I went to see the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie. In part because I liked the original games back in the 90s but, honestly, mostly out of curiosity. Curiosity to see if the publicized redesign of the original creepy CGI Sonic model was able to save the movie. Of course, that would only really matter if the movie was any good to begin with… and it’s a movie based on a video game which has a very very very bad track record.
I’m actually surprised to report that the movie is pretty good. Not great but certainly better than the various other family-friendly CGI/Human combo movies like The Smurfs and the Chipmunks (and better than the pretty good Detective Pikachu movie from last year too). Don’t get me wrong, this is still a children’s movie… but one that has enough decent jokes, fun pop culture references, and decent action/adventure to appeal to grumpy, crusty old adults too. And, if you are a modern or old-school Sonic fan, it does fair justice to the property. Not sure if the plot follows any of the cartoons or later games (probably doesn’t) but that’s fine by me. I doubt there’s much consistent cannon to worry about.
Plot-wise… Sonic is an anthropomorphic alien hedgehog thing who is in hiding on Earth. He spends his days watching the humans of the small town of Green Hill (game reference!). James Marsden plays a local cop who has to help Sonic when the government gets word of him and sends in evil Dr. Robotnik (aka Jim Carrey). So they go on a road trip to San Francisco for reasons that don’t matter since this is just a buddy road trip movie and they need a reason to be on the road.
Action scenes are decent, acting is fine, and the human characters actually work and don’t feel like an excuse to not program in an expensive CGI character. James Marsden is good, his character has an arc that isn’t typically kid movies cloying or corny. His friendship with the Sonic character is better than I would have expected. I don’t want to oversell the movie… but it’s a genuine surprise that it’s a fun watch and all the pieces generally work.
Jim Carey is very good as the villain. He’s in total 90s era Jim Carey manic mode where they probably sat a camera in front of him and just let him improv. I’m not a big fan of Jim Carey when he’s doing his Dumb and Dumber or Ace Ventura shtick. I don’t like those movies and a little of that routine goes a long way. But that’s why he works in this movie since he’s a supporting player. He doesn’t have so much screen time that he overstays his welcome. People without my hang-ups on him will certainly be happy though.
So, yeah, if you are a Sonic fan on any level or just want to see a decent family movie with some good laughs, this is a surprisingly good movie. I think it works as a decent family-focused buddy road trip fish-out-of-water comedy regardless of which CGI critter is sitting in the passenger seat.
Score: 83