‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Review

Video game movies have really struggled. It just seems like studios can’t figure out how to translate them to the big screen, which should be easy considering most of them already have a story to be told. Sonic The Hedgehog doesn’t do anything to change the status of video game movies, but it is a solid effort.

Plot

The movie is about Sonic (Ben Schwartz), a blue hedgehog from another world who has supersonic speed. After being sent to our world, he has been living in a small town in isolation. The evil scientist, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), discovers Sonic and tries to hunt him down and destroy him. With the help of a local cop (James Marsden), Sonic must go and retrieve an item before it gets in the hands of Robotnik.

Sonic is quite charming

This film went through an interesting transformation because the original design of Sonic created such backlash from fans that the filmmakers had to delay the film and fix Sonic’s design so that he was more like the video game. This is really the first time that the voices of fans had a direct influence on the making of a film. 

The fans absolutely were right by calling for a change in Sonic’s design. The original version in the first trailer looked absolutely horrifying and would have made the movie less enjoyable. The new Sonic made the character a lot more cute and colorful, allowing him to be more likable. 

Schwartz also did a good job with the voice and delivered some good jokes. His high-pitched voice mixed well with his very extroverted personality. The chemistry between Marsden and Sonic is really good. Their friendship is easy to invest in and allows the more emotional moments to sink in.

Jim Carrey steals the show

The highlight of this movie, however, is Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. He steals the movie and is clearly having the time of his life during this movie. He is very over the top, but since Carrey is a great comedic actor, it ends up working. It is very reminiscent of his performances in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask. There are some jokes from him that don’t land, but it never is too distracting.

The action scenes are also a lot of fun. Sonic using his powers looks good enough and it can be very entertaining to watch. There is a lot of energy and creative ways of using Sonic’s powers. Some of the speed scenes were definitely inspired by a certain X-Men, but they are still well-done scenes.

Story is filled with cliches

The story itself in the movie is weak. It ends up being a typical buddy, road trip movie, just with some cool and likable characters. It is rather a cliche at times and is often predictable. The character arcs are set up in the beginning and it is easy to see where they will be by the end of it.

The film is also meant for kids and at times it does become slightly obnoxious. There are some fart jokes and pop culture references that are clearly for kids to enjoy. Some of the jokes did not land and just came across as awkward at points. There is enough for adults to enjoy, but it definitely is targeted for a kid-friendly audience.

Final Verdict

Overall, I found this to be rather surprising. The trailers made me think that this movie was going to be a disaster and it was far from it. Is it a great movie? No, but I have definitely seen a lot worse, especially with other video game movies. It’s often very cheesy, but it provides enough heart and energy to make it a decent film. It does set itself up for a sequel with a post-credits scene and I would be interested to see where the next film goes.

Final score: 3/5