Review - Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I just went to see the new movie Sonic the Hedgehog. Currently, here on Chuck's Movie Breakdown, we're right in the middle of 90's Throwback Month, and in my opinion, this does feel like an homage to 90's movies. And given that Sonic was a popular brand in the 90's, both as a video game and a series of TV cartoons, that makes sense. So, let's get into it.
The movie starts off with Sonic as a child being forced to escape from his world to ours when he and his caretaker are attacked by a troop of Echidnas (which fans of the game will recognize as being Knuckles' people. Sonic, with his bag of rings, spends the next several years in the town of Green Hills, Montana (a nice nod to the Green Hill Zone from the games), completely in secret. However, after causing an EMP burst by running around a baseball diamond, Sonic attracts the attention of the government, who sends in scientist Dr. Robotnik to identify and capture Sonic. Sonic teams up with Green Hills Sherriff Tom Wachowski, who is planning to move to San Francisco to join the SF Police Department, to head to San Francisco to retrieve his bag of rings, which were teleported to the top of the Transamerica Pyramid, all the while evading being captured by Robotnik. And well, if you want to know what happens next, you'll have to see the movie for yourself.
Now I feel that I can't talk about this movie without talking about the controversial first trailer. In that initial trailer, Sonic had a look that threw many people off and enraged a large number of Sonic fans, myself included. With human teeth, smaller eyes, and facial features and a physique that looked nothing like video game Sonic, it looked a bit on the creepy side. However, while I was more open to giving it a fair chance, many fans were not, and let their voices be heard across the internet. The day after that trailer dropped, director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter and announced that the visual effects team would be giving Sonic a redesign more reminiscent of his video game counterpart. Paramount Pictures even pushed back the film's release date from November 2019 to February 2020, in order to give the VFX team more time to work on it. A second trailer was released featuring Sonic's new look, and fans were much happier with his design, myself included.
Aside from his design, the character of Sonic was really spot on. Hyper, always on the move, and always talking, Ben Schwartz was terrific as the titular blue hedgehog. Heck, I'd argue that he was even better than Jaleel White's take on Sonic in all of the cartoons from the 90's. James Marsden was enjoyable as Tom, and you definitely buy the friendship that builds between him and Sonic. I also enjoyed Tika Sumpter, who plays Tom's wife Maddie in the movie. But arguably the best actor in the movie is Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. His mannerisms, delivery, and fun little quirks are very much 90's Jim Carrey, back when he was in movies like Ace Ventura and The Mask. Even before Sonic's redesign, Jim Carrey was the major reason that I was excited for this movie. As a kid from the 90's who grew up on Jim Carrey, I really enjoyed his performance in this movie.
Now onto the one thing I didn't particularly care for, and that would be the story. The story is very simplistic, basic, and easy to follow. However, I will concede that the movie is a kid's movie, it is for an all ages audience, and thus the story being simplistic makes some amount of sense. While I'm a little iffy on the simplistic story, there's enough other stuff for Sonic fans that I'm willing to let it slide. All in all, I really enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was fantastic, Jim Carrey was hilarious, and I think that fans of the games will enjoy it quite a bit. Honestly, as far as movies based on video games go, I would argue that it's on the same level, if not better, than Warner Bros' 2019 film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. I'm going to go ahead and give Sonic the Hedgehog a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
P.S, if you go to see this movie, stick around for a mid-credits scene that features a fan-favorite character from the Sonic games.
The movie starts off with Sonic as a child being forced to escape from his world to ours when he and his caretaker are attacked by a troop of Echidnas (which fans of the game will recognize as being Knuckles' people. Sonic, with his bag of rings, spends the next several years in the town of Green Hills, Montana (a nice nod to the Green Hill Zone from the games), completely in secret. However, after causing an EMP burst by running around a baseball diamond, Sonic attracts the attention of the government, who sends in scientist Dr. Robotnik to identify and capture Sonic. Sonic teams up with Green Hills Sherriff Tom Wachowski, who is planning to move to San Francisco to join the SF Police Department, to head to San Francisco to retrieve his bag of rings, which were teleported to the top of the Transamerica Pyramid, all the while evading being captured by Robotnik. And well, if you want to know what happens next, you'll have to see the movie for yourself.
Now I feel that I can't talk about this movie without talking about the controversial first trailer. In that initial trailer, Sonic had a look that threw many people off and enraged a large number of Sonic fans, myself included. With human teeth, smaller eyes, and facial features and a physique that looked nothing like video game Sonic, it looked a bit on the creepy side. However, while I was more open to giving it a fair chance, many fans were not, and let their voices be heard across the internet. The day after that trailer dropped, director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter and announced that the visual effects team would be giving Sonic a redesign more reminiscent of his video game counterpart. Paramount Pictures even pushed back the film's release date from November 2019 to February 2020, in order to give the VFX team more time to work on it. A second trailer was released featuring Sonic's new look, and fans were much happier with his design, myself included.
Aside from his design, the character of Sonic was really spot on. Hyper, always on the move, and always talking, Ben Schwartz was terrific as the titular blue hedgehog. Heck, I'd argue that he was even better than Jaleel White's take on Sonic in all of the cartoons from the 90's. James Marsden was enjoyable as Tom, and you definitely buy the friendship that builds between him and Sonic. I also enjoyed Tika Sumpter, who plays Tom's wife Maddie in the movie. But arguably the best actor in the movie is Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. His mannerisms, delivery, and fun little quirks are very much 90's Jim Carrey, back when he was in movies like Ace Ventura and The Mask. Even before Sonic's redesign, Jim Carrey was the major reason that I was excited for this movie. As a kid from the 90's who grew up on Jim Carrey, I really enjoyed his performance in this movie.
Now onto the one thing I didn't particularly care for, and that would be the story. The story is very simplistic, basic, and easy to follow. However, I will concede that the movie is a kid's movie, it is for an all ages audience, and thus the story being simplistic makes some amount of sense. While I'm a little iffy on the simplistic story, there's enough other stuff for Sonic fans that I'm willing to let it slide. All in all, I really enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was fantastic, Jim Carrey was hilarious, and I think that fans of the games will enjoy it quite a bit. Honestly, as far as movies based on video games go, I would argue that it's on the same level, if not better, than Warner Bros' 2019 film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. I'm going to go ahead and give Sonic the Hedgehog a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
P.S, if you go to see this movie, stick around for a mid-credits scene that features a fan-favorite character from the Sonic games.
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