Featured Digital Review: Sonic the Hedgehog

March 31, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog - Buy from Amazon: Digital or Digital (4K Ultra HD)

Talk of a Sonic the Hedgehog movie first began 25 years ago. It’s a super popular video game franchise, or at least it was at its peak. A string of subpar instalments in the franchise hurt its popularity, while the overall terrible quality of the average video game movie made a live-action movie seem like a risk. Then that first trailer came out. Granted, the effects quality improved dramatically as a result of the backlash, but I was still not interested in the substance the trailer offered. Then the reviews showed up and many people said this film was the best video game adaptation of all time. It then went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2020 so far. Is it as good as its reviews / box office numbers? Or do I think this film benefited from low expectations?

The Movie

We begin with a prologue, with Sonic explaining to the audience about his powers and how others wanted his powers. His guardian, Longclaw the Owl, sacrificed herself to protect Sonic and used a ring to send him to a faraway planet, Earth. She also gave him a bag of rings and told him to use them if he is ever caught.

Flashforward ten years and we meet Tom Wachowski, sheriff of Green Hills, the very bored sheriff of Green Hills. He is so bored of his job that he’s planning on moving to San Francisco to join their police department. Something exciting happens when Sonic messes with his speed trap. Tom notices something, but doesn’t see Sonic. Tom does find one of his blue quills. Sonic tells the audience more about his life, but while he tries to paint a pretty picture, it is clear he is very lonely. He treats Tom and his wife, Dr. Annie, as family, but of course he can’t be seen, so they don’t even know he exists. In fact, only one person knows he exists, Crazy Carl, and as you can tell by the name, no one in the town believes him.

One day while feeling particularly lonely, Sonic plays baseball with himself and runs the bases so fast that he sets off an EMP burst. This knocks out the power in the town, and a sizable portion of the Pacific Northwest. Tom sees the blue quill he found light up as a result of this. It also attracts the attention of the United States military, who send in Dr. Robotnik, a brilliant, but eccentric roboticist to lead the investigation. Sonic, meanwhile, decides to get out of town and use the rings to travel to a new safe world. Unfortunately, Tom spots him before he can leave and through a strange sequence of events, the rings wind up in San Francisco. At first Tom doesn’t want anything to do with Sonic, but eventually the pair team up to get the rings back and evade Dr. Robotnik.

I’m of two minds when it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog. On the one hand, if you are in the right age range or you grew up on the Sonic video games and cartoons, then you will probably have a blast watching this movie. There’s enough video game action and little references that add to the film that it is a fun watch for its target demographic. On the other hand, I think I’m just too old for this film. I found both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik irritating. Granted, I never played the Sonic games or watched the Sonic cartoons as a kid, so I have no emotional connection to the character. I did watch a few clips from the various shows as research and I think fans of the character will like this version, so keep that in mind. Likewise, while I was a big fan of Jim Carrey’s early work, Dr. Robotnik didn’t work for me. A lot of his fans did call this the return to old-school Jim Carrey and I do agree with that. It’s just as I’ve gotten older, my tastes have changed.

To end on a positive note, while I’m not a fan of the film, it still could make my top five best Video Game adaptations list. Detective Pikachu still tops that list, while Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Silent Hill would likely be the other entries in the top five.

The Extras

I only got a VOD screener, but this did include 30 minutes of extras, including alternative opening, deleted / alternative scenes, etc. If the DVD / Blu-ray only had those extras, it would be disappointing compared to its box office numbers. However, that is not the case and the overall extras could be enough to be worth picking up, if you have kids the right age. We will see in May.

The Verdict

I’m really glad Sonic the Hedgehog did well enough to justify a sequel or two. Paramount needed the box office hit. While the film isn’t for me, I can see the appeal and if you were looking forward to this movie, then definitely give the film a rent, although it is currently only available for purchase digital with a 4K Ultra HD option.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Video Review, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Frank C. Turner, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Donna Jay Fulks