Sonic The Hedgehog

Released: February 2020

Director: Jeff Fowler

Rated PG

Run Time: 99 Minutes

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Action/Adventure/Family

Cast:
Ben Schwartz: Sonic The Hedgehog(Voice)
James Marsden: Tom Wachowski
Tika Sumpter: Maddie Wachowski
Jim Carrey: Dr. Ivo Robotnik
Lee Majdoub: Agent Stone

Ah, video game-based movies:  The laughing stock of film and gaming communities everywhere.  Back in the early 90’s, somebody somewhere decided that it would be a good idea to make a movie based on a popular video game franchise.  The idea had merit and if done properly, it could appeal to both film and video game fans alike.  That was the intention anyway.  Unfortunately, the first attempt at making a movie based on a video game ended in complete disaster: Super Mario Bros.  EVERYBODY hated this movie: Movie fans who weren’t familiar with the video game, the fans of the video game, and some of the people that worked on the movie.  That was the first and last film that was approved by Nintendo.  The following year, we got Street Fighter, based on the popular fighting game and…well…it wasn’t good.  It wasn’t a total waste, as it featured an amazing performance by Raul Julia in his last film role.  That one is a bit of a cult classic, in a “so bad, it’s good” kind of way.  1995 gave us the live action film of Mortal Kombat and….wow.  It was actually pretty decent.  While it didn’t feature the blood and gore of the games, it maintained the essence and story of the original game that featured some lively performances from Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Linden Ashby, and Christopher Lambert.  Combine that with some decent fight choreography, this little film actually surprised a lot of people back in the day.  Sadly, we wouldn’t see another decent video-game to movie adaptation until 2006 with Silent Hill.  So, yeah, movies based on video games have a troubled history to say the least.  There have been notable exceptions like the newer Tomb Raider, Warcraft, and Prince of Persia.  But most of them have been absolute failures.  That brings me to today’s review of Sonic The Hedgehog.

Sonic The Hedgehog follows Sonic as he’s brought to Earth from a distant world and spends the next 10 years living just out of sight.  He keeps following local Green Hills cop Tom Wachowski, who is looking to move somewhere where he feels like he can do more good.  After accidentally creating an energy blast that wipes out power in the state, the government sends in mad scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik to investigate.  After discovering Sonic, Tom decides to help him get to San Franciso to help find his rings which he accidentally dropped through a portal.  The story is very simple for what it is, and you know?  It works.  The story was written in a way that kids could follow, and there is a surprising amount of heart to it, especially during the moments when Sonic feels that he’s truly alone in the world.  It’s quite touching, really, despite the film being totally predictable.  For what Sonic was trying to accomplish, I think it’s just fine.  It moves at a brisk pace and never overstays its welcome.  99 Minutes is the perfect length for this film.

Before I continue with the review, there’s something I need to say:  I don’t like it when audiences have influence over how a film-maker creates his movie.  Catering to fans is rarely a good thing, and only ends with the film not being as good as it could be.  When film-makers try to predict what fans want, they end up with too much that pushes the story out of the way or they completely under-deliver with a half-baked film.  In the case of Sonic The Hedgehog, however, the audience was absolutely right.   When the original trailer for Sonic came out, the backlash was swift and unforgiving.  To the credit of Jeff Fowler and the folks at Sega and Paramount, they listened and delayed the film until this month so they could fix the visual style of the character.  I mean, look at the picture above: The difference is night and day.  The Sonic on the right is far more expressive and true to his video-game counterpart than the atrocity on the left.  In most cases, I would usually feel that the audience is generally wrong.  But this time around, I was in full agreement, and it was the right call to make.

With that said, I want to take a look at the visuals in the film.  There’s nothing here that you really haven’t seen before, and sometimes the CGI isn’t that great.  However, it wasn’t trying to be revolutionary and kids under the age of 8 aren’t going to care.  The CGI does its job.  It’s flashy, it’s entertaining and it looks pretty faithful to the video game, which came out in the 90s.  This film is essentially a live-action cartoon and it was designed as such.  I absolutely appreciate the effort that the animators and designers did in re-designing Sonic, and I think that makes for a better experience.  I loved the opening sequence on Sonic’s home-world that looks like they pulled it right of the game.  The loops and overall feel of the opening sequence just feels right.  Also, I really like how Paramount changed the stars in their opening logo to Sonic’s rings.  That was a nice touch.

One of the strongest aspects of this film are the performances.  James Marsden, who played Cyclops in the original three X-Men films, plays Tom Wachowski, a local sheriff.  I’ve always thought that James was a good actor, and he also provides some of the laughs in this film.  He’s got some pretty good comedic timing.  Tika Sumpter plays Tom’s wife, Maddie.  I think she was pretty good and she gets her fair share of laughs.  Ben Schwartz provides the voice of Sonic and he’s absolutely fantastic.  He gives the character the energy of a kid with a heart of gold, and he just sells it.  Speaking of energy, let’s talk about Jim Carrey.  This is a guy who hasn’t been on the big screen in years, spending a lot of his time doing art and stuff like that, but I have to tell you:  He steals the show.  As someone once said on YouTube, this is vintage Jim Carrey.  I’m talking Ace Ventura/The Mask Jim Carrey.  For a guy that’s pushing 60, he’s got a crazy amount of energy and it’s on full display here.  He should be allowed to play mad scientists more often, as he’s so good at it.  If you’re a fan of Jim Carrey like I am, you’re probably going to like this movie more than most.  If you’re not a fan, you’re going to find his shtick intolerable.  Overall, the human characters are surprisingly not annoying and Sonic is fairly relatable.

There’s really a lot to like here.  The action is snappy and spectacular, the humor is mostly on point and really funny at times.  I caught myself laughing out loud more than I usually do, so that’s a plus.  While there are definitely issues with some of the CGI in the film, it’s quirky and silly enough that it mostly doesn’t matter.  This is a film that knows what it is and isn’t striving to be more than that.  Honestly, if you’ve got family with kids under the age of 10, it’s a perfectly safe film for them to see, with the occasional fart joke.  There’s nothing offensive here that could make parents cover their children’s eyes.  If you’re fan of the original Sonic games, this is a must-see.  It gets a lot right, and doesn’t treat the audience like they’re idiots.  For fans of old-school Jim Carrey, he hits it out of the park with this one.  He’s incredibly fun to watch, and while he gets the most laughs, he does get upstaged here and there, and his reaction is priceless.  The chemistry between the characters is incredible, and you’re buying it throughout the entire movie.  Even if you’re not a Sonic fan, there might be something here for you.  Sonic The Hedgehog is easily the most family-friendly film in years that I could recommend.  As a video-game based movie, Sonic is one of the best ones.  The effort and care that they took in crafting this film is nothing short of amazing.  Yeah, the film has problems, and if you’re not a fan of Jim Carrey, you’re probably not going to like it, but for the rest of us, it’s a pretty good time at the movies.  I definitely recommend it.

My Final Recommendation: “How are you not dead?” “I have no idea!” 8.5/10