Sonic the Hedgehog - Movie Review

It has been a long time my friends. We first heard the news, then waited, then were horrified beyond comprehension, then waited, then smiled in joy, then waited, then cheered in joy, and waited. But now, at long last, Sonic the Hedgehog, the movie, is finally out and we can now start answering the big questions: Where does Sonic get his shoes from? Was Jim Carrey on or off drugs throughout production? Which Hollywood executive was fired after the backlash of the first Sonic design? Are the Chaos Emeralds just shiny rocks? And most importantly, will the newly announced sequel, Big the Cat, officially start the "Sonic Cinematic Universe"? All these questions and more will not be answered because they're stupid. The real big question is... Why do I have a sudden craving for Italian food after seeing this movie?

Okay enough joking around, I'm sure what everyone really wants to know is if Sonic is well played in the movie and if the movie is actually any good. We've been waiting a very long time since it was announced and since Sonic's new design was shown to learn if his movie was going to be worth our time and money. After seeing it for myself (and dragging my parents with me) I can say that Sonic the Hedgehog was a fun film. It's not trying to be high art, but it's definitely one of the better video game adaptations to film we've had.

So to begin we have our main character and star of the film: Sonic the Hedgehog, voiced by Ben Schwartz. Let's get this out of the way first: The new design is a lot better. Like holy crap he looks so much better than before. But a design isn't everything though and thankfully the character acts a lot like he does in the video games. He's adventurous, cocky, and good-hearted, making him a very likeable and an accurate portrayal of the original source material. Now I do have some problems with how the portrayed his speed because there are times where he's very fast, times where he moves like Quicksilver in the X-men movies, and times where he can move so fast he can play a full game of baseball. I really wanted them to just go with one of these options, preferably (in my case) just being very fast. Other than that though he was really well voiced and animated.

But the film adds a few new elements that make him more interesting in the film, the biggest of these is that he's very lonely. At the start of the film we a younger Sonic has to keep running away from groups that want to hurt him or get his powers, so he can't really settle down. On Earth in particular he's basically made a secret home and spies on people to see what their lives are like while wishing he didn't have to hide, that he could make some friends. When he eventually and finally gets to interacting with people (specifically the main human protagonist) we get to see him open up more and we get some really heartwarming scenes. There's one close to the climax with him and a little girl that gave me such a sweet smile and tugged on my emotions hard.

But some say that a hero is only as good as its villain. So to combat Sonic we have Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik. When I first heard about this casting choice like two years ago I was very unsure because... Jim Carrey isn't fat. Then I saw the trailers with him and he caught my interest some and I thought it could work. Now that I've full seen him play the character I think a very, very good job, much better than I expect. The previous night I watched two Jim Carrey movies to get myself more familiar with him for this movie: Ace Ventura 1 and 2. They're not good movies, but Jim's over-the-top performance in both films make them hilarious guilty pleasure films to me. And here, in Sonic, he puts on a performance similar to the Riddler from Batman Forever, which I think works for Robotnik.

Now some might say he's just playing himself, but I don't think so. Hear me out: Robotnik was never a subtle character. He was loud, bossy, smart, condescending, and at times crazy. This fits Jim Carrey very well. Yes, Jim Carrey isn't fat, but in this I can totally get over that because this film isn't just an origin to Sonic, to also feels like an origin to Robotnik. He starts out as a military contractor trying to find Sonic after he accidentally knocks out the electricity for a lot of the midwest United States and eventually becomes this determined, quirky villain desiring more power. He is slowly losing it throughout the progression of the film and it leads to some great, crazy comedic moments, like how he has so many robots (god that moment made me laugh hard). There are moments where he's really intimidating that also good because it made him feel like a genuine threat to people. I remember at least one moment that made me anxious when he was on screen, especially when he was around Sonic because they clash very well together! Their conflict was spot on!

Now this isn't a perfect movie, it's DEFINITELY not a perfect movie and has its flaws. My first main problem with the film is the story. It's very cliched. Now it's not as bad as other adaptations like The Smurfs, with characters from another world suddenly appearing in our world. It's definitely not like that because Sonic lives on Earth for quite a while and knows all those pop culture things that the Smurfs would be wowed by so easily. Most of this film, while focusing a lot on Sonic, is a road trip movie with Tom, James Marsden's character. There is good bonding with these two, but it felt a little weak in that Sonic we didn't get to see Sonic do as much as we know he can do. It lead to some moments of poor pacing and some story arcs that don't get resolved, like how Tom is at one pointed being hunted for being a domestic terrorist and it doesn't effect the story much and dropped and solved in a poor way.

My other major problem are the human characters outside of Robotnik. I'm not saying that the acting was bad, but that were not very interesting besides possibly Tom because they didn't have much personality or character to them. In fact besides Tom, his wife, and Robotnik's assistant the rest of the humans don't get much to say or do. There were some funny moments with a few of them, but there wasn't much of a human cast in the film. Even most of the action scenes didn't have many humans or even CGI humans. I will say though that I personally liked, this is a small thing and kind of more awesome for me, that Tom and his wife are an interracial couple that already have their lives together, no problems what-so-ever. That's great, I really liked that.

And finally there is product placement. Oh my god there is some hilarious product placement. Now there's not as much as from films like Man of Steel, but my god when you see them they're pretty cringy. Especially the ones for Olive Garden. There are multiple product placements for Olive Garden and I really don't get why Olive Garden is in a film about a talking hedgehog that likes chili dogs. There's one moment in particular where this one character in the film goes, "Have you tried their never ending pasta bowl? It never ends!" I can't stop laughing just thinking of how awkward that moment was. I'm not going to mention them all, but it took me out of the movie when I saw any of them.

Now to end on a positive, I can see the people who made this film put a lot of effort into their work. This is the debut film for the director Jeff Fowler and just his decision to go back and rework the Sonic design shows just the start of it. This film could have been a massive, even with the better design, it could have been another Smurfs or Doom Annihilation, just another half-assed cash grab. But no, Jeff, the CGI team, the actors, all of them and everyone else really cared for this movie and we can see it. The action was well done, there was witty dialogue, and there were some references to previous Sonic media that were done just right and not too focused on. It is really sad though that the CGI team who redesigned Sonic got shut down a few weeks before Christmas, those people deserved a lot better than that. I do hope they're being paid for their work in this.

In the end Sonic the Hedgehog was a great video game adaptation and an entertaining movie. If my parents, who know barely anything of Sonic, thought it was a pretty good film, then I know this film did a lot right because they don't like most films I like. Now that is just us, some people who know nothing of Sonic might not like this film as much. To me though this is a great family movie that developed Sonic's character quite a bit from the video games and since Jim Carrey recently said in an interview he'd like to portray Robotnik again, I'd totally be up for a sequel! The movie ends perfectly so we could end it there, but I'm sure with all the positive feedback a lot of people would love to see a continuation of Sonic's big screen story.

Tentative Score: 7/10

Definitive Score: 7.5/10

Oh, and stick around for the credits. Especially if you're a Sonic fan. Trust me~ Also since video game movies are starting to get good I want a Metroid movie. Maybe have Gwendoline Christie play Samus or at least when she has the helmet on.