Knuckles (Miniseries) review

KNUCKLES: 

SONIC MOVIE SPIN-OFF SERIES NEEDS A STRONGER PUNCH! 

By Nico Beland

Series Review: ** ½ out of 4

PARAMOUNT+ AND SEGA

Knuckles the Echidna in…Knuckles

 

            The super strong but not very bright space echidna makes a splash (or rather punch) in Knuckles, the new Paramount+ miniseries and spin-off of the Sonic the Hedgehog film series based on the Sega video game franchise of the same name. The Knuckles character made his big screen debut in 2022’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 voiced brilliantly by Idris Elba (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, The Suicide Squad) and was a massive standout in the movie. 

            I guess it makes sense to give Knuckles his very own show since he already had a spin-off comic book line from Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog series as well as a game on the Sega 32X, Knuckles Chaotix but let’s not get into that. The miniseries looked promising from the marketing and given that I enjoyed the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies and eagerly await Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s release this December, of course I was going to watch Knuckles when it came out.

            So, how’s the echidna’s first adventure without the hedgehog or two-tailed fox? It’s fine, I guess. 

            I don’t think this is a terrible show as there are plenty of fun moments and the dynamic between Knuckles and Adam Pally (Assassination of a High School President, Taking Woodstock, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life) reprising his role from the Sonic movies as Tom’s dim-witted deputy sheriff friend, Wade is quite entertaining. But for a show about a character this badass and interesting, it left me feeling kind of empty. 

            The series is set after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and follows Knuckles the Echidna (voiced again by Elba) struggling to adjust to life on Earth and sets out to find an apprentice. That apprentice turns out to be the dim-witted deputy sheriff of Green Hills, Wade Whipple and begins to train him in the ways of the Echidna warriors to help him prepare for a bowling tournament in Reno, Nevada where his estranged father (Cary Elwes-The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Twister) is participating in (So, very much like the first Sonic movie it’s a road trip but replace Sonic and James Marsden with Knuckles and Adam Pally). 

            Along the way, this unlikely duo encounters corrupt G.U.N. agents, Mason (Kid Cudi-Don’t Look Up, X trilogy, Trolls Band Together; who also performed the end credits song for Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and Willoughby (Ellie Taylor-The Lodge, The Mash Report, Ted Lasso) out to get Knuckles’ power, a bounty hunter with a hat that would look really good on an echidna known as Jack Sinclair (Julian Barratt-The Mighty Boosh, Flowers, Bloods), the ghost of the echidna tribe leader, Pachacamac (voiced by Christopher Lloyd-Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Addams Family (1991 movies)), a diabolical former lackey of Dr. Robotnik known as The Buyer (Rory McCann-Hot Fuzz, Game of Thrones, Jumanji: The Next Level), and probably the most frightening guests during their quest Wade’s mother, Wendy (Stockard Channing-Six Degrees of Separation, The First Wives Club, The West Wing) and FBI agent sister, Wanda (Edi Patterson-We Bare Bears, Knives Out, Violent Night). 

            The series also stars Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital, I Love You, Man, The Descendants) and Paul Scheer (The Onion Movie, NTSF:SD:SUV::, The Disaster Artist) as ESPN commentators Dylan Beagleton and Gary N. Sinclair, and features guest appearances by Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation, DuckTales (2017), Renfield) reprising his role as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Digimon, Danny Phantom, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes) reprising her role as the voice of Miles “Tails” Prower, and Tika Sumpter (Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Ride Along 1 and 2, Get On Up) reprising her role as Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails’ adoptive mother Maddie Wachowski. 

            Overall, Knuckles may serve as a passable diversion from the Sonic movies and time killer for Sonic 3’s release, but as someone who grew up with this character (along with the entire Sonic franchise) this echidna deserved better for his solo miniseries debut. Whether in video games, other shows, comic books, and even what was shown in the second movie, Knuckles is and always has been a fascinating character with enough interesting traits and storylines that could have made for an engaging miniseries or even his own series of movies. 

            Instead, the series makes the boneheaded decision of pushing the thing the show is named after off to the side and heavily focuses on the human characters, particularly Wade because that worked so well with most of Paramount’s Transformers movies. When Wade and Knuckles are together, it’s fun and they do have a likable chemistry throughout the six episodes with one being all serious and mighty and the other is a bumbling doofus, but about halfway through Knuckles becomes less and less significant with Wade practically hijacking much of the story similar to the fake wedding subplot from Sonic 2. 

            If the show was called Knuckles and Wade, I would have been fine with this and Adam Pally is clearly giving his all. But because the series is called Knuckles and given the potential that character alone has, it’s a very disappointing decision and a big slap in the face to some great lore. 

            It’s a shame because the first two episodes started off very strong and I was thoroughly invested in what was happening (While also geeking out over the Sonic references). But then by Episode 3 it started to go downhill with the introduction of Wade’s sister who constantly tries to talk tough like she’s in an action movie, making wise-ass remarks and quips about the current situations and it gets old really fast. I’ve only seen Edi Patterson in a few other things and I don’t have anything against the actress herself, but her character is probably the worst female supporting character I’ve seen since Kat Dennings’ Darcy in the MCU.

            The fourth episode however (which was a rock opera episode involving Wade learning how to unlock his inner strength), was so completely bonkers and insane that I kind of loved it. Things finally did pick up again in the last two episodes and did lead to a fun climax with Knuckles and Wade fighting The Buyer inside a robot suit that reminded me of The Rhino from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. 

            The animation on Knuckles is amazing and about on par with how he looked in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie and despite his very cartoony appearance, it really does look like he’s actually there interacting with real people and objects. The CGI also compliments the action scenes because when Knuckles is in battle in this show, it’s some of the coolest action you’ll ever see in a form of Sonic media. 

            While a lot of the humor felt like leftover Adam Sandler jokes (And believe me, there is a ton of cringy jokes here!), there were some moments in the show where I laughed quite a bit. The scene in the first episode where Knuckles builds his own throne out of what’s in Maddie’s dining room and challenging people to fight for it to the point of kidnapping is great and a line where Wade takes Knuckles to his “Battlefield” only to discover it’s a bowling alley and he says, “This isn’t a battlefield, this is a playground for adult idiots!” I ugly laughed when he said that. 

            I also found the villains to be pretty weak and a huge downgrade from Jim Carrey’s manic portrayal of Dr. Robotnik in the Sonic movies. Honestly, the concepts of these villains are fine and the actors give decent performances, but because of the show’s unfocused narrative and how the series is paced it doesn’t really give them much time to shine. 

            Sadly, the Knuckles miniseries is a mixed bag for me despite enjoying a lot of elements in it. It’s not a terrible show and I’ll likely revisit it again closer to when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters later this year, but a series based on this character needed a stronger punch and less filler and awkward humor, glide on in and judge for yourself.