COVID-19 impact

2 San Antonio theme parks make dramatic cuts in response to COVID-19

Six Flag Fiesta is closed at least through mid-May.

Courtesy of Six Flags Fiesta Texas/Facebook

The owners of SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas are taking drastic steps in response to the current coronavirus pandemic, including staffing cuts and pay cuts.

Orlando, Florida-based SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. said March 27 that it’s furloughing more than 90 percent of its employees effective April 1. The company says furloughed employees won’t be paid while they’re out of work; SeaWorld previously said it would keep paying its full-time “ambassadors.”

The temporary closure of SeaWorld San Antonio started March 16 and initially was supposed to end March 31, but the shutdown has been extended indefinitely.

SeaWorld says it “looks forward to welcoming back its ambassadors and guests when it is safe to open again.”

While SeaWorld San Antonio is closed, experts will keep caring for the animals housed there, the theme park says.

The headcount at SeaWorld San Antonio and SeaWorld Entertainment wasn’t available.

San Antonio’s other major theme park, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, announced March 30 that its temporary closure has been pushed to mid-May or “as soon as possible thereafter.”

“While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at the property, the safety of our guests and team members is always our highest priority,” Six Flags Fiesta Texas says.

In addition, Grand Prairie-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp. laid out the following cost-saving measures due to COVID-19, effective April 6:

Reduction of base salaries of executive officers by 25 percent.
Reduction of salaries for all full-time salaried employees by 25 percent.
Reduction of scheduled hours for full-time hourly employees by 25 percent, dropping to 30 hours a week.

In a release, Mike Spanos, president and CEO of Six Flags, says the company chose to decrease salaries rather than furlough or lay off employees so they’ll retain income and health insurance, and so Six Flags will have an “experienced workforce” in place when its parks reopen.

“The safety and well-being of our guests and team members is our most important priority,” Spanos says. “While these actions are difficult for all of us, they will help the company weather the current crisis by reducing expenses.”

The headcount at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Entertainment wasn’t available.

health vacation

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.

---

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters.

movies film