Released on February 14th, Sonic the Hedgehog was a movie I never expected to see in theaters… or ever. One, I’m not a huge fan of animation in movies. And two, the trailer genuinely made me lose all faith in this movie being even slightly good. The trailer portrayed a basic plot about friendship and the typical “even-though-I-don’t-know-who-you-are-you’re-gonna-be-my-best-friend-and-help-me-save-the-day-in-the-end” type of movie. However, it gets worse.
Let’s get this straight first: I LOVE comedic relief. I think it is super important in any genre of movie, however, I don’t think an entire movie should consist solely of it. There were so many instances of undeveloped/unfinished ideas that, as a viewer, I could tell were covered up by jokes, more specifically, Olive Garden ones. Although it seemed amazing in the beginning, as more and more jokes were said, they became less funny and drifted away from the true story.
Now, I am no director, but as a part of their job I think it’s important to appeal to the audience. I can see Jeff Fowler’s approach in trying to attract both adults and children, but unsurprisingly, both failed. Not only was I confused whilst trying to pay attention, but my 10-year-old sister, who I had brought along, apted to be on her phone rather than watch the movie (not her usual behavior, and in this instance, I don’t blame her). Additionally, no one in the theater cared because everyone else at some point also became uninterested. That’s a lot of dozing off for only an hour and forty minutes.
On a different note, the animation in the movie was my favorite part (I know… crazy, right?). The intricate details on the animations in both the scenery and Sonic were incredible and definitely drew some of my interest away from the back of my eyelids. Also, even though I hated the idea of another cliche evil guy, Jim Carrey did well with the part he was given. With his forever-changing personality and dedication to his role, he out shined the other actors including James Marsden and Tika Sumpter who were clearly affected by having to act out scenes without the added-on animation.
Do I recommend this movie to anyone or their kids? No, I bet the news channels on TV have better plots. So, I guess it’s time to point out the obvious: not only books, but video games also (thank you Jeff Fowler), should stay in the form of their original creation. And as for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 coming out, let’s hope the directors are less obsessed with Olive Garden.