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Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)
Rated PG
Directed by: Jeff Fowler
Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller
Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Jim Carrey
After a dramatic fan revolt based on a trailer featuring Sonic’s horrifying CGI face, there wasn’t much hope that the live action Sonic film was going to be more than a hard pass. Surprisingly, it’s an enjoyable film with fun over-the-top performances from James Marsden and Jim Carrey.
Of course the movie is not without its flaws. Tom (Marsden) leads Sonic on a road trip to find his missing planet-hopping rings because Sonic doesn’t know the way — a mission that takes a full 24 hours. Sonic can get to San Francisco in about 2 minutes when he runs. Why doesn’t Tom buy the Hedgehog a GPS and show him how to use it? Seems like that would end the whole thing rather abruptly. But we’re talking about a movie based on a video game from 30 years ago, so we can probably let that slide a bit.
However, I have to mention the disgustingly campy-but-not-really-campy product placement. That’s really embarrassing. They could have just called this Olive Garden Presents: Sonic The Hedgehog.
But the positives far outweigh the negatives. Dr. Robotnik is the kind of crazed manic role we haven’t seen from Jim Carrey in a long time. For nostalgia’s sake, if nothing else, it was fun to see him play that type of nutjob again. He chews up every scene he’s in like we all got in a time machine and went back to 1995.
Sonic The Hedgehog doesn’t take itself too seriously. It knows what it is, and it delivers on it. There’s good special effects, bombastic characters, and a speedy runtime (98 minutes). This is one you can watch with the whole family. I watched it with my six-year-old and she had a blast. It might have been a sonic blast.
Streaming on: Hulu and Amazon Prime
Rating: ***