Sonic the Hedgehog 3 once again proved that the franchise is the pinnacle of video game movie adaptations, and it set a mind-blowing record in the process. The third installment of Paramount’s live-action Sonic the Hedgehog franchise upped the ante by adding Keanu Reeves’ Shadow into the mix and giving fans double the amount of Jim Carrey. The combination of humor, action, and authentic video game characters has been a winning formula for the movies over the first trilogy. They’ve all been wildly successful as a result, and that is not lost on anyone.
It is no secret that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 broke some significant records for video game movies. It had the all-time high critics score on Rotten Tomatoes before dropping to 85%. Sonic the Hedgehog also became a $1 billion movie franchise at the box office, which is rare for video game adaptations. I’ve always been aware of these movies’ overall acclaim and success, especially in contrast to the idea of the video game movie curse that always came up before these films. What I didn’t realize until now is just how much of an outlier Sonic the Hedgehog‘s reception is.
Sonic The Hedgehog’s Trilogy Has As Many Fresh Movies On Rotten Tomatoes As The Rest Of Video Game Movie Adaptations Combined
Yes, This Is A Real Stat
Each Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been met with positive critical reception on Rotten Tomatoes. They’ve even gotten better with each installment. The first Sonic the Hedgehog has a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a 69% RT score, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has an 85% rating. That gives Paramount’s movie franchise based on SEGA’s video games three “Fresh” ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Plenty of movie trilogies and franchises have achieved that milestone. However, Sonic‘s three Fresh scores are as many as every other video game movie combined.
Excluding the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, only three other video game movie adaptations have a Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Werewolves Within (86%), The Angry Birds Movie 2 (72%), and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (68%) are the only others. Sonic the Hedgehog has three Fresh movies on Rotten Tomatoes in as many installments spread across five years. The remaining 50 video game movie adaptations only have three Fresh scores, leaving 47 of the 50 as Rotten.
Sony’s Gran Turismo movie, which has a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, is excluded from the list, as it is based on a true story including the video game rather than a video game adaptation
The fact that Sonic the Hedgehog has as many Fresh movies as the rest of video game movie adaptations combined is a truly mind-blowing stat. Hollywood has been mining video games for movies for decades. It’s well-chronicled how unusual it is for video game movies to succeed, but this record puts it in a new perspective. Essentially, the Sonic trilogy is better than the entirety of adaptations Hollywood has done.
Sonic & The Other Fresh Video Game Movies On Rotten Tomatoes All Have Two Things In Common
A New Video Game Movie Trend Is Forming
Of the six video game movies that have Fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes, there are similarities between them. In each case, the movies are faithful adaptations of the games that will please the core audience at the very least. This includes having accurate characters, deep cut video game references, and more. All lean into humor to varying degrees, while there’s a fair amount of action in most. That helps boost the wider appeal with general audiences who might not be as familiar with the games. That’s a formula for success that video game movies have not always followed.
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Video Game Movies With Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Scores |
|
|---|---|
|
Movie |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|
Werewolves Within (2021) |
86% |
|
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) |
85% |
|
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) |
72% |
|
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) |
69% |
|
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) |
68% |
|
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) |
64% |
It’s also worth noting that all the Fresh video game movies have come out over the last few years. 2019 was the first time it happened. The success has even translated to video game TV shows like The Last of Us, Fallout, Halo, and the Sonic spinoff series Knuckles receiving positive critical reviews. While there are still Rotten video game movie adaptations, it does appear that Hollywood has started to figure out how to better turn the games into movies (or shows) that critics and audiences will enjoy.
I’m Not That Worried Sonic The Hedgehog Will Lose This Video Game Record Anytime Soon
The Next Wave Of Video Game Movies Are Not Guaranteed Hits
Sonic the Hedgehog is currently be running laps around the video game movie adaptation trend with its critical reception, and I don’t really think that is going to change in the near future. The next video game movie is Jason Momoa’s live-action Minecraft movie. The trailers do not inspire much confidence that it will be something critics respond positively to. I fully expect it to be another Rotten video game movie adaptation. David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn could go Fresh if it delivers on the thrills, but horror can be hit and miss with critics.
2025’s remaining video game movies could go either way. Mortal Kombat 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 are both sequels to video game movies that critics did not like. It’s possible the sequels will learn from the criticisms levied against their predecessors. However, there’s also a good chance both movies are bigger hits with audiences than critics once again. Even if another upcoming video game movie gets positive reviews, Sonic the Hedgehog 4‘s arrival in 2027 could help the franchise tie with the rest of the genre again after Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
