Health Watch

San Antonio postpones Fiesta and issues large event ban amid coronavirus concerns

Fiesta will now take place in November.

Photo courtesy of San Antonio River Walk

Fiesta San Antonio has been postponed from April 16-26 to November 5-15 as the city grapples with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, officials announced March 13.

Fiesta San Antonio dates back to 1891. The annual festival draws roughly 3.5 million attendees and generates an economic impact of more than $340 million, which is close to the economic impact of Austin’s SXSW event.

In deciding to delay the event, leaders of Fiesta cited “unknown health risks.”

“Fiesta is San Antonio,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg told reporters. “It has been our tradition for almost 130 years, and we’re counting on a collective effort by those venues of and suppliers to Fiesta events to work with the Fiesta nonprofits to move their events to the fall in a cost-effective way.”

“It is a party with a purpose, and so the party will go on,” he added.

Nirenberg said November 5-15 was the best window of time for the postponed Fiesta thanks to availability of in-demand venues and fewer conflicts with other events. However, San Antonio is “a town that can have more than one party at the same time,” said the mayor, noting that the city will take precautions to protect the public’s health.

Shortly before the Fiesta delay was announced, the City of San Antonio instituted a seven-day ban on all gatherings with at least 500 people after the city confirmed its first travel-related case of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The city encouraged, but did not mandate, cancellation or postponement of public events with at least 250 attendees.

The clampdown on big public events is part of a seven-day public health emergency that Nirenberg declared March 13.

Government officials say the new coronavirus case isn’t connected with any of the cruise ship passengers who are quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base. As of March 11, only quarantined coronavirus patients from Texas can be housed at Lackland for more than 72 hours.

Nirenberg said the new coronavirus case stemmed from out-of-state travel. The case was discovered the night of March 12, and the patient has self-quarantined.

“We will get through this,” Nirenberg said.

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Movie Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 plays to the interests of video game fans

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) in Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020 was one of the few video game adaptations that managed to appeal to both fans of the Sega game and those who just want to watch a fun movie. As the series moved into a second and now third film, though, it’s become increasingly reliant on giving the video game fans what they want, with not as much attention paid toward simply telling a good story.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) continues to live with human friends Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), as well as Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba), who stuck around after the events of the second film. Dispensing with any kind of narrative coherence, the trio is called away by an undefined military force to help with the escape of Shadow (Keanu Reeves), another alien hedgehog who has been locked away off the coast of Japan for many years.

Suffice it to say that the trio does not initially fare well against the powerful Shadow, forcing Sonic to do the unthinkable: Ask his nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), for help. What Sonic doesn’t anticipate is that Shadow has a history that left him with a grudge against most of human society, and he’s intent on using his powers — with a little help from his former mentor, Gerald Robotnik (also Carrey) — to exact his plans for revenge.

Made by the same team of director Jeff Fowler and writers Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the film is a combination of manic action, jokey sequences, and a dash of heart. The addition of Shadow ups the mayhem considerably, and the filmmakers rarely slow things down (although, oddly, the super-speed of Sonic and company feels lessened this time around).

The initial casting of Carrey gave the comic actor permission to indulge in whatever wackiness he could imagine, and giving him two roles in this film means double the nonsense. Ivo and Gerald (who’s Ivo’s grandfather, for the record) face off in a number of silly scenes, none more absurd than a dance sequence aboard a space station threatening to explode Earth (yeah, this movie is a lot).

Does the plot make a lick of sense? Absolutely not, but the filmmakers seem to acknowledge that fact, throwing anything and everything at the screen to try to entertain kids and/or fans of the video game series. It should come as no surprise that the end credits tease yet more characters from the video games joining the franchise, making it abundantly clear who is expected to get the most enjoyment out of the series going forward.

In addition to Carrey, the voice actors continue to make the characters fun. Schwartz and O’Shaughnessey provide the cartoon-style acting, while Elba and now Reeves give a nice counterbalance with their deep and serious voices. Marsden and Sumpter aren’t given much to do this time around, and Krysten Ritter shows up as Director Rockwell, a character who’s mostly there to move what little plot there is further along.

A four-quadrant movie is one that appeals to all ages and genders; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a one or maybe two-quadrant movie at most. But it’s more fun than the other family-friendly offering this Christmas season, and fans of the video game will likely love the depiction of their favorite characters on screen, so it’s doing something right.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters.

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