My Movie Review on Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) · 11:59pm May 13th, 2021
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Sonic the Hedgehog". The film that was released in 2020, to be precise.
Here's the rundown of it:
Thomas Michael Wachowski, or Tom for short, is the sheriff of a small town called Green Hills. He is surrounded by lots of great friends and lives peacefully with his wife, Maddie. Despite having a great life at Green Hills, though, Tom has become bored with the lack of serious crimes, so he plans on accepting a job position at the San Francisco Police Department.
Unknown to Tom or the rest of the townsfolk, Sonic, an anthropomorphic hedgehog from another world that can run faster than a speeding bullet, has been secretly living on Earth since he was a child. He particularly took up residence in the Green Hills area, although he's had to refrain from interacting with others.
But, when Sonic unwittingly causes a disturbance, the government sends in an eccentric mad scientist named Dr. Robotnik to investigate. As if that isn't enough, Sonic accidentally loses the rings that can enable him to travel to other planets. With no other alternative, Sonic is forced to seek help from the only human that he believes can be trusted: Tom.
In all honesty, I didn't think that I'd be able to see this movie at all due to it being fairly new to the streaming services. For a while it wasn't free to watch anywhere, but when I later saw that it was available on Hulu and Amazon Prime...I leaped at the chance to watch it via the former while I still could.
One of the biggest reasons as to why I wanted to see "Sonic the Hedgehog" and make an analysis of it was because I did a review on one of its trailers a long time ago, and the movie itself looked like something fun to watch. All in all, I've been interested in seeing the film for a while.
Now that I've seen this movie for myself, I can finally state what my own personal thoughts on it are.
First off, I'd like to point out that there were a couple of nitpicks in the movie that I managed to pinpoint. One of them came in the form of a cuss word or more that was honestly inappropriate for a PG-rated film, and while I am grateful that the movie wasn't riddled with cuss words like some certain movies from the 1980s or 90s...the usage of those few still felt out of place for a modern PG film.
The other nitpick was that I wasn't too fond of the character of Rachel (Maddie's sister). Aside from a great performance by Natasha Rothwell, Rachel herself was openly irritating. She hardly had much in the ways of character growth either, because even when Thomas was only trying to get Maddie to help Sonic, all Rachel did was keep trying to convince Maddie to divorce Thomas. The times she did so, I found myself thinking "Really, Girl? Really?".
Other than those elements, though...this movie was undeniably fun and worth watching! Everything about it surprised me in more ways than one too.
For instance, the direction by Jeff Fowler, and the story by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, were awesome!
With this movie being the very first to be directed by Jeff Fowler, I will say that Fowler certainly did know how to start his career as a film director right. From the moment I started watching the film, I sensed that Fowler helmed it with admirable confidence and enthusiasm, and he brought a great sense of fun that clearly rubbed onto his coworkers. The moments where everything suddenly goes into slow motion while Sonic uses his super speed were what I found to be the most accomplished of the film's scenes, because as I watched them my mind was blown away by how real they seemed. It was like Fowler and company actually managed to slow down time!
Along with that, the concept of the movie was amazingly well-done. Despite the story not being the most original, Fowler, Casey, and Miller got everything to work and weren't afraid of putting in their own creative spice. The comedic-timings and gags were not only hilarious, but they had an innocent quality that made them irresistible. I can't recall a single moment that didn't make me laugh, that's for sure. The film also had emotion and heart that helped it be more than just a mere comedy, and its themes and morals about friendship were genuinely meaningful among others.
The special effects were astonishing, if I may add.
Changing Sonic's design from this...
...to this...
...clearly paid off for the effects team. They not only made his design completely faithful to how he looks in the games, but the overall animation used with him blended brilliantly with the live-action settings. Every time I even looked at Sonic, it would seem like he was actually there in the world and with the human characters. The effects team also did a wonderful job animating Longclaw, Sonic's homeward, and the rest of its inhabitants.
The music by Tom Holkenborg was terrific too.
It was amazing to find how equally passionate Holkenborg clearly was with working on this project, and his music felt like the kind a movie about Sonic would have only much more cinematic and emotional. Plus, his choice of songs was of great taste, and they each fit the scenes they were featured in like a glove. A prime example comes from at the beginning when Sonic is running while holding a turtle after rescuing it, which is where Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" plays while everything moves forward.
Finally, the performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were fantastic!
As I watched the human-visible performers and heard the vocal performances, I noted that everyone was apparently having a great time portraying their characters and being part of the project, which is something that I've always admired and enjoyed seeing. Whatever pieces of dialogue the performers had, they projected with brilliant flavor, and they played their parts with wonderful personality, entertaining sense of humor, and outstanding commitment. They certainly weren't afraid of improvising at any given opportunity either. Plus, none of the characters (with the exception of Rachel) were without a lovable nature and character development.
If I had to pick who my favorite performers and characters in this movie were, it'd be Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik, and James Marsden as Thomas.
Whether Schwartz also provided live-action reference or motion capture footage for Sonic is something I don't know, but the way he portrayed the character was so mind-blowing that it was like he did more than just provide the voice! He imbued the right emotions required for every moment, and whenever Sonic was interacting with the other characters, his performance carried an authenticity that made it feel like he was right there with them. Plus, the comedic-timings Schwartz provided were deeply funny, and he gave Sonic great personality, sense of three-dimensionalism, and innocence.
Jim Carrey was likewise an instant showstopper in this movie. His performance as Robotnik was not only a great return to his maniacal comedic style, but his role gave Carrey the opportunity to diversify as an actor, mainly because it's not everyday you get to see Carrey playing a bad guy. Every moment with him was so hysterical I couldn't keep myself from laughing, and he brilliantly helped Robotnik be an intimidating and fully-realized threat too.
On top of that, James Marsden was amazing in the role of Tom. Some may say that his role in the film is no different than his work as Frederick "Fred" O'Hare in Illumination's "Hop", but I honestly didn't think that was the case. While it is true that both Fred and Tom were played by Marsden, I saw little similarity between each character or the roles they play in their respective films. Much of the credit goes to Marsden for being able to differentiate Tom from Fred in terms of the personality, and it takes a talented actor to do just that.
Plus, the characters of Sonic, Robotnik, and Thomas were not only the most interesting out of everyone in the movie, but they had the most powerful and transformative of developments.
In conclusion, "Sonic the Hedgehog" isn't what I'd classify as a complete masterpiece. But, it's entertaining and worthwhile in its own way, and it's something that I believe entire families can have a great time with. I'm deeply excited for the sequel that's coming next year, that's for sure.
So, I rate "Sonic the Hedgehog" 4½ out of 5 stars.
I loved the movie
Let’s be honest here if they used the old design the film would’ve flopped horribly
Love the film with current design. Jim Carrey is also a win in my book
I love this film too! 5/5 stars from me though.
Have you seen the Detective Pikachu film yet? Because it's also a great video game film.
Even though I was never all that in to Sonic I loved this movie. Good on the makers for fixing Sonic’s design after that embarrassing first iteration that resulted in more fan backlash than in recorded history.
I haven't watched this movie, but despite the fact I'm not a Sonic fan, maybe one day I would buy it on DVD because of Jim carry.
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Or rent it from somewhere like Redbox or iTunes first? Perhaps even watch it on Hulu or Amazon Prime if you have those services?
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I haven’t seen it. Although I’m open to checking it out one day if given the chance.
A fun fact about Jim Carrey in this movie is that he improvised so much that he didn't even know how much of the script made it into the actual film.
Another thing I loved was the Sanic drawing in the beginning.
For me five out of five stars
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Alrighty.
You may not know this but part of the reason Jim Carrey played the role of Dr Eggman was because his grandson is a huge fan of Sonic.
Good review. Ever considered reviewing the Sonic movie they did back in the nineties?
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In all the research I did, I don’t recall finding any Sonic movies being made before the one released in 2020.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(OVA)
So who's ready for the sequel next year on April 8th, 2022? X3
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I am.
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Same =3
I enjoyed the movie and think the only drawback is what kind of movie it is. A video game movie (Which usually are really bad) However, you can see the heart and soul pored into this and it's predecessor, Detective Pikachu. Both are great movies that when I saw the trailers and stuff, I thought they would stink. But these two really need to be given more respect than they get.