SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2020)
Director: Jeff Fowler
Stars: James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz
Rating: 6 out of 10
Yes, I am over 30 years old and this is definitely directed at kids but guess what? So was Shrek 2, and that's nearly a perfect film. There is a bar that has been set by previous films and therefore I am going to hold this under the same scrutiny. With that out of the picture, how was it? Well, in the words of Comrade Dylatov:
Stars: James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz
Rating: 6 out of 10
Yes, I am over 30 years old and this is definitely directed at kids but guess what? So was Shrek 2, and that's nearly a perfect film. There is a bar that has been set by previous films and therefore I am going to hold this under the same scrutiny. With that out of the picture, how was it? Well, in the words of Comrade Dylatov:
Let's start with the positives. The human characters in this are actually likeable, funny and have good dialogue. Name me a film that mixes humans with animated counterparts that you can say that about. James Marsden, who looks like the a laboratory experiment to breed Zac Efron with Rob Lowe, is surprisingly good in this. I normally find his performances phoned in directly from 1994 but he got more than a few chuckles out of me. His 'Tim'/Donutlord was a charming, sassy guy, that I totally could get behind, made me believe he was a man that found an alien hedgehog, and somehow had chemistry with it.
Jim Carrey is BRILLIANT in this. I may have a slight bias as I have always loved him in cinema, yet I do remember that there was something a bit off about his performances in the trailers (more on that later) that I dreaded. He does not disappoint in giving this legendary game character his due. Carrey will be remembered by all moviegoers (kids and adults alike) as one of the most exciting parts of this film. His Robotnik is truly an evil, crazy baddie of old, and reminds me of those classic pantomime villains we used to see as children.
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Now let's talk about the blue elephant in the room. Sonic himself is where we get into 3.6 roentgen territory. At times he's funny and at others he's just annoying. Sometimes his heartfelt moments touch you, on the other hand some moments seem like pre-school cheese. And his "angry" moments come off like a 12 year old going through their 'goth' phase. Considering this is the star of the film, I didn't really "like" him that much. The aforementioned anger issues were really unlikeable and I personally would have bitch slapped him back to 1991 if I'd have been Mr Marsden.
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Ben Schwartz is a hoot in all the comedies I've seen him in as well. And after watching a few documentaries on BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and seeing what it takes to do voice acting, I know it's a different ballgame. I just don't think he's got the chops for it myself, and wouldn't be completely shocked if he was replaced in a future Sonic film. As you can see we're standing on the edge of what I didn't like, so let's just lean forward and let go.
The story isn't that bad actually, I just feel that each scene doesn't take into account what happened before it or took no time to think how it should affect future scenes. Take the very beginning, it uses a tried and tested STUPID format to begin:
The story isn't that bad actually, I just feel that each scene doesn't take into account what happened before it or took no time to think how it should affect future scenes. Take the very beginning, it uses a tried and tested STUPID format to begin:
This completely takes away from ANY tension up until that point and is completely pointless. It's not hard to wonder how Sonic is in THAT particular predicament that it freeze frames on, and comes across as more of a spoiler than anything. What was the point?
Oh, and James Marsden's X-Men history influenced the writing team. Remember those 'Quicksilver' running scenes in X-Men? You'll see those in this but you more than likely won't remember them. Probably because there is much less danger and a total lack of imagination in what Sonic can do in these mindbendingly fast situations.
The story often loses common sense and just does what it wants in the moment, even if that makes no sense to anything that came before or things that come after. Without spoiling anything, the consequences of Tim's actions to help Sonic, both professionally and socially, leave the story as soon as they enter, having next to no impact and just reflect as lazy writing. They may as well never talk about it, because they certainly stop talking about it.
Another headscratcher is the final part of Sonic's journey is halted as he cannot access it without Tim's help, but when you think about it Sonic COULD do it, and the plan they go with would have consequences that we DO NOT see. And the whole thing thing feels, again, like lazy writing, this time to get Tim with Sonic at the end of his journey. In fact how the film finishes seems like a bit of a cop-out as well. The writing comes across like it was written by teenagers disregarding any responsibilities to go party. All in all, it doesn't rate very high as a family film, but this isn't just a family film. It's a video game film, and it's here that I can't help but admit, it's the best one out there.
Oh, and James Marsden's X-Men history influenced the writing team. Remember those 'Quicksilver' running scenes in X-Men? You'll see those in this but you more than likely won't remember them. Probably because there is much less danger and a total lack of imagination in what Sonic can do in these mindbendingly fast situations.
The story often loses common sense and just does what it wants in the moment, even if that makes no sense to anything that came before or things that come after. Without spoiling anything, the consequences of Tim's actions to help Sonic, both professionally and socially, leave the story as soon as they enter, having next to no impact and just reflect as lazy writing. They may as well never talk about it, because they certainly stop talking about it.
Another headscratcher is the final part of Sonic's journey is halted as he cannot access it without Tim's help, but when you think about it Sonic COULD do it, and the plan they go with would have consequences that we DO NOT see. And the whole thing thing feels, again, like lazy writing, this time to get Tim with Sonic at the end of his journey. In fact how the film finishes seems like a bit of a cop-out as well. The writing comes across like it was written by teenagers disregarding any responsibilities to go party. All in all, it doesn't rate very high as a family film, but this isn't just a family film. It's a video game film, and it's here that I can't help but admit, it's the best one out there.
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This could have been so much worse. The trailers looked all over the place tonally, and I will never ever forget the horror of "Teeth Sonic". In the end however, we got a movie that stayed pretty true to the character, both aesthetically and in spirit. We got a very good use of the years of lore the games have provided. In the enemies on screen and in the music (listen out for a clever little easter egg during the final scenes).
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And I really dug the use of the Rings, something that is quintessentially everything to do with that game, and is something I struggled to understand how they would get into a live action film. Also as much as I knocked some of the writing, the calls to the game where beautifully interwoven in. Even the end of the film I can almost forgive, why? For the "after-credits scene" it cut to. And I can't help but think the terrible "Mushroom Planet" Sonic alludes to is a shot at Mario's 'Mushroom Kingdom'.
All in all, this isn't going to go in any '100 films to see before you die' list. But if you ever played Sonic, have kids, or just get a vibe that this may be your jam, I'd say that you should dash down the cinema to go see it.
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All in all, this isn't going to go in any '100 films to see before you die' list. But if you ever played Sonic, have kids, or just get a vibe that this may be your jam, I'd say that you should dash down the cinema to go see it.
Tweet at us @talknerdyuk
Or Email us [email protected]