"Not the lack of sleep, not the feeling of being overworked, not the constant side-projects, nothing will stop me from seeing the Sonic movie!" ...Is what I was telling myself three hours ago, and now I have seen it, and I can report on it. (Warning: This review may contain spoilers.)
Everyone who's kept track of this movie's development knows what happened: The first trailer came out, Sonic looked horrible in it (although, let's be fair, while some shots were alright, on the whole the design was just... bleh). And thus, the studio behind it went back to the drawing board (literally), went with a design closer to what everyone knows, and pushed the film's release back 4 months, from November 2019 to February 2020. They basically had a Hollywood crunch period. I was pretty critical of the design as well, so I thought it was only fair that I'd go watch the movie in theaters. (Also, video game movie. I kind of had to.) I'm not disappointed, personally.
The synopsis: Sonic the Hedgehog was born with his powers, but was careless with using them as a young child. In danger in his own world, his caretaker handed him a bag of rings with special teleportation abilities, and sent him to Planet Earth. Ten years later, Sonic has adapted well to life on Earth; he's got a burrow full of stuff, and he watches the humans of Green Hills, the nearby small town. He pretends he's having interactions with the townspeople, but none of it's actually real as he remains hidden from them due to his "alien" nature; as a result, he feels desperate and lonely. One night, he overruns on a baseball field and the power surge caused by his excessive speed causes a massive, multi-state-wide power outage.
Believing it to be a terrorist attack, the American government sends Doctor Robotnik to Green Hills. The "Smartest man on Earth" (also the most egotistical, but let's not say that to his face) proceeds to track down Sonic with his armada of egg-shaped drones. Sonic hides in the house of Tom Wachowsky, the local sheriff, and is subsequently found by him and hit with a tranquilizer dart. In that encounter, Sonic also loses his bag of rings in a portal that opens above San Francisco. With Robotnik after them, Sonic and Tom form an unlikely friendship as they go on a journey to retrieve Sonic's rings, so that he can safely escape from the mad scientist's clutches.
The performances: I can't quite speak on Sonic as I went to see the film in French, but the voice there seemed to work just fine with the character - roughly 13-14ish, somewhat childish. I've seen Sonic written in two ways: #1. The relaxed guy who takes life easy because he knows he can deal with most threats in literally seconds, or #2. The personification of ADHD. In this film, Sonic is more like #2, and it's a thin line to walk as he could have been incredibly annoying. Sometimes he does get annoying, true. But usually he's bearable, and his emotional moments work as well.
James Marsden as Tom plays the usual "human friend" type from this kind of scenario. Breckin Meyer as Jon in Garfield, Neil Patrick Harris in The Smurfs - we've all seen it already. Heck, it's not James Marsden's first rodeo with a CGI character; he was also the main human in Hop, back in 2011. His character here doesn't do things much different from similar roles in similar films, and to me that's a big flaw. Tom is likeable enough, and he plays the part just fine, but he isn't really bringing a lot of new. Making a movie about a CGI character, then focusing on the humans? Been there, done that.
Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik: Oh God. That's the insane one we know from all those '90s movies. Hot damn, Jim Carrey, I know scenery is your favorite snack, but you're just five minutes on the screen and there's nothing left to chew already. Subtlety? What's that? We don't need that for a guy who comes to be known as Doctor Eggman. He adds a lot to the film with his energy and delivery. He also has many of the best moments and lines. He's having FUN with this.
General points: Speaking of the '90s, as I implied earlier, the film does feel like it retreads a lot of story beats from similar movies, both in the "buddy road trip" and "CGI character(s) in the real world" categories. If you've seen a sizable amount of both of those, you'll feel like the Sonic movie is employing tropes, twists and clichés that have been done to the point of parody by now. It may be the film's biggest flaw.
I do appreciate that this story attempts to be an origin story for both Sonic and Robotnik, in ways that I won't disclose; then again I don't need to, the clues are in the trailers already. There are attempts at creativity on both ends as well, utilizing Sonic's speed and Eggman's technology in inventive, funny and often unexpected ways.
The movie is noticeably unsubtle about its product placement, which is unfortunate. Also, can someone tell Sonic that flossing was so 2018? Get with the times, man! You're being slow here! How many companies and actors did Sonic namedrop, and how many pop culture references did he throw in? It makes sense in-story, as Sonic basically grows up as a speedy geek, but it's a tad jarring and forced to say the least. (Also, mandatory sequel hook, because of course there had to be one.)
Final words: It's a movie that the kids are going to enjoy just fine. Sonic fans, both young and old, might find something of interest here in seeing the video game hero in a movie. Its flaws might not make it to everyone's tastes, but it's better than the average video game film. I liked it just fine, despite its flaws. Now, whether you want to go see it in theaters, that's up to you.
As for me, I'll go get some sleep before I crash from exhauzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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