‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ (the movie) Review

In recent film history, there’s been a trend of taking iconic cartoon characters and putting them in the real world through CGI. It’s never really resulted in good movies, aside from Bumblebee, although that’s mainly because it pulled more from E.T. and The Iron Giant than The Smurfs or Alvin and the Chipmunks. When it was announced that was the direction they were taking the Sonic movie in, I was extremely disappointed. The Sonic franchise is full of colorful and creative worlds, and is very near and dear to my heart. Sure, I’ve been burned before as a Sonic fan, but a dumpster fire this big would’ve really hurt. I had a little bit of hope when Ben Schwartz was cast as Sonic, but that hope was ripped away when the first trailer came out. That first trailer was…oof…it was rough. I laughed at it alongside everyone else at first, but it quickly stopped being funny to me. The years of public mockery towards something I loved finally caught up to me, and I was just sad. Then the director announced they were redesigning Sonic. Hope was restored, but I was still scared; there was a chance they could screw it up even more.

But they didn’t. That second trailer made me so fucking happy, man. The morning it came out I watched it like three times in a row. I watched it before and after my morning class. I watched it when I got home. I watched it in the shower. I watched it while I was sleeping. Finally, the Sonic franchise got something right that wasn’t nostalgia bait or music. It wasn’t just the design that was so good either; the tone, the humor, Sonic’s personality, it all worked! Sure it wasn’t my ideal Sonic movie, but it looked pretty great for what it was! I think that’s the perfect one sentence review for the movie as a whole: pretty great for what it was.

The Sonic movie is a really fun kids movie and tribute to Sonic the Hedgehog. You can feel the love for the character seeping out from every word he says and every reference that’s made. Ben Schwartz is absolutely perfect in the role, nailing the hyperactive childlike energy. It’s a performance that could’ve been annoying (especially with some of the admittedly rough dialogue), but Ben Schwartz is charming through and through. It definitely helps that Sonic’s design is so appealing and expressive. They nailed my boy, and that makes this Sonic fan ecstatic.

But what would Sonic be without his Robotnik? Well, we don’t need to wonder because Jim Carrey is fantastic in the role. I was skeptical when he was cast, but I grew up loving Jim Carrey, so I figured worst case scenario we’d get a fun 90s Carrey performance. And that’s exactly what we get! Robotnik is a return to a Jim Carrey we haven’t seen in at least a decade. He’s goofy, over the top, and a perfect foil for Sonic. Not just a great Jim Carrey performance, but a solid take on the character. You can tell Carrey had a blast playing him.

James Marsden was fine.

Aside from the love and great performances, something else that makes this stand out from its contemporaries is the action. Yes, of course they rip off the Quicksilver scene (twice), but it works and makes perfect sense for Sonic. The action is kinetic and surprisingly well-shot. A special shoutout goes to the scene where Sonic takes on a drone truck that has smaller drones inside it. It’s like one of those Russian dolls, but deadlier.

Overall, this is a solid kid’s movie that happens to also be a good representation of one of my favorite characters. It’s fun, it’s simple, and it made me smile. In the end, we absolutely take those.