The Batman Episode: Robert Pattinson in ‘The Batman’ + The Best ‘Batman’ Actors and Villains Ranked + Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Review

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I am movie Mike on Twitter and Instagram at Mike Destro and this week, in this episode, I am talking about Batman. It's the Batman episode because we saw the first look of Robert Pattinson in the new movie The Batman, and it's pretty interesting and causing some debate online or whether or not Robert Pattinson will be a good Batman because everybody kind of knows him as Edward of Colin from Twilight. So we'll get into all we know about that movie up to this point from the director. I'll also rate the best Batman actors of all time and the best villains, so all that coming up in the special Batman episode. And I'll also do a review of the movie I saw over the weekend, Sonic the Hedgehog, which a movie that made my most anticipated movies of this year, so we'll find out if it was even any good. And if you're new here, Hi, Welcome to the show. I am Movie Mike. I am also on a show called The Bobby Bones Show, and I produced a show called The Bobby Cast also here on the Nashville Podcast Network. I'm a guy who loves movies. Ever since I was a kid, I watched a bunch of movies and as I got older, I just started reviewing them on my Instagram. A few years later, I have a podcast. But if you end up listening to this podcast and enjoy it, tell a friend about it, and if you don't mind, leave a five star rating and a review on Apple podcast. Just scroll down there. It's really easy to do. It takes about thirty seconds and it helped other people like you who love movies discover this podcast and get in on this action. So that's all you have to do. Or wherever you're listening, just hit that follow button, hit that subscribe and see you get brand new episodes every single Monday. Alright, So with all that covered, here we go with a Batman episode. Let's get started. In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge. He's basically like a walking on MTV, which classes from the Nashville Podcast Network. This is movie movie podcast. So this episode I am dedicating entirely to Batman because last week we had the first ever look at Robert Pattinson as the new Batman, and I want to kind of explain what's going on and what we know so far about that movie, what I think that Robert Pattinson will bring to the role, if people even work as Batman, and then I'll also get into later who I think the best Batman actors ever were and the best villains. So first of all, let's just look at what this movie is going to be. So there has not been a solo Batman movie since the Dark Knight trilogy. Everything that came with Ben Affleck was all just it was Batman versus Superman. He was in the Suicide Squad for a bit and then they did the Justice League. So I think Ben Affleck really never had a fighting shot to be a decent Batman, to show what he could do in that role, because he never really had his own solo, standalone movie. It was a bit of a controversial casting back in the day when that was announced, just because people don't really see Ben Affleck as Batman, or they just didn't think he was that great of an actor. And I kind of feel like Robert Pattinson is getting that a bit now. It's such a big role to play Christian Bale. That's such a good job as the Batman in and now I think it's such a more coveted role, even more so than Joker what we've seen with Lakim Phoenix done a really good job with that. So anybody who's going to play Batman now has a really just high level that they have to come in with. So everybody kind of thinks is Robert Pattinson is still the Twilight guy, and even though that first movie came out over ten years ago, they just see him as Edward from Twilight. But after this first look that we have, if you haven't seen it, the director Matt Reeves posted this like minute long video. It's pretty much just a close up on Robert Pattinson in the bat suit with a really flushed out red look. So it's just this music playing underneath it and you kind of get zoomed in. You see the see the mask, and you see the play and pretty much that's it. There's no voice, no talking to or anything. That's the only thing we've seen so far of this new Batman. So the title of the movie as of now is called The Batman. The scheduled release date is June my thirtieth birthday shout out. UM. The cast, we have Robert Pattinson, Joe Manganello, Colin Farrell, Jeremy Irons, Zoe Kravitz, and Jeffrey Wright so far cast in the movie. Um. Rumors were that Jonah Hill was going to be in it. He's not. He backed out, So this is who we're working with now. I'll get into all of their roles here in a second, but I think this first looks pretty promising. I know he was getting a lot of comparisons as to looking like the Daredevil from the Netflix series, which I think it's all because of that red tint. You could probably argue that the Daredevil suit essentially saw the Batman look, which I don't think it's a bad thing. Hey, I would love it if it was resemble that Netflix series at all, because that's a really great way they pulled off a comic book character and made it super gritty and realistic. So if they get back to that, I think that would be amazing. But with this movie, like I said, it's the first solo Batman movie they've done since the Dark Knight trilogy, and I think they're kind of getting back to Batman as being the greatest detective ever, because that's essentially what he is. Batman is an aid to the police in Gotham City, and although he is a vigilante, he usually works with the police to find the criminal that they're looking for. And in other movies, he's already kind of established and essentially the thea villa that comes to town and he goes in and helps defeat them. But I think with this one, there's no role set plot of the movie, but they're saying it's based on the graphic novel Batman Year One, which is essentially Batman's first year as Batman, where he's kind of figured things out as a detective and essentially solving the crime. So kind of like in the other earlier Batman movies they did, he's essentially gonna be working with Officer Gordon to kind of figure it out, which I think is a pretty cool way to approach this new movie of kind of giving them back of that initial role as just being a detective. There's also really no word if there's going to be any kind of origin story in this movie, which I think it's something they should probably stay away from. They tried it in Batman versus Superman, and I thought it didn't work. I think we kind of know a Batman's story by now, and maybe it's a bit overtold. I think kind of what happened when, like something like Spider Man, we were just kind of over that origin story being told every single time. We kind of got fatigue of that character. And what Marvel kind of did in the new version of Spider Man is just go right into it. Don't get into his back story. You make subtle references to it, but you don't really need to tell or show that again to audiences. I hope they stay away from that in this movie. So let's get a look now at where they are with making this movie. So they started production back on January. You have Andy Serkis, who will play Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred. You have Colin Farrell confirmed to play Oswald copper Pot, also known as the Penguin, which I think is a pretty interesting casting there. I'm not really sure that I could find Colin Farrell as a villain like that. You have Paul Dano, who you might know from a little Bit Sunshine or There will be Blood. He will be playing the Riddler. You have Zoe Kravitz you may know from Big Little Lives, she would be playing Catwoman. Jeffrey Right from West World will be playing James Gordon, and then of course you have Robert Pattinson playing Batman. So this movie has had a pretty long journey as far as getting made. They started pretty much coming up with this idea back in before all of the Ben Affleck Batman movies came out, and after the first reactions of that, they were like, Okay, maybe we're not gonna really have Ben Affleck move forward with this project, and he eventually later tweeted that, like, you know, I'm glad to see this being taken into production, but I'm not going to be involved in it. It was a pretty peaceful departure between the studios and Ben Affleck. So when I first heard that Robert Pattinson was going to be Batman, I think I had the reaction that maybe most other people had of like, oh no, it's Edward Collen was gonna be Batman. But the more I thought about it, the more I've just seen his recent work and realized that man, Robert Pattinson is a really good actor, and if you're gonna put somebody to kind of compare. I don't even think you're comparing him to Ben Affleck anymore. I think that came and went never really stuck. So I think people are comparing him to Christian Bale because with this movie they're trying to go that same route of being that dark, gritty batman again. And I think b casting what Robert Pattinson, you kind of get a really great actor who can kind of go and make it that kind of movie again. I think it's hard for characters who get typecast, and Robert Pattinson, I think it's someone who kind of realized that and started taking on. He was more particular of what roles he took after Twilight. He really wanted to lean more George Roles. That kind of showed him as an actor. And I'm pretty confident in this director of Mike Reeves, who if you don't know, he did Dawn to the Planet of the Ape or The Planet of the Apes, which were really great reboots of a beloved franchise and almost I think better than the originals. He also did movies like clover Field, and just by this clip they released, I kind of have a good feeling going into it again. We have a pretty long way to wait until but I'm excited to see more details as they come out about this movie as far as what they're gonna make it about and just what this cast is gonna look like on screen together. But I think when I love the most about this movie is that has just stacked with the villains, which I think is what sets Batman apart from any other superhero franchise. So you're getting Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and Carmine Falcony. So I think if they're able to get the writing right in this script and just have a really good understanding of the concept of this movie and what this story is going to tell, if they're basically on that graphic novel, I think that's awesome. I just think that's really important, and we'll kind of play out on whether or not this will be a hit or another flop, because I think that just the fact that it's stacked with all the villains. You got Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and Carmine falconi all in one movie, I think they have a lot working for him. They just have to kind of nail down the story and get it right, and also just kind of get Robert Pattinson his suit right in the movie, and his character like all while in the suit and while not in the suit. I think if they can get all those things right, this has a great set up to be a good Batman movie, which I think audiences are just ready for. Again. I think it's a great time to come in and I'm excited to see when they release the actual trailer on this and just kind of get more details on the story. So what I want to do X is go through who I think are the best actors to ever play Batman now that Robert Pattinson will be the new one. And I also want to get into the best Batman villains ever because I think what sets DC apart from really Batman, apart from any other superhero is that it has these memorable villains that you want to see who's going to play them. So I want to get into that next here, right after this, on this special edition Batman episode. All right, I want to get into now who I think are the best and worst actors to ever play Batman. I'll rank them from worst to best starting with number six. So I'm only looking at actors who played him on the big screen. Um, nothing in the animated stuff. Sorry, unless there was a movie about him, they are not making the list. So at number six, going back to Batman and Robin, which was arguably, in my opinion, the worst Batman movie ever made, and George Clooney just suffered a bad script of overall just bad concept of a movie and I just never really all him as a great Batman and everything from the suit with the nipples on it, you remember that. I don't know why they decided to get Batman nipples, and it just wasn't a great movie, even though it had some pretty good villains in it. You had Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze, which is a great villain, but it was just overall cheesy one liners and just kind of a hokey movie for Batman. You kind of wasted Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. They threw in Bad Girl in there with Alicia Silverstone, and Bain was in there for really no reason other than being a big muscle for Poison Ivy. He never even said a word in the movie. I think that was a wasted character. I just think overall that Batman and Robin story was one that didn't need to be told in the Batman franchise, but I think everybody did okay after that movie. George Clooney survived at number five. I went the year before with Batman Forever, which Val Kimmer played Batman, which I don't think was as bad of a movie as George Clooney's Bad Man. I think it was overall a decent movie. I actually liked some parts of it, but I didn't feel like Val Kilmer as Batman was really believable and even that he wanted to play the part because he had a pretty bad relationship with the director in this movie. They went like two weeks without even speaking because they were just kind of going back and forth at each other's like Val Kimmer was kind of trying to direct the movie and they were just at each other's throats through out of it, to where it got to a point for two weeks they did not speak on the set and the director was like, those are the best two weeks of the entire production. So that probably has a big part to play into why this movie overall didn't work. So Michael Keaton was actually good to play Batman for the third time in this movie, but after he got the script, he realized that it wasn't going in the direction he wanted it to be in, so he was out. In days later, they cast Val Kilmer as Batman. That signal is not a beeper. He was trying to get under my cape. Doctor try Fireman to take off. There were also a bunch of other potential cast things from Daniel day Lewis, Kurt Russell, Alec Baldwin, Ethan Hank, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, and even Billy Baldwin who were all rumored to be cast as Batman in this movie that eventually went to Val Kilmer. Overall, I think he just didn't really fit the part. He didn't really look right in the suit, and he was outshined in the end by Jim Carrey's The Riddlers. So I put him at number five. At number four, I'm going back to the sixties. This was a movie called Batman the Movie, and probably one of the most iconic people to ever play Batman could arguably say if he did not play Batman, no one else would have to come. I'm giving it to Adam West first of all. R I p Adam West, but I think those Batman just the show alone was iconic back in the sixties, and I remember watching that as a kid on TV Land, and I was already a fan of the Batman movies, but watching the show and watching him in Batman the Movie, I just thought that it was a really important part in Batman's history. The zany kind of throwbacks that people go to now, like the whole they throw a punch and there's a wham bam on the screen. I think that was really important to Batman. How it went from a cheesy sixties TV show turned into movie. I think that was just a really important thing to know for Batman. I think just for the suit alone, it's a reason to put him above the other people. That's an iconic Batman's suit that only Adam West could pull off. And it's also where we get the classic Batman theme song. And even though that movie was poorly reviewed back in the day, I still think it's a great thing to go back and watch to get a history of Batman. That's why I put Adam West at number four, and at number three I'm going Ben Affleck. I know it's gonna be a big controversial just because people didn't really like him overall, but I think he didn't get a fighting chance to be the Batman. Because he didn't get his own standalone movie. He was thrown into kind of this whole world. If they wanted to make him different than Christian Bales Batman, so they made him bulky here, they made the logo different, they made him just overall be a different Batman. And I don't think he was ever really getting in a shot to make the character his own. While when movies weren't great, I didn't hate him as Batman, and I think if they ned to start him out in Batman versus Superman, he would have had a better chance to kind of make that role a bit better, and they could have even tweaked it from going from that to a big flop, because I can look at Ben Affleck and think, oh, yeah, he could be Batman unlike maybe some of these other people, and I think it would have worked with a better script. But I'm glad that they kind of went away from that and went with Robert Pattinson and this new one. I just think overall, he got a raw deal and I enjoyed him suiting up as Batman. So I put him at number three, And before I get into my number two, I want to give an honorable mention to Will Arnett, who played Batman in the Lego movies, Because I'm Batman, don't you think it's time you finally face your greatest fear Snakes, no clowns, clowns, which I think we're just fun movies and kind of bridge my gap of wanting new Batman stuff, but in a different kind of capacity. I thought those movies were fun, especially the standalone Batman Lego movie. He brought a fun, comedic side to Batman that I think nobody really knew that they wanted, but once you saw, you were like, oh yeah, this is actually pretty good. So shout out will our Net as Batman. All right. Getting to my top two now, which there's really only two left you can go with, and I have to go and consider who I think is just a more iconic Batman and who I think just fits the role of like overall what it should be. So at number two, I'm putting Christian Bale. I like that. And even though he put Batman back on the map with the Dark Knight trilogy and bring in his raw and fresh look at Batman, I think overall he was a great Batman and he was able to make it less comic bookie and just give him a more real life character to the role. I think what I love most about what Christian Bell did with him is the voice, Like that's an iconic voice that I think no one else has really done before, and it's something you really remember about those movies, and everybody kind of does their own impression of it. I think the main reason why I didn't rank him higher is because in the first one Batman Begins, that was okay movie. He didn't really have a great villain in that, and I think later we really ended up working for those movies where aside from him being Batman was the villains he had up to go against, and having really great supporting characters with Joker and Bain, and a lot of it too was also Christopher Nolan's vision of the character and story. So while I think overall the Dark Knight movies are the best Batman movies, Christian Bale on his own isn't the responsibility of that. So I put him at number two. And to those who think it should be number one, well, I have this for you, Oh good for you? And how was it? So at number one, we're throwing it way back to the o g Ninete Batman and Batman Returns. I'm going with Michael Keaton. I think it was just such an iconic thing for me as a kid to see Michael Keaton as Batman. He just worked. Now at the time, it was a bit controversial to place Michael Keaton in this role because he was known more as a comedic actor at the time, because he had just worked with director Tim Burton, who did these first two Batman movies on Beatle Juice, and Tim Burton is the one who wanted him to be Batman. He's like, you can't really put a straight up action star in that, which is what they wanted to do. They wanted to cast somebody like a Mel Gibson, Kevin Costin er even like a Bill Murray is who they were wanting to go with. But he was saying, once you have somebody, you take one of those action stars and put him in the bat suit, it's gonna be a little more comedic because you're expecting him just to be a straight up action star. But with Michael Keaton, you have this character who can be like a normal guy and what you put him in a batsuit to fight criminals. It makes more sense. He was just trying to stay away from unintentional audience laughs in the movie by putting him as a character. So Tim Burton fought for him and he ended up winning, and he was cast in the first two Batman movies, which were really great movies, not only for their villains but overall just first the straight up story of Batman. I think his character just said the tone of that initial dark Batman role, and it wasn't until later they came back to it where they saw even more successful Batman. So I put Michael Keaton as the best actor to ever play Batman. And with that, now I want to get into whole I think are the best villains ever in Batman. So I'm just gonna go one villain, one person to play them. I'll do that next. So I think what makes the Batman movies great and really stand apart from any other superhero franchise is that it has iconic villains that you remember and that you want to see played by great actors, unlike Marvel, which I think has a bit of a villain problem because until Thanos really came around, all of the villains were really forgettable. You can't really go back and think of like, oh, who was the bad guy in that movie? They're really just put into that movie for like a one off. Essentially you could argue Venom and maybe some others, but really there's nobody who stands alone. Unlike in Batman and the DC franchise, they have really iconic villains. So I want to go through and just say who I think are the best villains to ever appear on screen, who played them, and the movie they were in. So at number five, I'm going with Tom Hardy as being in the Dark Knight Rises, which I think was just a really great interpretation of beIN just basically just from the mask which everybody did the impression of Plunterford must remo, like, I love doing that impression, and I think it was just such a cool and kind of ominous way to do that character. And Tom Hardy got ripped up with that movie almost unrecognizable the dock I was born in it, molded by it, and overall in that movie, he was really just a character that I rooted against, even though I loved him. He was one that just seemed undefeatable and really made that movie worth watching again. Not the Bane from Batman, and Robin. That band was terrible, but Tom Hardy has been the number five Batman villain of all time. At number four, I gotta go Jim Carrey. I know Batman Forever. It was overall not a great Batman movie, but I think Jim Carrey as the Riddler was the really standout star of that movie. He was just so Jim Carrey in it, playing it so crazily, and I think overall that's what I remember more than movie as a kid. But you can call me the d I think it's funny that him and Tommy Lee Jones in that movie, who played two Phace, just hated each other on set. And I think it's mainly because Jim Carrey out hacked a Tommy Lee Jones and that and his character is just so over the top, so kukie everything from the costume design. I was all for it, and I want to see how it's kind of played out in this new The Batman movie. I don't think he will be a Zany, I don't think he'll be as crazy, and maybe even the costume will be a bit different. But I think it's such a great character. Even from back in the TV show, it was awesome, so I put him at number four. At number three, I gotta go Michelle Phifer as Catwoman and Batman returns. First of all, I love the origin story they had for Selena Kyle and this Batman returns, and I think Michelle Phifer just played that super great. And I think Michelle Peiffer was just a perfect fit for that role. I thought the suit was great, she had some great one liners in the movie now so am I the overall she has been the best interpretation of what the Catwoman character is as Batman's love interest and in the end of the villain and as we see later down the line, Catwoman is kind of a hard story to tell. We saw with the halle Berry flop, and I'm not really even that big a fan of an Hathaway as Catwoman. I think her character just a really embody what cat Woman is, like Michelle Peiffer did and Batman Returns, not to mention probably one of the biggest crushes I had as a kid from a movie character. So I gotta put her at number three. At number two, I'm keeping it in Batman returns and going to Penguin played by Danny DeVito, which I think was perfectly cast, just because Danny DeVito is just such an interesting looking person on his own, and to put him in the penguin costume, in the penguin suit, and the way he played him with just so weird. And so Danny DeVito made him a great villa in that movie. And that's kind of why I would have like to see Jonah Hill and this, because I think you would have brought a similar dynamic, being kind of a comedic actor and taking on this kind of dark, twisted role of a villain like Catwoman. Danny DeVito also had some great one lines in that movie. I played this snacking city like a heart frum now and at times you even feel bad for a minute, but you realize, oh man, he's actually a pretty bad dude. So that's why I put Danny DeVito as the Penguin at number two. All right, now, I'm at number one of the best Batman villain of all time, and it easily goes to the Joker. But I kind of had to make a distinction here on whether I go with Heath Ledger or Joaquin Phoenix, which I've said Joaquin Phoenix is the best actor to ever play the Joker. I think because he was given his entire movie on his own, that he had more time to develop that character and really sink into what makes the Joker twisted. But I always said that Heath Ledger was a more iconic role based on what happened around him, the fact that he locked himself in a hotel room for like two weeks to get the voices down right. So at number one, I have to go with Heath Ledger in the Dark Night as Joker as the best Batman villain of all time. I don't think he's a better Joker. I still say it's Joaquin Phoenix. But I think in Joker with Joaquin Phoenix, he's not really a Batman villain. Batman doesn't really show up in that movie. He is not fighting Batman. It's mainly just the story of Joker. But in the Dark Night he is straight up the antagonist and just the perfect villain ever in any comic book movie, because he is fighting Batman for really no other reason than to fight Batman. He doesn't care about money, he doesn't care about any really control. He just wants to start straight up chaos, And I think that is what made his character so great and what made that movie work is that he really didn't want anything other than to test Batman and what is right and what is wrong? And I think he set the bar for making that Joker character again one of the most iconic characters and biggest roles you can hop into in the Batman franchise. This also plays into why I put Christian Bale as the number two Batman because in this movie he is essentially outshined by the supporting character. While Heath Ledger is in the movie less than Christian Bale, but every time he's on screen, that's just so much more attention grabbing to the audience and the really what you remember most about that movie. So now I hope they don't make another Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix. I hope they're done with it. I don't hope he crossed his past with Batman ever. I think that movie should just stand alone on its own, and I still think he's the best Joker ever. But as far as being a villain to Batman, you gotta go with Heath Ledger as number one. Sticks to blade in my mouth. Let's put a smile on that face, all right. So that's all the Batman for this episode, I got a movie with you. Next. I saw the Sonic the Hedgehog movie over the weekend, So let's get right into that, all right, gonna get into my review now of the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which I'm a nineties kid, so I was going into this movie with the intention of just wanting some good old nostalgia from the video game back in the day. I played Sonic on Saga Genesis, and I just wanted to see a video game adaptation of a beloved childhood character. I was also a really big fan of the Saturday Morning cartoon, so all that going into this, I just wanted it to be at least a decent movie. So right now, here's just a little bit of Sonic the Hedgehog, and then I'll give you some background on what happened with this movie and how it finally came to me. If they steal my power, they could conquer in the universe. You have to help me, please, It's life for death. So this movie had a rough start. It was delayed about three months because when they first released the trailer for the movie, people were just creeped down by the design of Sonic. He looked a little weird and creature ish. He had like really small beady eyes, his hands had like these really weird fingers, and even like the shoe design, people were kind of complaining about. So the movie studio actually listened to people. They went and redesigned the entire Sonic character throughout the movie, which took him about three months to do, and they made his eyes a little bigger in bulgire, more cartoony. They gave him the actual kind of gloves that he wore in the video game, and when they released the trailer again people were generally welcoming to what Sonic looked like now. But again, I think the big selling point of this movie is the fact that Jim Carey was playing Dr robot Nick, and I realized that when I had this in my highly Anticipated Movies episode at the beginning of the year, I was calling him Dr robut Nick because that's what Sonic called him in the cartoons. So if I sounded ridiculous saying that back in the day, that's why that cartoon had that pronunciation embedded in my head. So I went to see this movie and I kind of realized right away that the movie was not made for me, which is fine. I'm a twenty eight year old guy, and they went the route of making this movie pretty much towards kids. I was cool with that. I realized that going into this, of course it's a it's a kid's character the kids video game. Of course they're gonna make a tailored more towards kids. But I don't think it's stopped me from enjoying this movie because I think they actually did a pretty good job on it. I loved the subtle references to the video game. It opens up pretty much. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but it opens up and even just with the paramount sign instead of the stars that has the rings from Sonics from the game. And I think the only thing I kind of was let down by initially is that they didn't really give him a full backstory, which I thought, when you give a character an entire movie, you kind of have at least more than like a few minutes at the beginning to kind of and on what kind of world Sonic comes in. So in this movie, they paint Sonic as an alien creature who has to leave where he's from and he is sent to Earth for safety. So but that whole that whole scene kind of takes place within Like the first two minutes of the movie. You see him there as a kid, and then all of a sudden, he's here on Earth. I would have liked a little more there, just to see how Sonic was as a kid, interacting with other kids and kind of making why like the story of why he was kind of weird and different, and making him leaving a little more dramatic and a little more telling to his character. I would have liked a little more there. But once I actually got into the story, I thought it was pretty good. It gets into it pretty quickly, and I think once Jim Carrey is on the screen, you kind of realize, oh, this is gonna be a pretty fun movie. Because although Sonic gets the star of this movie and he is the cartoon character, I almost think that Jim Carrey Alex shines him a bit as far as cartooning nous. He kind of goes back to those days of him being a spin turish. He kind of has those mannerisms again. And I think my last genuinely came from Jim Carrey more so than they did from Sonic. I thought the voice of Sign did a pretty good job it's Ben Schwartz, who you may know from Parts and Wreck. The rest of the cast was okay. James Marsden plays the cop in this town, which they kind of form a relationship throughout the movie. I just thought the rest of the cast wasn't anything special. So I'm not a great judge of like what great acting is, but I can kind of feel when there's a bit of a disconnect in the animated movie like this, because the hard part about this is Sonic is entirely a c G I character, so they make him all just with a computer put in later, so when they're actually filming the scenes, there's nobody really there they're talking to. So I think that was a little more apparent in this movie. You don't really get it from Jim Carrey's interactions. I think he is a great actor and he can kind of pull that off greatly, but I think the other actors maybe it's a little more apparent than like, oh, they're just talking to nothing, and it's a little harder to exchange kind of a real dynamic between him and the characters throughout the movie. So I felt a little bit of a disconnect with the But again, this is a Kid's movie. So me analyzing that it is probably sounding a little overcritical on my part, which I get. Overall, I thought it was a pretty fun movie. I enjoyed it, and it's now has like the highest opening ever for a movie adaptation, making about fifties seven million dollars, which is way more than they even expected it to make. And I think in a long line of kind of video game movies just bombing at the box office because it's a very delicate thing to do because kind of the same way book a book adaptations have, like people are let down because like, oh, you can't explore as much as you can in the book. With video games, we grew up with these video game characters and we spend hours and hours of playing these games, and you often wonder like, oh, what if they expanded on their story, what would that be like? So when you do give it the Hollywood treatment, you see it on screen, you're like, that's not really what I was expecting. It's nothing is It doesn't give me that same feeling that I did with the video game. And I think with this one you do get those you get that feeling just a bit. Like I said, I wish they would have exported a little more in his origin story. They kind of showed, like in the opening sequence, they did kind of show what a video game level would have looked like inside the movie, and then they may just really subtle references throughout the movie. There was no real adaptation of like, oh, this is straight up something out of the video game into this movie. I think they kind of walked that fine line of like, Okay, we're just gonna make Sonic and put them on Earth, so take away that expectation of it being the straight up video game. I think before this, Detective Peekaju was probably the most successful, which I liked because in that movie they set it up as Okay, it's a Detective Peek at you, it's not a straight up Pokemon movie, so I think you kind of go into it with a bit of a different expectation, and I think they get fans of the video game just enough references to make you feel like, oh, you're not getting cheated here. There's even like subtle references to the video game soundtrack, which son it has probably one of the most iconic video game soundtracks of all time, and I like the subtle references, like even just taking like the video game music and putting in like a background, like a piano version. I thought that was a really cool touch. So like this one here, that's from the video game, and this is what they used in the movie. So stuff like that made it for me. Overall, I give it three out of five rings, which I think is pretty high for a video game adaptation because there's just so much to take on here. And like I said, that's also factoring in that it wasn't really made for an adult like me. It's made for kids. And I think now if I had like a little brother or maybe even a kid, this would be a movie I would take them to they would enjoy, and I would get that feeling of like, Okay, this is cool, and maybe go back and show them the Sega video games. So overall, a really great step in the right direction of Hollywood just not taking a big name and kind of slapping on a movie to it. And maybe if they get a little bit of a better cast and storylines coming out in the next movies, I think it could be a pretty solid franchise. All right, And that's my review of Sonic the Hedgehog, all right, And that's the episode for this week. Before I hop out of here, I'm gonna give my Instagram shout out of the week to John Riser R I Z e Er, who said he was listening bright and early on Monday morning. Shout out to Josh for checking out the podcast. If you want to Instagram shout out, all you have to do is the screenshot wherever you're listening to the podcast and post it in your Instagram story and tag me and I'll pick some people post them throughout the week and then give you a shout out here. Also super cool if it comes up on your your car dashboard and you had a little logo on it, take a picture of that and tag me and that Those are the coolest ones for me to see again. I announced the winner last week on my Instagram story, so thanks everybody for entering into that. Shout out to the winner, Kelsey Waite, who won that movie prize pack. Hopefully as you get that this week. If you do, take a picture of that and tag me in it so I can let everybody know that I really did give away that prize. If there's any suggestions you have for the podcast, just hit me up at Mike Destro on Instagram. I also have an email Movie Mike d at gmail dot com if you have any movie questions or topics I should cover, and until then I will talk to you guys next week on another Monday. An episode of movie Mike's Movie podcast later