When I visited the theater on February 14th, I was not expecting that I would even remotely like Sonic the Hedgehog;  after all, it was based on a video game that I have barely played. However, I left the theater praising the film and eagerly anticipating a sequel. In this review, I will cover major details that I thought were crucial to“flipping” my opinion  about this film, which is still in theaters. I must therefore include a SPOILER ALERT for those who wish to be surprised by the events in Sonic The Hedgehog. 

 First, a brief summary. Once I got popcorn and sat down, I noticed that the theater had a heavy presence of audience members, comparable to a major film’s opening such as Star Wars, which surprised me even though it was still an opening weekend. 

In the opening scene of the film, younger Sonic on his home planet was chased by tribal-like creatures due to his incredible speed powers. Sonic’s guardian, Longclaw Owl, protects him as he is sadly forced to run to a new world through his ring portals. Sonic lands on Earth in a dark forest. 10 years later, the blue hedgehog lives secretly among the Green Hills, Montana citizens while having secret friendships with individuals he names Donut-Lord and Pretzel-Lady. Sonic causes a power surge across the Pacific-Northwest after becoming upset about being alone. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense enlists Dr. Robotnik to investigate the matter. He discovers one of Sonic’s quills and tracks Sonic. Sonic hides out in Donut Lord’s garage. Wachowski shoots Sonic with his wife’s, Pretzel-Lady’s (Maddie a vet’s), tranquilizer gun. Sonic blacks out while a portal to San Francisco is accidentally opened and his portal rings fall through and land at the top of the Trans-america building. When Sonic comes to, Thomas reluctantly agrees to hide him. The two evade Dr. Robotnik and his robots, while being labeled as domestic terrorists. Thomas reluctantly treks Sonic to San Francisco while also being followed and attacked by an increasingly obsessive Robotnik. Robotnik figures that if he can harness Sonic’s speed he can manipulate the super speed into his robots, while bonding with Sonic after learning that he has never had a true friend. Sonic and Thomas acquire the rings after help from Maddie. Dr. Robotnik arrives with a ship and robots outfitted with speed from Sonic’s quill. A chase ensues through the world ending in Green Hills. Sonic eventually outwits Robotnik and sends him to a mushroom world through a ring portal. Sonic is welcomed into the Wachowski family while the U.S. government rids the files on Dr. Robotnik’s existence. In the end credits, Dr. Robotnik, still on the mushroom planet, is shown as insane and sports a bald head and mustache like he is depicted in the games. He is shown to be in possession of Sonic’s quill, stating, “he’ll be home before christmas” and vows for revenge. Back on Earth in the woods near Green Hills, a ring portal opens with Tails, a fox from Sonic’s world, jumping through in search of Sonic. By this reveal everyone was screaming things like “Tails!” or “Heck ya!”

Here are my thoughts on this movie: this movie had a unique and unexpected story line. The film was incredibly entertaining, thanks to the talents of Jim Carrey and Ben Schwartz, both perfectly cast as  Dr. Robotnik and Sonic. The number of references to the Sonic universe alone were outstanding, I probably missed many. The movie never had a drastically dull moment and concluded with a surprising ending, perhaps fit for an Oscar. I think that this film was saved when the horrific original design of Sonic was changed and by Jim Carrey’s outstanding performance. Jim Carrey’s wild antics in this film reminds me of that in his early films such as “Ace Ventura Pet Detective”. My only criticisms would be the story was predictable and lazy at times. So far the movie has received average reviews from critics and a 70% approval rating among audiences. The movie also has grossed over $216 million worldwide so far in the two weeks since it’s release. Sonic The Hedgehog also broke Detective Pikachu’s record as the highest grossing opening weekend for a video game based film and is the second highest grossing film of 2020 so far. Hands down this movie was one of the best I have seen in the recent decade, certainly the best for being based on a video game. I believe the film deserves an already inevitable sequel. Paramount should be proud of this successful and entertaining film that is definitely worth watching! 

My rating: 8/10.