Movie Review: Sonic the Hedgehog

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Historically, video games movies are usually bad and ill received from both critics and fans. Well things are starting to improve over the years as Detective Pikachu was decent last year, and this year we have Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog could have been a huge flop, but thankfully Paramount Pictures delayed the film and redesigned Sonic. The updated Sonic looks faithful to the video games and he is as cute as ever.

In terms of story, the movie version of Sonic has to leave his home planet as some bad guys want his fast speed power.

He uses his rings as a portal to travel to Earth and he's grown up here by himself for many years.

Nobody really knows his existence until he causes a power outage and this causes Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and the government to chase him down.

Not wanting to get caught, Sonic teams up with a local sheriff named Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) to help fight back against Robotnik and his forces.

The story I thought is pretty basic, although I'm glad the film has an original plot that is different to any of the previous video games.

Sonic is pretty much in the entire movie so you don't have to worry about the human characters dragging the film down.

I have to admit though, the movie starts off pretty slow when they are introducing the human characters. However once the plot gets into full gear, Sonic the Hedgehog is a fun ride that never gets boring.

Sonic is by far the best character in the entire movie as he's energetic and charismatic.

Sure some his jokes might be aimed for younger kids, but his screen presence truly saves this movie. If Sonic wasn't in the film, then this movie would have been bad.

James Marsden though is likable as the main human character and Jim Carrey predictably does an over-the-top performance as Robotnik.

I like the fact that Robotnik in this movie is pretty smart and he's not just portrayed as an incompetent villain.

Some of the other human characters don't have much screen time, although they play their parts well.

There isn't really a character in the film that I hated, although it would have been nice to see more characters from Sonic's world appear on Earth.

Visually, Sonic looks beautiful in his debut movie and he looks realistic enough to parade around on planet Earth.

He is also in the movie a lot so you don't have to worry about him not having a lack of screen time!

The only downside I can think about this movie is the fact that the film is aimed towards kids.

If you are an adult, you may not understand some of the references and some of the jokes might not land either...

Overall though, Sonic the Hedgehog is by far one of the best video game movies I have ever seen.

It is faithful to the source material and it features a lot of fun action. Even if you are unfamiliar with the Sonic character, this is still a fun movie that the whole family will love!

Verdict: 4/5 stars

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Paramount Pictures