Director: Jeff Fowler
Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden & Jim Carrey
Release Date: February 14, 2020
"Uhhh... meow?"
Sonic the Hedgehog is based on the classic Sega videogame series of the same name. In this film, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) finds himself alone on earth after being sent out of his home planet. He finds himself lonely, watching people through windows and generally staying in hiding. His favorite person to spy on is Tom (James Marsden), a donut and Olive Garden loving cop who is stuck doing menial labor instead of real cop duty. After a freak accident, Sonic are Tom are brought together, where they must go on the road to get Sonic off of Earth. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) is hot on their trail, as he wants to capture Sonic for his own evil super scientist plans. Will Sonic and Tom be able to outrun (literally) Dr. Robotnik and find safety or are they doomed to be killed by the hands of the Eggman?
Following the production history of this film has been interesting. When it was originally slated for release on November 8, 2019, the backlash was tremendous. Have you forgotten why? Here, let me remind you.
Okay, good, now you remember. Anyways, people were so upset, the team behind the film decided to fix the animation. When that was announced, I was certainly skeptical. Were they going to actually keep their promise and give us a better looking Sonic? Well, they surely did, and the Sonic we got now is so much easier on the eyes. After a LOT of edits, a pushed back release date, and a shut down animation studio, Sonic the Hedgehog finally released as the Valentine's Day treat we all didn't know we wanted. And I got to say, the animation fixes singlehandedly saved this movie, because overall, I found Sonic the Hedgehog to be pretty fun. It's not perfect and it has some elements that are blatantly flawed and... well lame, but this film turned out much better than I thought.
What makes the film as fun as it is is its charisma and tone. There is a youthful charm and energy to the presentation, directing and story. It never gets existential or dark. The story is fast paced and goofy, full of lighthearted jokes and bright and colorful action. Is there anything deep here? Of course not, it's Sonic the Hedgehog. Yet the film pulls off such a light and silly tone quite well.
The film is full of campy optimism, and a lot of that is thanks to the characters. Sonic himself was a lot of fun to watch and the vocal energy Ben Schwartz provides suited the character quite well. James Marsden acted as a nice foil, providing a nice portrayal of a sarcastic yet caring cop. However, the true star of the film is Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. Carrey is channeling his over the top performances of the 90s like in Ace Ventura or The Mask. He is charismatic, over the top and a lot of fun to watch. You can tell he's having an absolute blast, and that energy radiates off of the screen.
But like I said earlier, this film is kind of lame. The biggest reason is because of the story. The story is as cliché as it gets, with predictable story plodding, cheesy emotional scenes and a number of odd storytelling choices. The backstory for Sonic as a whole is very weird. Why is there an owl? I'm pretty sure that owl has never existed before in the Sonic universe. But yeah, the story is one you've seen a hundred times. A mythical character finds himself on Earth, where he befriends a man who is down on his luck. The two take a trip to get back home while the villain chases after them to get power/money. You've heard it a thousand times before. Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't do anything new or particularly interesting with this formula, but the energy and tone make up for some of the storytelling shortcomings.
You know what's truly lame about this film? Some of the comedy. There are some funny jokes and scenes that got genuine laughter out of me, but when it misses, it MISSES. Did you know Sonic flosses twice in the movie? And do you know how much product placement is used? A lot. Those instances were really stupid and eyeroll inducing. I get the product placement, especially after the animation fixes, but wow. It was pretty bad.
Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog was pretty enjoyable. It was corny and stupid at parts, sure, but the youthful charm and optimism of the whole film made the experience a lot easier to sit through. And again, props to the animation team. The fixes they made are night and day, and the film looks so much better as a result. It's a shame that the animation studio behind the reshoots shut down because I think their work payed off quite well. This film isn't perfect, and it's not even that great, but it was fun. And personally, that's all I wanted.
6/10 (Decent)
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