Maybe it’s never too late to tweak a movie — or to try. In December, after “Cats” had opened, the beleaguered musical encountered fresh derision when word spread that Universal was shipping theaters a new version with improved effects.

“Sonic the Hedgehog” didn’t undergo tinkering beyond the 11th hour, but until now, this videogame-to-screen adaptation was best known for having its release delayed to address fans’ reactions to the trailer — specifically, to the way Sonic looked, which suggested that photorealism has its limits when the subject is a spiny blue mammal from space.

Sonic now resembles a cartoon hedgehog instead of a spray-painted marmot. But if anything was done to de-genericize the script, it hasn’t helped. Not that the Sega games — in which the fleet-footed hero zips around doing flips and collecting gold coins (which here encircle the Paramount mountain) — gave the director, Jeff Fowler, much to work with.