After receiving heavy fan backlash about the main character’s design, when the first trailers came, Paramount Pictures makes the adjustment to not only fix Sonic’s design, but create a good movie that leaves fans of the series happy and on Feb. 14, “Sonic the Hedgehog” was released in theaters in the United States.
Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, is a blue talking anthropomorphic hedgehog who was born with the power of light speed dashing. There are times throughout the movie where Sonic can move so fast, time actually slows down around him.
The overall design of Sonic is a huge improvement compared to how he looked when this movie was first announced. Not only does Sonic look good in the movie, but the film itself is very good in both its action and comedy.
The older design Sonic had looked more terrifying than cartoonish. His eyes and ears were too small, and any facial expression Sonic made looked like he belonged in a horror film. But they actually worked on a redesign for him and the main character actually looks like Sonic the Hedgehog from his associated media.
It’s rare for a movie studio to listen to the fans’ feedback and fix an issue, and If they stayed with the old design, it would’ve been hard to look at for over an hour. This was the first time in recent history a movie studio has actually pushed back a movie to work on a flaw pointed out by the fans.
As for how the character acts within the movie; Sonic comes off as an immature teenager who tends to joke about everything, even in a serious situation. However, he understands when to be brave and confident when the time comes like when Sonic has his final battle with Robotnik. While not everyone may find his immaturity funny, the movie does stay true to who Sonic is from the video games.
After being forced out of his homeworld, Sonic teleports himself to Earth using his magic rings, where he would spend the next ten years of his life living his life in the made up town of Green Hills, Montana. Sonic causes a huge power outage, the United States military call in Doctor Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, to investigate the source and then hunts down Sonic to experiment on him.
Carrey is by far the best part of this movie who you can tell he had so much fun playing the role of the villain from the way you watch his acting in both his movement and tone. And from watching interviews from Carrey for this movie, he even says how much he enjoys playing this role in this movie.
The character Doctor Robotnik is an arrogant, self-centered mad scientist who always brags about how much more intelligent he is than everyone else and will make anyone around him feel like they’re idiotic, no matter who they are. Carrey plays this character so well, in his comedic style.
Sonic ends up losing his rings by accidentally dropping them in a ring portal that went to San Francisco, police officer Thomas Wachowski, played by James Marsden, assists Sonic by driving him to where his rings went all while Robotnik chases them down.
The plot is easy to follow and it paces itself in a good way. Granted, if you’re watching as a fan of the Sonic franchise then you might be left confused on some things. Such as, why is Robotnik working for the U.S. military even though fans know he’s an evil scientist who doesn’t work for anyone? Since when do rings have the power to make portals to anywhere you want when that’s not a thing in the in the video games?
Some of these things just seem like they were made up for plot convenience.
This movie is very corny and makes a lot of puns whenever it gets the chance. The jokes are definitely childish, and if you don’t know much about the Sonic series it may leave you baffled on some parts of the movie. If you’re someone who doesn’t like those types of movies, or don’t know much about the Sonic series then this might not be the movie for you.
However, if you do like those kind movies and happen to be a fan of the franchise then you will enjoy this movie. Regardless of some of the plot conveniences, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is still a well made movie with good acting, funny moments, and best of all, great looking animation for everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog.
Go watch this movie if you’re looking for a film with a good mixture of fun, comedy and action. For fans of the series, don’t leave the theater as soon as the credits hit because there is a surprise that not only hints at a sequel but shows something that all fans of Sonic will love to see and look forward to, if there is a part two.
