Phew! It’s time to view something fun. I’ve reviewed a string of serious movies lately, but now I’m looking straight at that little speedball, Sonic the Hedgehog. When I was a teenager, my elderly neighbour invited me and my sister over to her place to play with her grown-up sons old Sega, after he moved away. We played some Sonic the Hedgehog game where we raced around grabbing rings… and that’s about all I know about Sonic. They fucked up the design of Sonic in the first teaser trailer for this movie, and spent the next few months fixing it to appease fans; I know that too, and kudos to the producers, because the final Sonic design looks much friendlier. But I’ve always been a Super Mario man myself, not that I consider myself a gamer at all. Sonic the Hedgehog, grab me!
Directed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic the Hedgehog lives in a distant world, but comes to Earth as a child after being hunted for his extraordinary super speed and electrical charge powers. Here, he hides out, growing up in secret in a small town called Green Hills, Montana. One day, feeling alone, Sonic accidently sets off a charge that causes a massive electrical outage and tips off the American government to his existence. The military assign the sinister Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to locate the alien source of energy and capture him. Sonic concludes Earth is no longer safe for him, but his method of planet hopping is delayed after an encounter with local police sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Tom offers to help Sonic outrun Dr. Robotnik, if they can.
Ben Schwartz channels his best John Mulaney Spider-Ham extraction to bring Sonic the Hedgehog to life. The first act provides some chuckles, and I was beginning to really warm to the hedgehog, but unfortunately, by the end of the movie I was disappointed I ever gave that blue devil a chance. The sting is taken out of the hot pursuit storyline with unnecessary diversions, mainly to do with a roadhouse scene that isn’t very entertaining. At just over an hour and a half long, I guess the movie had to add in extras to pad the run time, but the roadhouse stops the stakes of the movie dead. Sonic becomes preoccupied with having fun, yapping away and getting to know Tom’s business, when establishing a quick escape from Earth had been top priority. This could have been done well; Terminator 2: Judgement Day and other movies manage to provide bonding time between characters whilst they maintain the tension that comes from being on the run from evil, but Sonic the Hedgehog is clunky, too easily dismissing the danger for unearned levity and choppy character-building.
Jim Carey provides some pretty sweet Jim Carey-isms as Dr. Robotnik, and it might be just enough to invite somebody to see this movie. I like that Dr. Robotnik is ‘of Earth’ in Sonic the Hedgehog, and not some other-dimensional parody of a classic character like Hank Azaria’s Gargamel in The Smurfs movies. I think you’re going to approve of Carey’s schtick or you won’t; you’ve certainly had enough opportunities to see him in other movies to know what you’re in for! Carey takes a standard goofy free reign with what looks like it could be a seriously menacing video-game villain, but since I know nothing, like John Snow… (of Sonic the Hedgehog), I was more inclined to go with it, sit back and smile.
The first act provides some great fast-paced and self-aware references through Queen, Speed, Star Wars and the Flash, and I was completely digging the tone of the film for a good twenty minutes. I liked that the movie makes the effort to place Sonic within the context of other fast characters and events that already exist on Earth. But unfortunately, that dissipates when more modern acknowledgements kick in – I didn’t need to see Sonic the Hedgehog ask for an Uber rating, or quip that the villain only found him because someone left their Find My Phone app on. Or floss, twice. Ah, but I’m an old curmudgeon with archaic tastes; perhaps the kids will get a short titter out of it and that’s the main thing. The movie also completely copies the Quicksilver scenes of the X-Men franchise, giving us Sonic’s perspective in slow-motion as he whizzes around, causing mayhem. It makes sense, but having seen it before, there’s a freshness missing, and no purpose (!), especially in that damn roadhouse scene again. Since I wasn’t overly invested in the stakes the movie sets up, seeing Dr. Robotnik blow up the Great Sphinx of Giza was probably the tensest sight of the movie; the horror!
Sonic the Hedgehog feels like a call-back to a previous decade in movies, and a new addition at the same time; like when Rocky & Bullwinkle, Fat Albert, The Smurfs, the Looney Tunes, an Elf, the Easter Bunny and Giselle all made their way to Earth to interact with our modern-day customs too, among other famed characters I’m sure, but can’t recall. James Marsden has a funky habit of running into these stories, having helped out the Easter Bunny in Hop and appearing as Prince Edward in Enchanted. If they make a sequel to this movie, the tail-spinning fox will surely get a run (named Tails, I looked it up), but I also want to see more Crazy Carl.
2.0
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