“Sonic the Hedgehog” pleasantly surprises fans

By: Kevin Conley II

Staff Writer

Based on the beloved video game franchise, “Sonic the Hedgehog” stars James Marsden, Jim Carrey and Taika Sumpter with Ben Schwartz leading the pack as Sonic. 

This film revolves around a small, fast, blue hedgehog named Sonic who travels to Earth to the town of Green Hills after being hunted down from planet to planet.

After being discovered by the evil and intelligent Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Carrey), Sonic forges an alliance with a small town cop named Tom Wachowski (Marsden)and his wife Maddie (Sumpter) who help Sonic use his power to protect his friends and save the world.

  Sonic is a famous pop culture icon, and has been amongst the most famous video game characters ever since the release of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” game for the Sega Genesis in 1991. 

            Since then, the character has seen TV shows, comics and other video game adaptations that continue to be in production to date. 

Sonic has been an iconic figurehead of childhoods everywhere, while a new generation continues to grow around the character. The film comes after years of production, and the film’s marketing was not without its controversy. 

The trailer for the film broke the internet and became one of the most talked about trailers of the year mainly because of the character’s original design for the film. 

Critics and Sonic fans had negative thoughts on the original design and the backlash was so immense, that director Jeff Fowler delayed the film to redesign the look of Sonic. 

The redesign was met with general praise, with many insisting that this design was more in line with the expectations of the fans.

  In spite of the backlash, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is a surprisingly fun family film with entertaining action scenes, hilarious moments and a heartfelt story that portrays Sonic as a relatable and fleshed out character. 

Carrey, who is best known for his physical comedy in films like “Ace Ventura,” “The Mask,” “Liar Liar” and “Batman Forever,” returns to his roots for the first time since 2014‘s “Dumb and Dumber To,” and he doesn’t disappoint as the villainous Dr. Robotnic. It’s clear he’s having the time of his life. 

Schwartz also does impeccable work as the voice of Sonic. He captures Sonic’s personality with an energetic mood, having to communicate to the audience with how he feels when he’s happy or sad, and he likely won’t disappoint Sonic fans who love the character.

Marsden and Sumpter were entertaining in the film too, as their characters are necessary to show characterization from Sonic, which is a very rare trait for films based off of famous pop culture icons. 

It’s rare because most films with popular icons, like Godzilla, fail as they don’t give the film enough screen time for the main character. “Sonic” avoids this issue by putting the characters front and center in the story.

In spite of this, the film isn’t without its flaws. The film can be viewed as either somewhat rushed, or too long.

However, despite its flaws, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is another successful video game to movie adaptation following last year’s “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.” 

The film succeeds thanks to heartfelt and hilarious moments, a surprisingly investing story and great characters that keep audiences hooked. 

It’s worth a look, and will likely come as a pleasant surprise for audiences who didn’t expect the film to be good. It’s also one of the few films that pays it forward to its fan base. 

If you’re a fan of the character, this is not a film to be missed. 8/10