Sonic The Hedgehog: Movie Review
Sonic The Hedgehog is yet another in a new trend of video game based live-action feature films. After many delays, including a main character redesign and a few extra million US dollars, the movie is finally out.
It was first meant to come out in 2018. Then something happened with the studios and they decided to push it to 2019. When the first teaser trailer dropped, most of us were aghast at the humanoid version of our favourite blue hedgehog and the internet was awash with memes ridiculing it. Thankfully, the studio paid heed, put the right bunch of noggins together and put together a much more likeable version of Sonic. Thank goodness they got the perfect guy to play Dr Robotnik, aka, Eggman from the start: Jim Carrey.
I've been hyped for this one since the first trailer, just for Carrey's performance alone. I've not played many SEGA games as a kid, but I was lucky enough to own a Sonic game on the first-gen XBOX and enjoy watching one of the cartoon series on television. So, I have a deep affinity with the speedy hedgehog universe. However, the overall movie failed to live up to my expectations. It turned out to be... TOO kiddish.
The plotline is so linear and simplistic, it'd be hard to stay interested were it not for the brilliant performance from Carey. Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz, not someone I'm familiar with as I don't watch many US TV shows. He does a fairly good job of being a fast-talking kid-like alien who's attention span is about as short as himself and the script has a lot of modern references thrown in for that head-nod-grin reaction of "I get what you're talking about". But so many important plot lines are basic and cartoonish, it's hard not to cringe. The second person who gets most of the screentime is the character of Tom Wachowski played by James Marsden who I do recognise from certain films like X-Men and Anchorman. He puts in a good performance and he does have a thing for comic timing but it just highlights how the film's story lacks substance. If anything, it feels like a super long prologue just trying to set up a series of sequels. Wachowski's waifu played by Tika Sumpter could have also added more to the plot if only she had more interesting things to say and do.
The movie's director Jeff Fowler doesn't have many directorial credits to his name and Sonic The Hedgehog seems to suffer for his lack of story-telling experience. Same goes for the writers Patrick Casey and Josh Miller. It's like someone took a post-it note plot idea and then used awesome visual effects, amazing animation, simple jokes and pre-existing characters to fill out a runtime of 100 minutes.
If anything, there should be a one-hour special compilation of all scenes that Jim Carrey was a part of. That would be more worthwhile than most of the movie. He takes on the role of Eggman superbly and adds a new dimension to his evil genius that I hadn't seen in my limited exposure to the Sonic universe. The moustache, the facial expressions, the physical comedy and the sheer intensity he brings to the role is hard to keep up with, even for an ACTUALLY animated co-star.
Onto the final thorn in my side from Sonic The Hedgehog - the action scenes. I get it, almost every fictional universe has a speed-type superhero who is so fast that the world can seem to be on pause which is a cool combat advantage. But having seen the cool Quicksilver scene from X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Sonic's action sequences come across as a bit of a rip-off. I'm not saying it should have been a different superpower, I just think it could have used a little more originality especially when it came to the comical antics.
Sonic The Hedgehog ended up feeling like a project of wasted potential. It had the cast, the animation, the character depth...but there was barely any narrative to make the most of it. However. If you're looking for a film that would entertain a child for 100 minutes and you can watch along to rekindle your childhood video game memories, then I'd say Sonic The Hedgehog is a solid recommendation.
When it comes to the Sane Loon movie rating though, I'd rate Sonic The Hedgehog at 6.5 doughnuts out of 10.
It was first meant to come out in 2018. Then something happened with the studios and they decided to push it to 2019. When the first teaser trailer dropped, most of us were aghast at the humanoid version of our favourite blue hedgehog and the internet was awash with memes ridiculing it. Thankfully, the studio paid heed, put the right bunch of noggins together and put together a much more likeable version of Sonic. Thank goodness they got the perfect guy to play Dr Robotnik, aka, Eggman from the start: Jim Carrey.
I've been hyped for this one since the first trailer, just for Carrey's performance alone. I've not played many SEGA games as a kid, but I was lucky enough to own a Sonic game on the first-gen XBOX and enjoy watching one of the cartoon series on television. So, I have a deep affinity with the speedy hedgehog universe. However, the overall movie failed to live up to my expectations. It turned out to be... TOO kiddish.
The plotline is so linear and simplistic, it'd be hard to stay interested were it not for the brilliant performance from Carey. Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz, not someone I'm familiar with as I don't watch many US TV shows. He does a fairly good job of being a fast-talking kid-like alien who's attention span is about as short as himself and the script has a lot of modern references thrown in for that head-nod-grin reaction of "I get what you're talking about". But so many important plot lines are basic and cartoonish, it's hard not to cringe. The second person who gets most of the screentime is the character of Tom Wachowski played by James Marsden who I do recognise from certain films like X-Men and Anchorman. He puts in a good performance and he does have a thing for comic timing but it just highlights how the film's story lacks substance. If anything, it feels like a super long prologue just trying to set up a series of sequels. Wachowski's waifu played by Tika Sumpter could have also added more to the plot if only she had more interesting things to say and do.
The movie's director Jeff Fowler doesn't have many directorial credits to his name and Sonic The Hedgehog seems to suffer for his lack of story-telling experience. Same goes for the writers Patrick Casey and Josh Miller. It's like someone took a post-it note plot idea and then used awesome visual effects, amazing animation, simple jokes and pre-existing characters to fill out a runtime of 100 minutes.
If anything, there should be a one-hour special compilation of all scenes that Jim Carrey was a part of. That would be more worthwhile than most of the movie. He takes on the role of Eggman superbly and adds a new dimension to his evil genius that I hadn't seen in my limited exposure to the Sonic universe. The moustache, the facial expressions, the physical comedy and the sheer intensity he brings to the role is hard to keep up with, even for an ACTUALLY animated co-star.
Onto the final thorn in my side from Sonic The Hedgehog - the action scenes. I get it, almost every fictional universe has a speed-type superhero who is so fast that the world can seem to be on pause which is a cool combat advantage. But having seen the cool Quicksilver scene from X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Sonic's action sequences come across as a bit of a rip-off. I'm not saying it should have been a different superpower, I just think it could have used a little more originality especially when it came to the comical antics.
Sonic The Hedgehog ended up feeling like a project of wasted potential. It had the cast, the animation, the character depth...but there was barely any narrative to make the most of it. However. If you're looking for a film that would entertain a child for 100 minutes and you can watch along to rekindle your childhood video game memories, then I'd say Sonic The Hedgehog is a solid recommendation.
When it comes to the Sane Loon movie rating though, I'd rate Sonic The Hedgehog at 6.5 doughnuts out of 10.
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