I Watch Films: Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic, the star of video games, comics, cartoons and probably other media comes to the big screen, except this is the year of the pandemic so it’s the small screen. He’s a super-fast alien who reveals his speed powers and so flees to Earth where he lives in hiding near Green Hills Montana. He likes the film Speed and Flash comics and he spies on the people there, pretending they’re his friends, especially the town sheriff (donut lord, because he talks to donuts) and his wife the vet (pretzel lady because she does yoga).

Lonely, he plays a game of baseball with himself and in frustration runs around and around causing the power to go out over several states. The government, against their better judgement, send Dr Robotnik and his robots to investigate. In a complex series of events Sonic manages to lose his bag of travel rings through a travel ring, ending up in San Francisco, where the sheriff is hoping to become a cop to stretch himself*. Robotnik, who is extremely extra in a way that makes him being a complete dangerous lunatic and arsehole to everyone around him almost endearing, goes after them.

There’s some good jokes, quite a few less good ones that sort of get a pass because the cast is so charming and we move on quickly, and some hit and miss action sequences.

Watch This: A ridiculous and fun adventure that sometimes even manages to evoke Sonic’s core attribute, speed
Don’t Watch This: If an over-the-top cartoon villain played by Jim Carey is going to be annoying for you.

* He wants to save lives but honestly, this may be a quiet idyllic country town yet someone is going to have a heart attack or car crash, and hell, for that matter, you know someone is making meth up in the hills, there’s domestic abuse going on in an outlying farm, this is nonsense. I should note that this is my complaint about a film in which a superfast alien “hedgehog” fights a government supervillain roboticist.