Director Jeff Fowler
Genre Animation | Action | Adventure
Cast James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter
Rating PG
Release Date February 14th, 2020
“After discovering a small, blue, fast hedgehog, a small-town police officer must help it defeat an evil genius who wants to do experiments on it.”
DISCLAIMER: If you’re disgusted by family friendly movies or missed out on the joy of playing video games as a kid, you should probably skip this review. Instead, check out our Knives Out review, an instant classic from director Rian Johnson. For the rest of you still reading, here we go…
Sonic the Hedgehog is, and will forever be, ingrained in the memories of my childhood. That lightning fast bright blue hedgehog chasing his gold rings really brings me back to the care-free days of my childhood. So, it goes without saying, I was ready to see this movie as soon as it was announced for development.
Sonic the Hedgehog had an interesting journey before it finally hit theaters, running head on into a ton of criticism from fans after the first trailer premiered. Long story short, the CGI technology used for Sonic was horrendous. It was almost laughable how bad he looked, making you legitimately question if the movie was meant to be a spoof (or maybe another SB commercial disguised as a movie). Luckily, they took the hint and went back to the drawing board, returning a few months later with something dramatically better.
Luckily, the movie God’s were watching over me on this chilly New England afternoon. Whether or not that whole ordeal lowered my expectations I can’t say for sure, but I was genuinely impressed with the final product. Sonic looked like what I would have put on paper if I had any semblance of artistic talent, which I don’t. It was simply a seamless live-action hour and a half of un-adulterated entertainment that kept me hooked from start to finish. I really liked how Sonic's origin story played out, making it feel as "realistic" as possible considering we are technically talking about an alien with supernatural powers. Also, I’ll be damned if that blue CGI hedgehog didn’t tug on my heart strings more than a few times – we all need friends Sonic!
The casting decisions were spot on in my humble opinion (or IMHO as social media says), matching up James Marsden as the protagonist and the beloved Jim Carrey as the antagonist sealed the deal for me. I’m a huge Jim Carrey fan, I mean who isn’t, and I’m not sure any other actor could have taken on the role of the very strange and over-the-top Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the way he did. As ridiculous as his character was, it felt genuine because, well, it was Jim Carrey. He had me cracking up plenty that’s all I know, and I especially enjoyed the line "ever wonder where your tax dollars go?" as he goes after Sonic with his top-of-the-line weaponry. I'm a huge fan of James Marsden as an actor, whether it's HBO's Westworld or a movie like this, he’s just an easy guy to root for. These two leads were hilarious together, keeping the laughs coming from start to finish. I enjoyed Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic as well mainly because instead of picturing the actor I only associated the voice with what I was watching. Although he had a limited role, comedic actor Adam Pally was a nice addition to the cast as well sprinkling in a few silly one-liners here and there.
Bottom line, Sonic the Hedgehog put a smile on this toddler dad’s face and for me, that’s worth more than just the price of admission. I only wish my son was a little older so I could bring him to see it. The film successfully caters to the needs of kids and adults, delivering on a message rooted in the strength of family and friendship – something we can all stand to focus more on.
This is easily one of the better video game adaptations you'll come across, so do yourself a favor and get the kids loaded up in the minivan and check this one out while it’s in theaters because it just might be the brief escape from real-life you didn’t realize you needed (fingers crossed we get a sequel!).
Want a refresher by seeing the trailer? Check it out here.
