SYNOPSIS:
Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz), blessed with the power of incredible speed, finds himself stranded on Earth and forced to live in solitude. But when his electric powers accidentally knock out the power across the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. government sends their top scientific genius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), to investigate. Teaming up with a local small town cop (James Marsden), Sonic must find a way to escape the evil doctor who is hell-bent on stealing Sonic's power for his own mad schemes.
REVIEW:
- PROLOGUE: The Fandom
As you may know, I'm an a MASSIVE Sonic the Hedgehog fan. I've been a loyal fan of the franchise since my 9th birthday (almost 27 years ago), when I received a SEGA Game Gear with Sonic 2. Since then, I've played all the main games, watched all 7 (yes, SEVEN!) cartoon series over and over, and I've collected every single issue of the American comic book series, including all the variant covers released (a whopping 809 comics as of today!). I rebuilt my personal website (http://cobysev.net) about a decade ago to be a visual display of all the official Sonic comics, and it has earned me a small bit of fame within the Sonic fan community.
- The Disaster
So getting to see Sonic on the big screen was like a dream come true! This movie has been in and out of development hell for about 7 years now, and for the longest time, it looked like it would never be made. And then, when the film was officially announced, they released this atrocity of a trailer:
It was absolutely frightening! What is this abomination?! I was nervous when they first announced that Paramount, of all studios, would be making this film. But this first trailer cinched it. It looked like the film was doomed.
But fortunately, the director heard overwhelming feedback and made this announcement on Twitter:
Pushing back its release date 3 months, the studio got to work redesigning the look of Sonic. Fortunately, the only completed graphics were the ones shown in the trailer, so there wasn't too much work to be done. It only cost an estimated $5 million more to fix.
- The Return to Glory
Paramount Studios asked Tyson Hesse, one of the more well-known modern-day artists who worked on the comics and the Sonic Mania game trailers, to help them redesign the movie look for Sonic. Then, three months ago, Paramount Studios released a new trailer with a much-improved look:
It looked like the film would be saved! No more uncanny valley with the creepy Sonic thing; this Sonic looked just like his movie/comic counterparts. The entire Sonic fan community went from boycotting the film to anxiously awaiting its release! But will a simple design change save the film..?
- The Film Itself (Actual review)
Amazingly, this film turned out pretty good! It's a stand-alone story, retconning previous Sonic lore and introducing its own take on the character. Sonic is typically characterized as a confident, cocky, and popular character, but this Sonic, while still loud and proud, was actually very lonely. He's spent years stalking people in the town of Green Hills, unable to show himself but not wanting to live by himself. He talks to himself a lot, since he's had no one else to talk to, and having a single friend is one of the more important things to him in his life. It's actually kind of a sad take on the character.
Sonic is also not a hero in this version; at least, not initially. He hasn't spent his life fighting Robotnik like other versions. He's never been in a situation where he can be a hero. He's just attempting to survive on his own. So when confrontation strikes, he's more likely to run away and hide than confront it, and he spends most of the movie just trying to escape from Robotnik instead of fighting him. He is pushed to his limits by the nefarious villain before finding the strength to stand up and fight back.
Jim Carrey hams it up for the role of Dr. Robotnik, channeling his earlier comedy roles á la Ace Ventura/The Mask to bring you an energetic and eccentric evil scientist. He made an obnoxious genius, bemoaning the idiocy of everyone else in the world while bragging about his own intellect to anyone who would listen. It's never explicitly mentioned how smart he is, but in the Sonic franchise's canon, he holds an IQ of 300. And I loved his sidekick, Agent Stone! He's a unique character to this film, but he did a great job giving Jim Carrey someone to channel his character through. And he took the (verbal and physical) punches like a champ.
The final visual effects were fine for this film. Sonic didn't look so realistic that you could reach out and touch him, but at the same time, he blended in with the real world well enough that it didn't feel like actors talking to a cartoon character. The idea of separating his eyes was a huge point of contention between SEGA and Paramount. The original creators of the franchise fought to keep his appearance the same as his game counterpart, but the film director felt that he couldn't create a real-world version of Sonic with one giant eye and two pupils. Right. Because a giant, talking, anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who runs at supersonic speeds and eats chili-dogs is totally realistic. Tyson Hesse found an acceptable middle-ground, where his eyes are separated but, at a glance, still look like the original SEGA character's design.
RECOMMENDATION:
Overall, the plot was pretty straight-forward, predictable at points, and didn't take any huge risks. I don't want to say too much more about the story for fear of spoiling anything, but I'll just say it was pretty good for an origin story. As long as there are sequels, this film is perfectly fine as an intro to the live-action franchise. And it's set up for future sequels; if you stay for the credits, there is a mid-credits scene you don't want to miss!
This is a great film for all ages. Kids will enjoy it. I enjoyed it. Heck, my wife laughed harder at a few scenes than I've ever seen her laugh in a theater before (despite the fact that her overall impression of the film is, "meh.") I'd recommend this film to anyone!
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