Sonic tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend -- a human named Tom Wachowski. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.
Everyone has heard of Sonic the hedgehog at some point in their lives, whether it’s from playing the old games, or whether it’s from the new fans who enjoy playing the newer games and the merchandise - it’s easy to say that he is one iconic little hedgehog! When I heard there was going to be a movie based around him I was really interested and excited, until I saw the memes of the poorly designed character model of him - it wasn’t very good (although it was pretty funny!). Over $100 million was spent to redesign and recreate the main character and the overall execution is well done, this film has a lot to live up to though, with other gaming-based films such as Pokemon being released and the success that it was, can this film live up to that hype? Or will it get a speeding ticket, and then crash and burn? Here are my thoughts.
I can’t lie, I was expecting the film to jump straight into the action and into the storyline of the film, but it started uniquely and excitingly. Seeing Sonic Not only being chased by Dr Eggman, but also scenes with his ‘mother’ in really helped to provide context and information to who he is as a character, whilst helping to line up the plot nicely for us. The film does have a fast-paced and action-packed introduction, but not in the way we expect, it isn’t fights and explosions, but more chases and this helps to set the pace of the film nicely. The addition of a narration is also really helpful, because not only does it help to describe Sonic‘a emotions (from him) but it also gives a good level of detail as to what has happened in his life before the film is set, this actually really seems to work well because not only does it provide a familiar setting and feeling for fans which helps to engage them well, but it also helps to introduce new fans to the character and who he is which is done very well To balance between the two types of audience.
I love how the film doesn’t just take Sonic as a character from a game and put him into a film, but the film adds a strong series of purpose and emotion to his character right from the very beginning which helps to make him feel real and immersive. Seeing his emotions of sadness when leaving his ‘mother’ and when he plays baseball by himself and feels lonely, it surprised me how well the film created a feeling of empathy towards his character because it took a completely made-up character and gave them real-life and genuine feelings. This helps to make him a really exciting and genuinely interesting character and makes the game element to his character feel like a side element, not something that defines his character.
Furthermore, the film creates a great impression of sonic as a character, seeing his narrative and his insights into different scenes and things help to personify who he is as a character, as well as helping to give him a realistic and immersive twist to his character which I love. As well as this though, he is genuinely exciting and funny, the film adds in small, silly pieces of humour which work well for his character, such as calling Tom ‘Donut Lord’ and when he creates a fight by talking ‘Country and Southern’ in the bar - it’s all fairly silly humour, but it seems to work well here, and it doesn’t feel forced or over the top, which is great - the humour level feels just right here, enough to make the character seem fun and enjoyable, but not too much to seem pushy or like it’s trying too hard. The film cleverly integrates a wide variety of emotions and feelings into the character though which is great, seeing how scared and worn down Sonic feels at the start of the film helps to give an impression of depression and sadness, whereas as the film progresses, the characters of the film develop a meaning and purpose, and this is cleverly depicted by the characters reactions and dialogue towards each other. Simple things like the bucket list are an example of how the film develops Sonic’s feelings, whilst maintaining that silly feeling well.
One of the elements of the film which I liked though was how the film didn’t just decide to focus the plot on Sonic, but instead, it shared the spotlight by integrating in new characters which help to stabilise the film and give it a proper plot and storyline, whilst also providing the opportunity to show character development to give the film a sense of realism. These characters are great and they work into the film nicely, both Maddie and Tom fit into the plot nicely and even though Tom’s character feels much more exciting And genuine as a character, they both seem to fit in well, and their development as characters fit into the story well, which adds a level of complexity to the plot as it isn’t just about Sonic’s survival, but also whether Tom should stay in Green Hills or not - it’s a simple addition but this helps to add something more to the plot and give it a lot more to delve into. As well as this, I love how Dr Eggman is portrayed! not only does he feel really strange and somewhat scary, but his emotions and personality establish itself nicely which helps to provide a unique and strange feeling for us when he is on the screen - the film engages well with us in this way. Jim Carrey does great here though, as you’d expect for this kind of role, not only does he feel realistic but he also seems to fit into the role of a slightly crazy scientist well, and provides a lot of uneasy and creepy scenes. I think instantly the film utilizes Jim Carrey brilliantly. This film allowed Carrey to be in his element, much like he was at the height of his career. It is tremendous, he's so outrageous and overacted that its such a fun portrayal.
One of the main concerns I had was that the film would feel very cliche and unoriginal, this isn’t the case at all, I like how the film integrates real-life people and characters to build and establish its plot well, by building strong foundations from introducing us to the characters well and fluidly - this then not only helps to make the plot much more exciting but it just helps to prevent the film from feeling cheesy or cliche! As well as this, I like the journey element and feeling to the film, it isn’t just a simple task that the characters have to do, but the travelling helps to keep the film fresh and exciting because the journey element means that we feel a part of it experiencing it alongside them.
The film has two key feelings to it which I feel are managed very well and help to give the film a really exciting feeling to it, these are a silly feeling and a serious feeling. The film bounces between the two and many would think that this would be a bad thing but it actually isn’t, not only does it help to give the film a positive vibe to it but the addition of the serious feeling also helps to bring the film somewhat down to Earth, providing an immersive and exciting experience and the combination of these two emotions and feelings work well together. The overall story is actually really good as well, I like how well thought out and realistic that parts of the film feel, this helps the film to flow nicely, for example, seeing Somic depressed and then running around the baseball pitch which causes a power surge - leading to the overall plot of the film. It fits together well and helps to establish the plot of the film well and to get the ball rolling.
the film is also kept exciting through the Variety of action scenes too, seeing the unique battles and fights that Sonic gets into is kept exciting due to the slow-motion/fast-paced scene variations - these help us to identify his speed and the traits of his character, whilst providing exciting and fun scenes too. The film also doesn’t hold back when it comes to action scenes, the variation that it offers it great and helps to offer something new and different to what it has provided before, from bar fights to Sonic speeding into a vehicle, to dodging hundreds of missiles by flicking them, the film has a lot of various types of action scenes, each one as fun and engaging as the next. They are also fast-paced which keeps them gripping and exciting too.
The overall film isn’t perfect though, that’s for sure. One of my main problems relates to the whole establishment of friendship of Tom and Sonic, it just feels very cliche and overused, seeing how they accidentally discover each other in the garage just didn't feel unique or exciting, but instead predictable and boring. The plot from getting to California seems VERY rushed along and feels like a road trip rather than a Sonic Movie, although like I said, it does provide a feeling of a journey and adds structure to the film. As well as this, it just didn't feel like there were many risks taken with the film, Sonic was designed well and his character was exciting, but there didn't feel like the film had anything new or important to add into the series - this would have helped to create a unique feeling to the film which just didn't feel present, something that Detective Pikachu did well.
As well as this, some viewers may find the simplistic and straightforward storyline a little bland, it does try its best to keep itself exciting by adding in new characters and events, but still, the storyline chooses a direction which it wants to take right from the very beginning and there is little in the film to suggest that it wants to divert from this path.
Overall though, I would give this film a 7.5. It was a good quality film and it includes plenty of fun and excitement to give the film a strong sense of enjoyment, as well as giving the impression that a lot of thought went into this film. It is also great to see the creators of the film engaging with the audiences (by redesigning Sonic) and by doing so, they created a realistic design which helps the film to shine. It does have its problems though, such as that the film does have such major plot problems relating to the excitement of it, the plot just doesn't seem to offer much which we haven't seen hundreds of times, it follows a very typical path in terms of events, although to be fair, it does engage with us well. I also loved the music for the film (unpopular opinion), I liked it and I think whenever a song made for a movie can be enjoyed on its own then it's going to be a good listen. Although this is a film blog, not a music one so I won't dip into that too much! ;) Would I recommend this film? Sure, it's got its heart in the right place, and there is plenty of excitement value from the film, as well as this, it can be easily enjoyed by both fans of Sonic as well as general moviegoers because of its fast-paced feeling and immersive and generally enjoyable culture. Oh and make sure you stay behind the credits for a really cool twist and addition to the film, it's a nice touch and helps to integrate more characters into the film nicely.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!
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