The new Paramount+ miniseries Knuckles the Echidna is a thrilling adventure that takes place in Reno, where Knuckles is the next warrior of the Echidna Tribe. Wade Whipple, played by Adam Pally, is a loveable and dim-witted human companion to Knuckles, who is dumped by his team in favor of an 8-year-old girl with rich parents. Knuckles is on hand to straighten Wade out, and they set off for an almost-epic clash of the 10-pin titans. The pairing of Knuckles with Wade is a master stroke, as the bumbling, '80s obsessed man-child serves as the perfect counterpoint to the last of the Echidna warriors. Their unlikely friendship becomes the backdrop for an adventure that inverts Sonic and Tom's relationship in the movies. The show features a never-ending series of daydreams, misadventures, and slapstick gags, with Elba as Knuckles and Pally hammering up every scene he's in. The production value for this streaming series is surprisingly high for a streaming series, and the combat feels chaotic, well-paced, and a lot of fun. The introduction of Wade's family, a killer combo of Stockard Channing as his mom and Edi Patterson as his sister, is a high point, and their disastrous Shabbat dinner culminates in a fight scene that spins around the Wade family kitchen to the sound of "Hava Nagila." Knuckles does a neat variation on the formula from the Sonic movies, with the baddies deriving their power from one of the echidna's own quills. There's enough variety and novelty to prevent things from feeling stale, with a training montage and a kick-ass soundtrack of '80s classics and alt-rock hits from the '90s and early '00s. The new Paramount+ miniseries Knuckles the Echidna is a thrilling adventure that takes place in Reno, where Knuckles is the next warrior of the Echidna Tribe. Wade Whipple, played by Adam Pally, is a loveable and dim-witted human companion to Knuckles, who is dumped by his team in favor of an 8-year-old girl with rich parents. Knuckles is on hand to straighten Wade out, and they set off for an almost-epic clash of the 10-pin titans. The pairing of Knuckles with Wade is a master stroke, as the bumbling, '80s obsessed man-child serves as the perfect counterpoint to the last of the Echidna warriors. Their unlikely friendship becomes the backdrop for an adventure that inverts Sonic and Tom's relationship in the movies. The show features a never-ending series of daydreams, misadventures, and slapstick gags, with Elba as Knuckles and Pally hammering up every scene he's in. The production value for this streaming series is surprisingly high for a streaming series, and the combat feels chaotic, well-paced, and a lot of fun. The introduction of Wade's family, a killer combo of Stockard Channing as his mom and Edi Patterson as his sister, is a high point, and their disastrous Shabbat dinner culminates in a fight scene that spins around the Wade family kitchen to the sound of "Hava Nagila." Knuckles does a neat variation on the formula from the Sonic movies, with the baddies deriving their power from one of the echidna's own quills. There's enough variety and novelty to prevent things from feeling stale, with a training montage and a kick-ass soundtrack of '80s classics and alt-rock hits from the '90s and early '00s.
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