Sonic the Hedgehog

Starring: Ben Schwartz (voice), James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Lee Majdoub, Neal McDonough, Colleen O'Shaughnessey (voice)
Directed by: Jeff Fowler
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog comes to Earth where he teams with a local sheriff (James Marsden) to escape the clutches of a scientist (Jim Carrey) determined to study him.

Review:

Tim: Sonic the Hedgehog had an inauspicious start in the world. I still clearly remember when the first trailer was released and fans were horrified at the bizarre, disturbing design of Sonic. It was awful. The fan uproar was mighty and shockingly, director Jeff Fowler and the producers actually listened. Sonic was completely redesigned to actually, you know, look like Sonic. It was a bold move to admit such a mistake like that, but it pays off. Sonic the Hedgehog was an entertaining, fun movie that does its source material justice. I liked the movie quite a bit.

A film like this obviously requires the suspension of disbelief, but the tone of Fowler's film helps with this. It's a fun movie that never takes itself too seriously. It honors the source material while telling an entertaining story that will connect with today's audiences. It also felt like there was actually a little depth to the characters and the story. We're not talking award-winning drama here, but certainly more of an effort than in your typical video game adaptation. The story is about family and the connections we make with others. It's about finding your home, your place in the world. None of this is especially powerful, but Fowler crafts a video game adaptation with more depth than we usually see.

Of course, most people will be focused on the action, which will not disappoint. The movie gives us a number of solid PG action sequences involving Sonic's speed and the dastardly Dr. Robotnik. These are fun and while not especially thrilling, will be entertaining to most viewers. The visuals are impressive, too. Sonic looks wonderful in all his video game accurate glory, but the rest of the film offers a number of nice visuals. I enjoyed how Robotnik's various machines were depicted here. The visuals are definitely a plus.

The cast is surprisingly effective. I enjoyed Ben Schwartz's voice work as Sonic. It didn't blow me away, but it was easy to focus on the character instead of the actor and as the movie went on, you got more and more comfortable with Sonic's voice. James Marsden is really good. It felt like he leveraged his experience working on Hop here- he's actually quite good interacting with a nonexistent character. I believed his performance and he hit the right tone- he had just a twinkle in his eye suggesting he realized how absurd the whole thing was, but never fully removed himself from the story, either. It seemed like Marsden had fun with the role. Tika Sumpter was fine, she just wasn't given a whole lot to do. I wish she had more screen time. The same can be said for Neal McDonough. I like him a lot, but his one scene (although funny) wasn't enough.

When you talk about the cast, though, you have to linger on Jim Carrey. I can't stress enough how important Carrey was to this film. His Dr. Robotnik is the most memorable part of the movie. It's been a long time since Carrey was allowed to just ham it up with his trademark energy in an over-the-top performance like this. His performance was delightful and absurd, one of the strongest aspects of the entire film. It was a reminder of how powerful a presence he was early in his career, how he could draw your attention to everything he did. Whether this is his mesmerizing body movements, the way he pauses at unexpected times, the glimmer in his eye, he was just incredible in this role. He took a character that's pretty absurd (I've played the Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis and Robotnik is a weird character) and he plays that weirdness up while grounding him in some form of reality. He infuses the movie with manic energy and it's wonderful and makes the movie much better than it otherwise would have been.

I enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog and I applaud the filmmakers for making the expensive decision to completely redesign Sonic. It mattered. This character was beloved to many and for someone like me, at least nostalgic. Getting the look right was critical, but the film itself needed to work, and it does. Jeff Fowler does impressive work in his feature film directorial debut (honestly, it's shocking what he did here without much experience). I sincerely hope this becomes an enduring franchise. The movie did (SPOILER) introduce my favorite character in the games during the post-credits scene, so I'm already stoked for the sequel.

*Update- so, my 7 year-old son really wanted to go see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in theaters with his friend, so he and I needed to watch the first one. I feel exactly the same way about the film the second time around. I had a blast watching my son see it for the first time. It's entertaining, fast-paced, and funny. He really liked the movie and was engaged from start to finish. It further cemented in my mind what a success this film is. Director Jeff Fowler just directs a really entertaining movie for viewers of all ages. That certainly wasn't a forgone conclusion at the beginning. This movie is definitely a win and it holds up- I was just as excited to see it the second time as I was the first. It's a good film.

*Update- I watched Sonic the Hedgehog for a third time, this time with son and my brother (who'd never seen it). The movie is definitely entertaining and I had as much fun in the third go-around as I did the previous two. Fowler keeps the movie moving along at a decent clip- even though I'd seen the movie twice, my attention stayed focused from beginning to end. As I said previously, Carrey is the absolute scene-stealer here. I found myself eagerly awaiting several scenes where he just kills it. The dance sequence stands out as especially memorable- I could watch that over and over again. I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised Sonic is still this entertaining, my 3rd viewing in 4 years. There's not many movies that have that kind of pull. The film still has flaws and I think I nailed my initial rating. However, you still have to look at this film as a big success. My son (9 years old now) and I are looking forward to the third film in the trilogy later this year, and we're excited for the Knuckles series later this month. It's been fun to watch this franchise blossom and it has this strong original film to thank for that.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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