Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2020 action-adventure comedy film, Sonic the Hedgehog, based on the video game series of the same name.
A young, anthropomorphic hedgehog called Sonic (Ben Schwartz) is sought after by a tribe of echidnas for his super-sonic power. To protect him, his owl guardian gives Sonic a bag of interdimensional portal rings to assist him in travelling to other planets. Flashing forward 10 years, Sonic lives reclusively in small-town Green Hills, Montana USA. That is, until he accidentally triggers an EMP that knocks out the city’s power, in turn drawing the attention of the US Government and one zany Dr Robotnik (Jim Carey).
Developed in the early 1990s, Sonic The Hedgehog was Sega’s response to Nintendo’s ubiquitous Super Mario Brothers. The hyper-cool, fast talking larrikin since spawned a multimedia franchise, with a feature-length movie in development since 1993. Paired with the town sheriff (James Marsden) to assist him on a cross-country roadtrip to get his lost rings back, Sonic relies on the usual interdimensional-hopping tropes (Masters of the Universe, Smurfs) in setting the adventure on Earth to keep production costs down. Carey brings his brand of otherworldly comic-book antics to the proceedings, hamming it up with glee in a variety of ways; from giving hilarious shade to military types to doing a dance sequence in a research montage.
Verdict: With the main theme revolving around loneliness and friendship, it’s a shame that the usually uber-cool and self-confident Sonic comes across as ‘needy’. Hopefully, future outings give Sonic his groove back. 3 stars.
- Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net
Sonic The Hedgehog is streaming on Amazon Prime and iTunes.
