Sonic the Hedgehog Review

Certificate: PG

Running time: 99 minutes 

Starring: Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Ben Schwartz

Directed by: Jeff Fowler

The story: After finding himself chased by shady government officials, a hedgehog with special abilities enlists the help of a local sheriff.

The verdict: Before Sonic the Hedgehog was even released, it was the subject of negative attention when the first trailer revealed the design and look of Sonic, and fans absolutely hated it. Fearing a complete boycott of the film altogether, the filmmakers redesigned Sonic, creating a much better visual of the character. Still despite that, many predicted that the film would bomb at the box office. So, it was a pleasant surprise to see Sonic the Hedgehog do much better than expected, doing reasonably well at the box office and gaining praise from some critics.

I have always loved the character and the games, having grown up playing Sonic the Hedgehog and although I found the trailer pretty lacklustre, I was still looking forward to seeing the film. Unfortunately I ended up quite disappointed, and to be honest I was relieved when it ended. It turns out that I may be in the minority with this opinion though, as the rest of the audience in my screening absolutely loved it. There was laughing and whooping, and I even heard one kid exclaim “That was awesome!” I have also seen some other audience reviews which declare the film to be “brilliant” and “the Sonic movie we’ve been waiting for” and I wonder to myself - which film did they watch?! 

As the film opened, I had a few minutes of thinking that actually maybe this was going to be pretty good - it felt a bit like the video game and I loved that immediate hit of recognition and nostalgia. However, this quickly faded. 

The dialogue in this film is terrible, and I mean terrible. Within moments of appearing on screen Jim Carrey’s Dr Robotnik makes an awkward breastfeeding joke and it goes on from there. I found Carrey’s performance embarrassingly over the top and I cringed every time he was on screen. Sonic himself is quite an annoying character, and throughout the film he is referred to as both a hedgehog and an alien, which actually doesn’t really make sense. 

The plot and action is typical of what you’d expect from a family blockbuster, and I had no real issues with that. But there is just something about this film that feels a bit empty and silly. Maybe one could argue that it’s supposed to be for kids, and in all fairness the kids in the screening loved it, but I don’t agree with that reasoning. Firstly, there are so many great family films that do, as the title suggests, appeal to all the family. But secondly, surely most Sonic fans are slightly older?

Anyway, overall I wasn’t a fan of this film. I do think that lots of audiences will enjoy it, it is essentially harmless fun and as stated previously, the younger audience members loved it. But for me, Sonic the Hedgehog was a big disappointment.

The rating: ⭐️⭐️