Season Review: Knuckles Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

While adjusting to his new home on Earth, Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) trains Deputy Sheriff Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) in the ways of the Echidna warrior. However, he soon comes face-to-face with “The Buyer” (Rory McCann), the former lackey of Doctor Robotnik intent on obtaining Knuckles’ power. 

Our Take:

Many have heard how the speedy blue hedgehog defied the odds in the video game movie industry. When we first saw the trailer footage for the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie five years ago, we immediately assumed it would be another game-turned-movie adaptation destined to fail, mainly due to how ugly and unrecognizable Sonic’s original design looked. However, its director, Jeff Fowler, and Paramount heard the outcry and delayed the movie to redesign the protagonist, and the rest is history. The 2020 adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog became one of the most successful video game movies ever and received praise from critics and fans for its cast and entertaining plot. Its sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, received familiar praise while acknowledging the faithfulness to the games, including the introductions to Miles “Tails” Prower and the spiky-knuckled brute himself, Knuckles the Echidna.

Knuckles was among the sequel’s highlights due to his gullible and warrior-esque personality and Idris Elba’s phenomenal voice work. Seriously, you can never go wrong with Elba when he’s in a movie or show, whether he’s playing a role in live-action or voicing a CGI anthropomorphic animal. Of course, given how beloved “Movie Knuckles” is, Hollywood couldn’t resist creating a spin-off centering on him, continuing the trend of spin-offs involving popular supporting characters as main leads. Knuckles is returning to the big screen later this year with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which shows plenty of promise due to the inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by Keanu Reeves, aka John Wick. I hope you’re ready to see a child get shot on the biggest screen imaginable.

Until then, we have a spin-off series featuring Knuckles on Paramount+ to keep us Sonic fans occupied. The question is whether the formula that made the films successful can work in a television format. But to answer that question, we must ask ourselves what elements made the Sonic the Hedgehog movies function as fun, family-friendly experiences. The Sonic movies are far from cinematic masterpieces, but they repeatedly prove that video game movies can be good if the effort exists. Despite their formulaic plots and hit-and-miss screenplays, the films were powered by the cast, including Ben Schwartz as Sonic, humor, fun action sequences, visual effects, easter eggs, and, more importantly, heart. To the surprise of no one, Knuckles just happened to understand the assignment given by the films.

If you enjoy the Sonic movies for what they are regarding those elements, you’ll likely get the same reaction from the hard-hitting and suitably entertaining six-episode event. Much to my satisfaction, Knuckles took the skills and power-ups that made the movies good and applied them to the titular echidna’s journey of self-discovery and Wade’s quest to find the warrior within himself. However, it also garnered some of the films’ flaws that slowed their momentum. Most of us may point out the human characters and their subplots as their Achilles’s heel, especially the wedding scenes in the sequel, similar to the other live-action/CGI hybrid family movies. Luckily, they’re some of the only films from the genre in which the humans are actually tolerable, mainly Jim Carrey’s Robotnik. But it’s mostly the formulaic narratives that struggled to knock past our expectations.

While it’s hard to deny the entertainment value of Knuckles adjusting to Earth’s customs, it’s also challenging to ignore that it’s something we’ve seen dozens of times. The series takes multiple elements from content involving road trips, master/apprentice relationships, and fish-out-of-water tales and applies them to its six-episode arc. The former two aspects depict Knuckles being chosen by the spirit of the Echidna warrior chief, Pachacamac (Christopher Lloyd), to teach Wade the ways of his kind while traveling to Reno for a bowling tournament. There are also the two rogue G.U.N. agents, Mason (Scott Mescudi) and Willoughby (Ellie Taylor), seeking to capture Knuckles and deliver him to the mysterious “Buyer”. In short, it’s the first Sonic movie but with the comic relief as the protagonists instead of Sonic and Tom. The similarities were tough to disregard, and the narrative felt rushed near the end. However, regarding the execution and direction, the series retains the enjoyment and silliness of its predecessors long enough to punch out its shortcomings. But, the real success is expanding the depth of its supporting characters while maintaining their humorous charm from the films, making them worthy of carrying the show’s weight without the iconic blue hedgehog.

This is mainly due to its cast from an acting and voicing perspective. Idris Elba was again excellent as the titular character in terms of his performance and charisma. Unfortunately, like the films, the classic video game character gets overshadowed by the human characters, mainly Wade Whipple, surprisingly more so than usual. While Adam Pally from Happy Endings and Mindy Project fame still did decent work as Wade, his comedic chops would likely depend on your thoughts of him in the movies. Those who dislike Wade in the films may not find some appeal in him as the protagonist, but people who do would be pleased with his arc, especially regarding his relationship with his estranged father (Cary Elwes). It’s also nice that the show brought back Ben Schwartz and Colleen O’Shaughnessey to reprise their roles as Sonic and Tails, even if it’s only for the first episode.

Despite some nifty talent involved, a couple of new characters struggle to match the charming appeal of those from the films. A few of them are the villains, particularly the Buyer, Robotnik’s former partner. I did not disrespect Rory McCann, but his character was pretty stale compared to Jim Carrey’s psychotic roboticist. Scott Mescudi and Ellie Taylor did all right as the two rogue G.U.N. agents, but like the Buyer, these foes are nothing too special. However, I would choose Edi Patterson as Wanda, Wade’s FBI sister, as the weakest character in the series. Despite Patterson’s attempt at her performance, Wanda’s self-centered personality was a thorn in Knuckles’s knuckle that’s ironically more painful than humorous.

Overall, Knuckles is a fun albeit flawed bonus level that honors the source material and film adaptations through its humor and heart. However, the series is surprisingly slightly downgraded from the movies regarding its plot and stakes. It offers plenty of predictable narrative punches, and its focus on Wade over the echidna warrior may leave plenty of fans more frustrated than satisfied. Regardless, it’s still an entertaining and visually serviceable addition to the Sonic Movie Universe that’ll keep us fulfilled until the blue blur’s third big-screen adventure. Regarding its cast, suitable visuals, and enjoyable humor, it’s far from a knock-out, but it does showcase how far we’ve come with the franchise since Sonic’s massive cinematic redesign.