While
Detective Pikachu is only a week's time away from releasing in theatres, the
Sonic the Hedgehog movie only just dropped its first trailer. When the first trailer for
Detective Pikachu was dropped last year, it was immediately met with anticipation and awe. The same cannot be said for
Sonic the Hedgehog, it currently holding 500,000 dislikes on YouTube (with only half as many likes).
There are naturally comparisons between the two films as each are currently relevant and bolster obvious similarities. When put up against the upcoming
Pokemon movie,
Sonic the Hedgehog unfortunately pales in comparison. And fans aren't the only ones disappointed by the recent
Sonic trailer, even
folks within the industry have voiced their criticism.
John Mathieson, the Director of Photography for
Detective Pikachu, recently spoke to
Newsweek about the comparisons between the two films and explained why his film looks better than its apparent opposition. However, Mathieson first mentioned that he was almost involved with the
Sonic project:
“Funny enough, I was offered [Sonic the Hedgehog] and after watching the trailer I thought I’m so glad we don’t look like that."
The two-time Academy Award-nominated Cinematographer then went on to explain that he believes the difference is that Detective Pikachu is shot on film, while Sonic the Hedgehog is filmed digitally. His reasoning being that digital cameras do a poor job at capturing colours (especially blues and reds), while traditional film cameras are much better at this.
“If all we’re talking about is how these two films look, our film is better than Sonic the Hedgehogand I’m sorry, I don’t care who I upset by saying that, but I think it looks better. There’s no reason why you can’t shoot a film like [Detective Pikachu] or Sonic the Hedgehog on film. If you had, [Sonic the Hedgehog] would look more realistic. I look at Sonic the Hedgehog and I just go ‘yeah whatever.’"
Detective Pikachu is set to release in theatres on May 10th, 2019.
Sonic the Hedgehog is set to release in theatres on November 7th, 2019.