Sonic the Hedgehog: A Review

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

I start my Sonic the Hedgehog review by admitting that I have never played the video game on which the film is based on. I admit great puzzlement over why Sonic the Hedgehog as a movie exists at all. Despite that, I was completely won over by Sonic the Hedgehog's mix of straight and silly, heart and humor.

In voiceover, our intergalactic alien Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) tells us that he is an exile from another world, finding his way to Earth through a magical portal ring. He enjoys his adopted home outside Green Hills, Montana and its residents from whom he hides from. His personal favorites are a man he calls "Donut Lord" and his wife, "Pretzel Lady". 

One night, his loneliness gets the better of him, and he inadvertently causes a major power outage. Reluctantly, the military high brass brings in eccentric to downright bonkers Dr. Robotnick (Jim Carrey) to find the source of the outage. Dr. Robotnick quickly traces things to a foreign entity. Fearing for his life and safety, Sonic is about to go into exile again when he encounters "Donut Lord".

That would be Green Hills sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Tom, who is getting ready to leave Green Hills to be a San Franscico cop, is shocked to discover that the legendary "Blue Devil" is real. He reluctantly agrees to help Sonic go to San Fransisco, find the bag of rings that Sonic accidentally sent there, and avoid the mad Robotnick. Will the immature but loveable Sonic win Tim and his wife, Pretzel Lady Maddie (Tika Sumpter) to his side? Will Robotnick be stopped?

Sonic the Hedgehog does something incredibly rare in films: take the premise seriously while simultaneously giving audiences a slight wink that all this is not meant to be taken seriously. Everything about Sonic the Hedgehog is absurd. However, it is a credit to especially James Marsden and Tika Sumpter that they play the scenario straight. To be fair, there were a couple of occasions when both tried to be a bit exaggerated in their delivery. However, it was brief and not enough to remove all the goodwill that they had made.

Marsden in particular has a hard task in the film. As the straight man to Sonic's mix of naivete and childlike enthusiasm, he has to be the adult. He manages things quite well, showing him to be a decent man trying to do the right thing while never behaving as though a speedy talking blue hedgehog is a bit bizarre. Perhaps a bit bizarre, but so long as he is around Marsden never exaggerates his reactions or makes out like he is too smart for all this.

The cartoonish, wildly over-the-top part is handled by Jim Carrey. This, however, was the correct way of handling things. Dr. Robotnick is cartoonish and wildly over-the-top. He is never meant to be a serious antagonist to Sonic. He is meant to be so grandiose in his manner that trying to make him a more grounded villain would have come across as idiotic. In Carrey's performance, Dr. Robotnick delights in being big but behaves as though none of this is wrong. 

Of particular note is whenever he plays something with his right-hand man, Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub). Stone suffers greatly under Robotnick, but both play their scenes as if this is how both would behave: Robotnick doing something that causes Stone mental or physical injury, Stone being initially hurt but then quickly moving on. As odd as the comparison may be, I am reminded of how Groucho Marx would insult Margaret Dumont in a film, only for her to give a quick startled look before moving on. 

The broadness of Carrey allows for Marsden's more straightforward manner to balance each other out. Had both played them the same way, it would have been disastrous. Had Marsden been exaggerated and Carrey restrained, things would have looked odd. Jeff Fowler as a director made a wide choice to let Carrey go all-in on the cray-cray while having Marsden be a bit more rational. Actually, Carrey's Dr. Robotnick being so cartoonishly over-the-top allows everyone else to look rational, even when they are not.

Schwartz as the voice of Sonic makes him a likeable creature. He makes Sonic a bit like a child, energetic, cute and innocent. He is well-meaning and not meanspirited in any way, but unaware of how things are. Who else would find a biker bar so enticing enough to go there despite the dangers he faces?  

Pat Casey and Josh Miller's screenplay makes this premise plausible without insisting on being totally realistic. Sonic the Hedgehog is deliberately silly, but it does not insult the audience by having everything played for laughs. In fact, there are moments that are surprisingly moving, such as when Tim looks at Sonic's bucket list and sees "Make a real friend" as one that he has not scratched off.

The film has good visual effects in bringing this super-fast blue creature to life. It soon looks as if Sonic is a real creature, making one care about him. We can also laugh at how he manages to get into a barfight. I do wonder though, if smaller children will have to have things like biker barfights explained to them. 

While Sonic the Hedgehog is surprisingly short, clocking in around a little over an hour-and-a-half, it never feels either rushed or lethargic. The only part that perhaps might have been rushed is the opening, when we get a very brief glimpse of Sonic's mentor and protector, the owl Longclaw. It was a bit quick, but I found that a minor detail.

On the whole, however, Sonic the Hedgehog work because it knows how to have fun with the premise while not making things too silly. I think families will enjoy the first adventures of our title hero and fans of the video game will be pleased with it too. Sonic the Hedgehog has a warmth, a sweetness and a deliberately light humor that delighted me. While I probably will not play the game, I would have no issue sitting through Sonic the Hedgehog another time.

DECISION: B-