Any Sonic the Hedgehog film that included Shadow and didn’t have Crush 40’s “Live and Learn” would have been a monumental misfire. While that’s not the key to the film’s massive success this weekend (it managed to topple Mufasa: The Lion King with ease), even director Jeff Fowler understands how important the song is for Sonic fans. In a new interview with GamesRadar+, Fowler admitted that there was “no version” of the movie that didn’t include the iconic song.
“You fire up your Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure 2 and the first thing you’re hearing is licks from ‘Live and Learn’ and Crush 40,” Fowler said to the outlet. “I just felt there was no version of this where we weren’t going to make that a strong presence in the film.” Fowler jokes that fans would have hunted him down, but his statement is true. The song is very integral to the identity of Shadow and it has taken on a life of its own outside of its original game.
Personally, I’ve never been big on Sonic’s 3D games, but Sonic Adventure 2 is certainly one of the better attempts at translating the Blue Blur into the third dimension. It not only has a ton of confidence, but a kitschy style that ingratiates itself onto you. I still think Shadow is a bit of a dud when it comes to characterization, but he has become a fan favorite for one very clear reason: he has a shockingly tragic backstory. You can understand his pain very well, even if we regular humans can’t teleport around.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now in theaters and has, thus far, earned $63.3 million at the global box office (at the time of writing).
More Sonic 3
Leave a Comment
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
