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Idris Elba in Knuckles (2024)

User reviews

Knuckles

118 reviews
7/10

Nowhere near its potential

The title says 'Knuckles' but it's more about Wade than Knuckles. I'm gonna be honest, I don't think anyone cares about Wade. I think people are watching the show because they want to see Knuckles, not Wade.

The CGI and action scenes are awesome, but the story is awful. The show is enjoyable, but it could have been more. Its potential was totally wasted, and I'm really disappointed about that.

I know I've been kinda negative, but the show is not bad by any means. It's enjoyable. So, if you want to turn off your brain and just have fun, this show is totally for you.

I hope they will do justice to Sonic 3 and don't do the same mistakes they did in this show.
  • deniz-34548
  • Apr 25, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

The title is kind of deceiving.

A better title would have been "Wade Whipple with occasional appearances by his friend Knuckles".

Not to say that it is a bad show. I actually liked a lot of of it and when Knuckles does appear he is pretty great. But, that has everything to do with Idris Elba because that dude is awesome. The guest stars are mostly good. My personal favorite was Julian Barratt of "The Mighty Boosh". However, Adam Pally, who is really the star of the show, kind of wears on you. I am all for the loveable lover, I am one myself, but after awhile his antics wear thin. There is a family subplot that was resolved in a pretty obvious way, but I still had fun with the show.
  • Babble-Katt
  • Apr 29, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

Should be called Wade Whipple featuring Knuckles

... or something to that effect. The show focuses squarely on Adam Pally's Wade character and occasionally features a story line of Knuckles being hunted.

The show can't seem to decide what it is. It has a lot of nostalgic references and throw backs that will appeal to the adult crowd and go over the heads of any kids trying to get into it. It also relies heavily on essentially extended cameos from Cary Elwes, Paul Scheer, Christopher Lloyd, Kid Cudi, etc. And can't seem to get the full effect of what they could've gotten if they'd just written a solid story arc around one antagonist.

The biggest takeaway here is that Knuckles is WAY under utilized (especially for a show called Knuckles) and the relationship between Knuckles and Wade is under developed and wasted considering how many episodes are in the series. Although Pally once again plays his typical man-child character who can't seem to grow up, the back and forth bantering between him and a fish-out-of-water serious Knuckles is funny and adorable. But sadly the show chooses to focus on Wade almost exclusively. It's a big miss because the best scenes are the ones with Knuckles interacting with the people around him, not just Wade. His scenes with Wendy (played by Stockard Channing) are great and funny, as are basically any scene of Knuckles having to simply be Knuckles in this new world around him.
  • robotsfromspace
  • May 1, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

Knuckles' Own Series (But Not Really)

Knuckles is a type of series that is more of a promotion for Sonic The Hedgehog 3. I'll say that there are some redeemable things it got right such as great visuals, enjoyable action scenes and good acting. But I feel that the story for this miniseries relies more on Wade than giving Knuckles a story arc, which can sometimes make it sound like a generic bowling story and that Knuckles himself can often be treated more of a side character. I think this series will be a lot more suitable for those that are huge fans of the Sonic films. However I know that not everyone has Paramount Plus, so you probably won't miss much from it. Considering we are getting another Sonic movie right at the end of this year, maybe I can look at this series as a side project and would just save the real fun for it. Maybe Paramount Plus will do more of this in the future with other characters having their own series perhaps after the events of the third film seeing the direction how the franchise will probably go. As this series has given Knuckles his own arc after the events of the second film, at least it tried.
  • TheMysteriousReviewer
  • Apr 27, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

Knot Bad, But Could've Been Better

Yeah, this is more the Wade Wipple show instead of Knuckles, but once the Echidna is on screen, it's gold. Idris Elba is spot on making this character take himself very seriously, which leads to some great comedy moments in episode 1. But the scenes with Wade, his family and the bowling tournament made it look like you're watching something else.

The sister character, Wanda is just too psychotoic to be in a Sonic show. SHE STABS HER BROTHER IN THE ARM WITH A FORK! Also she doesn't get punished for her behaviour. This scene got the show a 12 rating in the UK, also what if kids try to copy that scene?

Cary Elwes has fun playing the narcissist bowling champion, I thought the cup of tea in the bowling ball was funny, though.

Overall, an average show. Hopefully Sonic 3 will be better. Hopefully no one gets stabbed in the arm next time.
  • bazmitch23
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

Good but not enough Knuckles

  • abrahamparedes
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
3/10

Great CGI, fun, but poor dialogue drags it down

This show is stuck in this awkward spot where it looks great, but the show's reluctance to have any mature moments drag it down. Adults aren't allowed to be adults, and every line has me waiting to groan at a punchline. The villains are used for gags that ruin any sense of intimidation they could otherwise have had. The show has its great moments - the expressiveness of the characters is very fun to watch - but it's overshadowed by a reluctance to take itself seriously or respect its characters. The show focuses far more on Wade than the titular character, action scenes are inconsistent with how they use their powers and technology. While there are high points, overall it's generally disappointing.
  • adamkjohnson-89254
  • Apr 25, 2024
  • Permalink
8/10

Watching with my 5-Year Old Daughter

Before beginning watching the series I checked out this imdb page and read the comments. Many were complaining that the show focused on the Wade Whipple character too much. I mean Knuckles and Wade team up in this movie, so Wade is the human focal point of the series, but Knuckles is always there and part of the storyline. After watching I can't say that I agree with those complaining about this aspect of the show, if you haven't watched it yet then I wouldn't let that stop you.

My 5 -year old daughter loves this show, even requesting watching it unprompted. It's probably one of those shows I would never watch by myself, but watching it with my kids is great! I hope they make more, even if they focus on other supporting Sonic characters ...
  • billbuchanan-60313
  • Apr 30, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

"Sonic the Hedgehog 2.5" is a great ending to Sonic the Hedgehog 2

  • 12NiuNiu6
  • Feb 6, 2025
  • Permalink
2/10

The series is not from Knucles, but from the uninteresting idiot Wade!

  • marcosfelipef
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
10/10

Great show for kids

Grew up with the sonic universe. I'm all for anything sonic. Now I get to share my love of the games and characters with my little girl. The series is awesome. We truly enjoyed it. We binge watched every episode together. That's what it's all about. We had a great time and the show entertains both young and old. I hope the series expands and never ends. Grew up with the sonic universe. I'm all for anything sonic. Now I get to share my love of the games and characters with my little girl. The series is awesome. We truly enjoyed it. We binge watched every episode together. That's what it's all about. We had a great time and the show entertains both young and old. I hope the series expands and never ends.
  • Rcg1104
  • Jun 1, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

fun little side trip

This happens after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). Knuckles (Idris Elba) is Sonic's new friend. He is struggling to adjust to his new home. He becomes a mentor to small town deputy sheriff Wade Whipple (Adam Pally). He teaches the chubby man-child the ways of the Echidna warrior. Wade is headed to Reno to compete in a bowling tournament.

This is a fun little side trip for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Adam Pally is doing Adam Pally. He's the clown. Knuckles is the fish-out-of-water straight man. Stockard Channing and Edi Patterson make for a fun family. Kid Cudi is one of the agents. He could have played it bigger and wackier. Overall, this is pretty enjoyable.
  • SnoopyStyle
  • May 31, 2024
  • Permalink
4/10

Wade show

This show isnt really a knuckles show. Wade and his storyline takes center stage, with knuckles being a side character at best. Some episodes literally being only 5 minutes screentime and a few lines of dialogue. In honestly I expect there to be a youtube video titled "Knuckles but only when knuckles is there" and with a length of about 30 minutes at most. The man Villain is laughable as there is no real reason for him to be a villain and after knuckles and have only one scene with Knuckles only to end in 5 minutes. The show is more the "Wade show" and happens to be in the sonic movie universe.

Plot is anything to write home about and nor do I expect it to be, but in Sonic 2 they seperated the human characters from sonic and friends, making the film all the better, the show focuses too much on the humans and fails to explore the named character, thus pushing him aside.
  • hexsayeed
  • Apr 25, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

Quite good fun

I didn't know this series was even coming out before it popped up on the streaming service, it was a pleasant to see it there a few days ago.

Pro's:

Idris Elba makes Knuckles stand out like he did in the previous Sonic film, he's got a perfect voice for the character and sounds like he is really enjoying it.

Adam Philly also put in a good performance as Wade, he plays one of those love-able but not confident people really well.

I would have liked to see more Knuckles in the show as a lot of the story is about Wade, though a good amount of time is also spent on their burgeoning friendship so that's alright.

The rest of the cast also put in a good show, as well as Cary Elwes who I didn't expect to see pop up. The same goes for Julian Barratt who I know from The Mighty Boosh.

The VFX was also top notch and nothing felt out of place and the sound design was decent as well.

### Cons:

The few cons that would have earned it an 8 were just not having enough Knuckles in it. It could also have done with the tightening of the pacing. Especially the last episode. I felt like that one was too short and didn't show enough of the fight with the bad dude.

The last nit-pick I have is that the ending is very similar to the end of Sonics' first movie.
  • Grimrikk
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

A great addition to the Sonic universe

Knuckles is a spin-off show about Knuckles training the police officer Wade. Despite the name, Knuckles is really a show focused on Wade, while this may be disappointing, Wade's character arc is unexpectedly pretty great.

The story is pretty simple, it's about a bowling tournament and some cookie cutter villains who want Knuckles' power. The characters are super fun and the exposition is great. The dialogue is corny quite frequently but this is mostly for humor. Visually it looks pretty good for a show relying so much on CGI but there's a few odd animated expressions here and there. The soundtrack relies heavily on older songs and this combined with the humor and camera work give it a retro vibe.

If you don't mind the bait and switch, the show is really fun and we still get to see plenty of Knuckles.
  • AgentPhoenixxx
  • Apr 28, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

Bowling for Wade and a bit of screentime for his sidekick Knuckles

This miniseries is actually quite entertaining and funny - especially the interaction between the two agents is hilarious. The series initially seems like a typical buddy comedy, in the style of Dumb and Dumber, The Heat, Hot Fuzz or other films of this kind. Especially in episodes 1-3 you get the feeling that the duo Knuckles/Wade are coming together to pursue a common goal. Wade is the slacker and Knuckles is the tough one who tries to teach him the importance of competition and warrior honor.

But as many commentators have already noted: In a series about Knuckles, Knuckles actually has very little screen time and becomes a mere sidekick to Wade - especially in episodes 4-6. Actually, it's a series about Wade Whipple and not about Knuckles. The focus is on Wade's daddy issues and a bowling tournament with which Wade wants to prove himself to his father. In addition, a forgettable villain and his henchmen hunt Knuckles to seize his power for something he wants to sell - basically, the motivation plays no role at all. The two storylines are pretty disconnected from each other and you get the feeling that you are actually watching two series. A quite extensive one about Wade and a very short one about Knuckles. At the end, for example, Knuckles sits in his hotel room most of the time and is not seen. Maybe they wanted to save on expensive CGI animations.

I would have expected more of a student vs mentor thing from this series. Funnily enough, a scene from Karate Kid is shown in the opening credits. But that is exactly what is missing from the series. Apart from a bit of pep talk, there is no training at all. Knuckles has nothing to do with the actual bowling tournament. He does not take part in it, and Knuckles does not get Wade physically fit either. He does not even sit in the audience.

The ending is also pretty rushed. The villain is defeated and that's it. What Knuckles does after that remains unclear. Is he now part of the Whipple family? What happened to Wade? What happened to the two agents who are now stranded on the mushroom planet?

Also annoying: the omnipresent product placements. From Doritos to Lays, Spotify or ESPN... Speaking of ESPN: The two sports commentators are hilarious. "Reno, the Las Vegas for losers".
  • tomsly-40015
  • Apr 28, 2024
  • Permalink
10/10

Made me love Knuckles even more

The show had my smiling the entire time! The Sonic movies brought so much nostalgia and having a show about Knuckles (which YES had Wade as a main character as well, which a lot of reviews are saying isn't what they'd expected) was so exciting and makes you fall in love with the character Knuckles.

It's an easy, very cheesy and entertaining watch. Give the show another chance / don't listen to the low reviews, seeing knuckles character grow, have fun, alongside a cheesy story is everything I could have wanted right now.

It got me excited for the new movie and made me want to rewatch the other movies.
  • erikabishop
  • May 2, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

May Not Be As Good As The Movies, But Still Entertaining

The Sonic the Hedgehog movies is a hot movies, and with the third one on its way, Paramount and Sega bring us Knuckles, a six episode miniseries released on Paramount+

After the events of the second movie, Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) is having a hard time adjusting to living a normal life, being raised to be a warrior. After he is grounded by Maddie for his warrior shenanigans, the ghost of Chief Pachacamac (voiced by Christopher Lloyd), he is given the task of training Wade Whipple in the way of the echidna warrior, as he plans to compete in a bowling championship in Reno, Nevada. However, the two are now in a misadventure, as two rogue G. U. N. Agents (played by Alice Tregonning and Scott Mescudi, the latter known for singing The Stars in the Sky in the second movie's sountrack as Kid Cudi), are hunting Knuckles for a man known only as The Buyer (played by Rory McCann), a former associate of Dr. Robotnik's who is seeking Knuckles for his power.

Watching this, I can say this show is okay, but not perfect. The miniseries seems to be rehashing the buddy road trip ideas seen in the first Sonic movie, only with Knuckles and Wade in place of Sonic and Tom. Also, despite being named Knuckles, the story sadly has Wade and his family taking center stage, as the story is based around Wade's passion for bowling, and his family, which includes Wanda, his sister from the FBI (played by Edi Patterson), mother Wendy (played by Stockard Channing), and father Pete (played by Cary Elwes). However, they do manage to bring in Tika Sumpter back to reprise her role as Maddie Wachowski, and Ben Swartz and Colleen O'Shaughnessy reprise their roles as the voices of Sonic and Tails (even though they appear as guests in the first episode).

Throughout the six episodes, they have managed to put in easter eggs to the Sonic games like they did in the movies, and the story is kind of interesting, but it suffers from having too much drama and not much action, but I guess it works somewhat, as the show does focus on Wade, a character who was a supporting role in the movies, and gives him his time to shine in what is otherwise an okay underdog story where he is given advice from a red echidna. Mostly for Sonic fans and those who want more Sonic and have trouble waiting for the third movie's release.
  • jeremycrimsonfox
  • Apr 27, 2024
  • Permalink
5/10

We tried to watch but...

We were actually looking forward to this series. Me, my husband, and the kids really enjoyed both recent Sonic movies. We saw both in the theater. So when we saw this was coming out, we were looking forward to the release.

Okay, let's be fair, the good stuff first. It's clean and appropriate for children, other than no one dying violence. I always appreciate family entertainment because I like it too. CGI is fabulous. The episodes look visually well made. Love the soundtrack.

Now the bad. It's boring. We made it through the first 3 episodes before we unanimously decided to stop watching. The story just wasn't interesting. The acting is not real good either, that was bothering me. We are not planning to finish watching the series.
  • MattsChristina
  • Apr 27, 2024
  • Permalink
10/10

A True Warrior needs Knuckles!!!

Yesterday I finally got the chance to watch new Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff show "Knuckles" and it was fantastically good and a whole lot of fun at the same time! This is definitely a must watch miniseries to enjoy on Paramount+!

Idris Elba is at his best as the voice of: Knuckles, and his incredibly brilliant as he usually is, and Adam Pally from Sonic 1 and 2 is hilariously great and funny when it comes to his character Wade Whipple and this is the most epic action comedy show ever made!

If any Sonic the Hedgehog fans loves Knuckles, or one of their most beloved favorite characters from the video games and tv shows and movies, then please give the Almighty Warrior Knuckles, a good watch on Paramount+!
  • bhernandez2216
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

Fun little watch in-between movies, but a few major issues

  • rlcoleman-97035
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
3/10

Knuckles as character destroyed

Sad addition to sonic universe. Comedy is quite bad in general. Knuckles keeps his warrior attitude, but that's it, nothing more. After first episode he is mostly childish sidekick to Wade.

Whole thing is like bad Home alone copy. Maybe even more cheesy. Story line is so boring and has no meaning or development at all. Villains are also so dumb as they can be, on one point they are secret agents with next gen technologies on next they can't even get rid of one man who does literally nothing to fight them.

I don't understand why not to use comics as base to create already proven characters and world around them. Would not recommend to any sonic fun, only good thing is CGI in this show.
  • voldemarssmelens
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

The series is very entertaining.

The series is very entertaining, one of the better series I've seen recently. It is a fun series full of action and funny scenes. I can't wait to see what new characters they will introduce in this series. I support and consider this a step in the right direction. It's definitely the best thing I've seen recently, compared to other gaming movies. It has been a exelnt time watching it I plan on rewatching it soon, it is soo goood. I hope the reviews don't back it up much. People don't seem to be satisfied, but the series is really underrated. I hope the season 2 comes out and they introduce more characters into the sonic cinematic universe.
  • stefantodorovic-13218
  • Apr 25, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

Knuckles more knuckless

  • Moviemaniac30
  • May 18, 2024
  • Permalink
7/10

Great Dream Sequence

  • Redbird382
  • Apr 26, 2024
  • Permalink

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