This year will see the release of the sequel to 2020's "Sonic The Hedgehog". Which aims to be a bigger, crazier and more game oriented adaptation in comparison to the first movie. 

While the sequel is aiming to amp up the scope and action, I have noticed with more and more footage released in trailers and TV spots that the cinematography is looking like a massive step up from the cinematography in the first. Almost blowing it out the water. So, I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast the look of both movies to see what is making Sonic 2 standout visually. 

First off, the original movie. 

The first movie was shot by cinematographer Stephen F. Windon, who's most notable work includes The Fast and The Furious films. While the cinematography is by no means bad, the visuals just look bland. 

All the colors are just muted and majority of the visuals aren't really eye catching. Even when the movie introduces the more "fantastical" elements that Sonic is known for that could allow the film to play with more vibrant visuals the cinematography doesn't really embrace it. 

I feel for a character and franchise like Sonic, which is known for how bold and colorful its characters and levels are, its kind of a disservice to to not make the look of the movie reflect that. 

Sonic 2 on the other is a different story. The movie was lens by cinematographer Brandon Trost who has a vast array of different projects under his belt with various genres from movies like Crank 2: High Voltage, to The Disaster Artist, and a lot of Seth Rogen's films. All which have allowed him to really play around the the various visual styles of different films. So I feel it is safe to say he knows more as to what type of movie should have a distinctive visual look and style. 

In comparison to the cinematography in the first film, everything looks so vibrant and bold. The colors used by Trost look to have brought the movie to the same level of colors that really "pop" in the games. Which should be the case since the sequel is setting out to embrace more of the video game elements of Sonic than the first film. 

In addition, the shots look much more dynamic. Playing so much more with scale, closeness, and just anything that makes you go "Okay, that looks SO cool". Many shots look like hyperreal artwork begging to be 

Content wise, but especially visually, this looks like such a massive step up from the first movie. I haven't seen a blockbuster this unabashedly vibrant in awhile and I very much anticipate finally getting to see what else Trost has in store with the cinematography here. I knew it was going to be good when I found out he was on board, but I didn't think it would be THIS good.