get the first Chaos Emerald after saving a village of foxes from one of Robotnik's robots, which lets Cillian learn of Robotnik's plans and his father's alliance with him. Over the course, Cillian also earns praise from the friendly animals residing in the world as a hero; an owl nicknames him "Sonic" due to the sound Cillian emits everytime he uses his speed, which he also enjoys. Back on Earth, Sean, Ian and Dylan discover that Emily was with the Centre due to being brainwashed by Mr. Mack and attempt to rescue her. She discovers that Cillian is missing and leaves the cult to find him. Rex confronts Cillian's former friends named Jason Vernon, Max Jones, Michael Boy, Lindsay and Melody Watson, Rebecca Cohn and Mikey Greenberg, blaming them for betraying their friendship with him due to his regret.

Learning of Emily's purpose to find Cillian, Dr. Beaumont (through an astral projection) advises her to find the "soulmate" of the statue Cillian bought in his store. Emily discovers the pink hedgehog statue and uses it to find Cillian. Back in the bizarre world, Cillian and Dr. Beaumont discover the second Emerald is at the volcano, and retrieve the third one after a encounter with a tribe of echidnas who inform him of an prophecy concerning the Master Emerald. Just then, Cillian experiences strange visions of himself following a different, darker path, but brushes it off and continues his quest.

Back in the human world, Sean, Ian, Dylan, Rex, Alex and Randy come to terms that they regret bullying Cillian instead of defending him from their father. When they discover that their father made an alliance with Robotnik, Ian and his siblings decide to do some research on what they are planning. Emily, now transformed into a pink hedgehog, discovers the other animal statues are somehow glowing before she is transported by Dr. Beaumont to the bizzare world to find Cillian as he explains that he is the seventh son of a seventh son. Cillian remembers the day his mother left him when he was eleven. He closes his eyes and remembers before and after she left.

When he was young, Cillian had a strong passion for surfing, and his mother was very supportive of him. He has fond memories of her standing on the beach watching him surf. When his father emotionally and physically abused them. Finally having enough of his abuse, Mrs. Darcy divorced him and abandoned Cillian, leaving him to be abused more by his father and his six older brothers. All the sudden, Cillian also remembers that his mother left with a gemstone which looked just like the Chaos Emeralds, and resolves to find her. But envisioning that Robotnik somehow knows what he knows, Cillian resolves to travel alone for Emily's safety, with Dr. Beaumont promising to look after her. He discovers the gemstone his mother took is located in the darker side of the jungle and manages to find it, which is revealed as the fourth emerald. His mother appears, and reveals that she used the Emerald to split the timeline, to split Cillian in two alternate timeline versions of him to exist in one universe; one is an evil alternate who seeks revenge on his father for abusing him, and the original one who becomes Sonic. She lets him have the emerald so he can try and save the world.

Ian and his siblings discover that Robotnik has been planning to find the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald for world domination and Cillian's former friends already knew about his plans when they showed no regret for turning on him. Emily learns that the fifth Chaos Emerald is at the Center and resorts go back to the human world to retrieve it with Dr. Beaumont's help. After finding the sixth Emerald and hiding it in a pocket dimension with the others with him, Cillian is confronted by his father and former friends, who resort to give him away to Robotnik. They are subsequently betrayed by Robotnik, who takes over Darcy Industries' technology and reveals himself as an older, alternate version of Cillian who became a nihilistic sociopath as a result of his father's abuse, and his former friends' and brothers' bullying of him.

Dr. Beaumont arrives and uses his magic to distract Robotnik, allowing Cillian to run to the ancient temple where he finds the final Chaos Emerald, as well as a compass that can lead him to the Master Emerald. The compass guides him to the labyrinth. While running through the traps, Cillian realizes that he couldn't use his real name anymore and accepts his new form and powers before finally reaching the Master Emerald.

TBD

Cast

 * Finn Wolfhard as Cillian Darcy/Sonic the Hedgehog, a high school outcast who was picked on by his father, six older brothers, and peers. As a seventh son of a seventh son, he bonded with a mystical hedgehog statue and became an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog with supersonic speed.
 * Jason Issacs as Dr. Beaumont, a man who is the caretaker and owner of an odds/supernatural/curiosity store. He happens to be a sorcerer who has been watching Cillian since he was young. He eventually becomes a mentor for Cillian.
 * Emma Myers as Emily Pond/Amy Rose, Cillian's upperclass girlfriend who bonded with a mystical pink hedgehog statue and became an anthropomorphic pink hedgehog.
 * Richard E. Grant as Cillian Darcy/Dr. Ivo Gerald Robotnik, a dastardly mad scientist who turns out to be an elderly, nihilistic version of Cillian from an alternate timeline, but the conflict with the blue hedgehog would soon lead Robotnik to become the arch-nemesis of Sonic.
 * Mike Pollock appears as Robo-Robotnik, the robotic version of Robotnik. In the post-credits scene, he transported his consciousness into a more advanced body with a new name: Dr. Eggman. Pollock is the only voice actor to reprise the role from the video games.
 * Johnny Depp as Philip Mack, the leader of the Centre, a cult that Emily Pond joined.
 * Liev Schreiber as Mr. Darcy, Cillian's abusive father, who is the founder of Darcy Industries.
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Darcy, Cillian's mother who abandoned him when he was eleven
 * Logan Lerman as Sean Darcy
 * Devon Werkheiser as Ian Darcy
 * Noah Centineo as Dylan Darcy
 * Austin Abrams as Rex Darcy
 * Joel Courtney as Alex Darcy
 * Chandler Riggs as Randy Darcy
 * TBA as Jason Vernon
 * TBA as Max Jones
 * TBA as Michael Boyce
 * TBA as Melody Barnes
 * TBA as Lindsay Watson
 * TBA as Rebecca Cohn
 * TBA as Mikey Greenberg

Development
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Animation
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Music
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Critical response
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