Haven’t done a lot of Praise4Media this year, though I haven’t done a lot non-retrospective long reviews period. Chalk that down to a very busy year. Maybe the day will come when I retire Rage4Media and Praise4Media reviews entirely to focus on retrospectives and shorter reviews but that day is not today.
I don’t have any real history with Sonic. He’s that blue
hedgehog who likes to collect rings in 2D and later 3D platformers and some
other sh*t. I only really got into Crash Bandicoot with the n-sane trilogy and
Jak and Daxter I got into much later than the more combat oriented Ratchet
series.
But I am not unaware of the reputation of video game movies being dire trash. From the abysmal attempt at a Super-Mario bros movie to the mediocrity that was the Ratchet and Clank movie. Still, there have been some good ones of late. The Tomb Raider movie felt faithful, Detective Pikachu was a blast and Rampage, I still like Rampage too.
Then we have the idea of transforming characters from a
cartoon aesthetic into the modern world, a trend I don’t really understand.
Alvin and the Chipmunks wasn’t bothered by it because it was just an aesthetic
change, but the Smurfs and more recently the Tom and Jerry Movie (apparently, I
haven’t seen it) suffer from putting focus on human characters not from the
original source material.
Sonic the Hedgehog follows a similar format, putting Sonic
in a human world and having half the focus being on a human character. There
was controversy pretty quickly with his design which had a complete and
expensive overhaul following fan backlash. And I’ve seen the trailer, I do see
why. When you have a CG character not bound by the laws of looking realistic,
find a way to make it expressive.
Made on around a $90m budget, the film grossed around $320m. Not bad as it released in February 2020, weeks before everything went nuts with Covid. The film has received a moderate critical praise with a 62% Rotten Tomatoes rating, but rated highly with audiences giving it a 92% RT rating.
So what made this one work? Well let’s take a look and find
out.
We open in Media Res, with Sonic being chased through a city
by a guy driving a gunship and good job there’s no traffic. I mean, even
accounting for his speed the cars are all parked. Sonic acts as our narrator,
kinda fitting as he can never miss an excuse to talk in this film.
We cut back to his upbringing on an island, he’s been told
to keep his powers secret but he’s a kid and there’s no chance that’s
happening. A group of echidna archers attack him and his guardian, Longclaw.
Longclaw flies away with but is soon shot down by a precise shot. She gives
sonic a bag of rings, which in this film is a means of travelling between
places. She tells Sonic to keep himself hidden and leave if he’s ever seen. He
goes through but Longclaw stays behind to deal with the Echidnas, seemingly
sacrificing herself to save him.
Interestingly in an alternate version of this scene, she
travels with him and raises him on Earth until she dies of old age. I get the
appeal of this version as him surviving on his own when he’s that young is
implausible, however him being alone for so long is a major facet of his
character arc so I get whey they went this way.
He’s in the small town of Green Hills, and we’re next
introduced to the local sheriff, Tom Wachowski aka Donut Lord (James Marsden,
who’s no stranger to these kinda films as he played the lead in Hop) he’s kinda
bored of the little things a sheriff has to do in this town. He’s busy reading
traffic speeds in a road with no traffic so Sonic ends up using this to test
his own speed. He’s in fact been watching them for years, learning so much pop
culture that won’t stop making references… Please stop, please, you’ll make the
film dated.
Back with Sonic (voiced as an adult by Ben Schwartz) he’s
created his own little cave with comic books, and various bits and bobs for him
to entertain himself. He’s a big fan of the Flash, what does he think of the
adaptations, I wonder? Tom returns home from a boring day’s work to his wife,
Maddie (Tika Sumpter) he’s been accepted into the LAPD so he can finally shoot
people with prejudice, like a good cop. Maddie made him a cake, and is looking
at <product placement> for a new place to live, planning to head down to
LA to visit some with her sister.
Sonic watches a Junior League Baseball game and that night
decides to try it himself, playing all the positions at once. But his
adrenaline wears off quickly and soon the gloom of realising how alone he is
dawns on him. In his saddened state he runs around the pitch and creates an electrical
field so powerful it shuts down power to the town, except for the answerphone
at the police station which would have to have electrical power.
The top brass at the Pentagon take notice and decide to send
in their technician, Doctor Robotnik to sort the problem out. Jim Carrey is a
blast in this film as Doctor Robotnik, but I’ve got to give credit to the
government Agent Stone (Lee Madojib) who serves as the straight man, I love
their dynamic, it’s entertainingly funny, it’s a great shame he disappears
about half way through the film.
Robotnik sends out his drones and they soon pick up a lead,
a footprint that doesn’t match any registered species. Sonic’s cave is soon
found and Sonic is ready to leave but he needs to find somewhere less
conspicuous to activate his portal. His first thought is Tom’s garage. But Tom
thinks the noise is Raccoons and sets out with a dart gun, shooting Sonic
unconscious before he can travel. Sonic opens a portal to San Francisco,
inspired by Tom’s shirt and accidentally drops the bag of rings through the
portal as he falls unconscious.
He comes to and the two quickly establish a dynamic as
Robotnik has tracked Sonic to the house. Proving that he’s not a total idiot,
Tom immediately sees through Doctor Robotnik’s initial attempt to get in the
house. Sonic is curled up in a ball, hiding in the attic but his inability to
stay still combined with his panic has him eventually freak out, even though
his legs are still not working great from the tranquiliser.
Tom sucker-punches Doctor Robotnik and Sonic grabs hold of
the drone, hoping to do something, but doesn’t. They destroy the drone and
drive off just as Agent Stone arrives, who goes to see how Robotnik’s doing
instead of going after them, much to Robotnik’s irritation. Sonic explains the
situation and Tom finds just ridiculous enough to kick him out. Dude, you’re
talking to a blue hedgehog, I think you’ve crossed the weird line already.
Sonic needs to get to LA but he has no idea where that is so
needs Tom to take him there, after some back-and-forth Tom relents. So we have
a buddy cop duo and to be honest it’s handled better than most because Tom is
not the usual low-rent dufus they usually put in this role. Even if his eyes
are little off where they should be looking, nobody’s perfect.
After a few miles of driving, they stop off at a gas
station. Tom is now wanted for ‘domestic terrorism’ and he gets some threats
from Robotnik for good measure. Sonic meanwhile has become entranced by a
nearby biker bar and decided to pay it a visit, despite being told to stay.
When Tom finds him, he relents that he’s spent so long hiding on Earth he’s
never really had time to experience it… OK, but Robotnik most likely traced the
call, he’s probably already on his way, best to keep ahead, or you could stay
in the bar and start a fight so we can get that Quicksilver slow mo thing that
everyone’s obsessed over replicating for some reason.
They stay in a Hotel, because sleep is important, I guess
and Sonic is about to tick a few more things off his bucket list but he
sugar-crashes to sleep. On the road again the next morning he finds out about
Tom’s plans to transfer to the Los Angeles Pistol Department and angrily scolds
him for it. But before that can go anywhere Robotnik has one of his drones chasing
after them. Sonic is able to destroy one but Robotnik’s machine has back-ups,
it’s like the Russian doll of drones. The last one is set to explode and Sonic
runs off with it, it blowing up and knocking him unconscious.
During that time, Sonic used his super-move and his hair,
which is Robotnik’s mobile lab is glowing. He runs some tests and believes that
his hair is a source on unlimited energy furthering his desire to capture Sonic
so he can upgrade his machines because, yes, that’s the first thing you’d do…
Well, he openly likes machines more than people so maybe that’s exactly what he
would do.
Tom takes Sonic to LA and to his wife, and her very
disapproving sister. Dude, we found out earlier he took on 3 jobs to support
her through college, what exactly do you have against him? And yes this stems
back to before all this, it’s not just the wanted fugitive thing. They tie her
to a chair.
Maddie herself takes all this in her stride, but even she
has limits and demands answers from Tom. Sonic’s fine, it would seem, just
unconscious and with some rather sore feet, so the step-sister’s daughter
provides him with his iconic sneakers. He comes too and after apologising for
over-reacting to Tom, he, Maddie and Tom head to the building where the rings landed.
He uses his police ID to get to the roof, which shouldn’t
work as its registered to another town and he’s literally a wanted fugitive
right now and Sonic manages to get his rings. But Robotnik shows up with a
tonne of drones. To avoid them being blown up, Sonic decides that them
splatting against the pavement is less painful and pushes them off the roof.
Another obligatory slo-mo section but in a bit of
subversion, Robotnik is able to utilise the power of the hair to move as fast
as sonic. Sonic easily deals with the drones, and uses one of the rings to
provide a safe landing for Tom and Maddie. And we’re back where we started,
Sonic being chased by Robotnik through Los Angeles, then the Great Wall of
China, then the Pyramids and then back to Green Hills.
In Green Hills, he’s defended by the town’s inhabitants as
they stand up against Robotnik. Sonic decides that rather than running he’s
going to stay and use his power to protect people. With a combined effort, they
send Robotnik through a portal to the Mushroom Planet (I presume that’s meant
to be a Mario reference). Tom decides that he’s fulfilled his quota of life
saving for the rest of his life, making it a tally of 1, and is gonna remain at
Green Hills. All those donut speeches for nothing.
A few weeks pass and one of the guys from the Pentagon show
up with an Olive Garden gift-card, check out their endless pasta bowls. Yeah,
the product placement in this film is not subtle, how much did Olive Garden
give them? Hopefully more than on the gift card. Maddie and Tom have moved the
contents of Sonic’s cave into the attic, making him an official part of their
family.
Meanwhile, Doctor Robotnik is growing out his moustache and shaving his head (now all he needs to do is put on weight, not sure how you can do that with Mushrooms though) promising that he’ll be back. And in a mid-credits sequence, Sonic's ally tails shows up.
So, Sonic the Hedgehog it’s not exactly the most original
show out there, but it’s a good one. And for the reason beyond all else, they
put the focus on Sonic. Sure, Tom has an arc in the film, but beyond the one
scene they use to set that up, they spend the entire film together. The payoff
to his arc is intwined with Sonic’s.
Sonic is the major focus and thank god for the redesign, it
looks so much better than the one in the original trailer, it’s a shame the
company behind it went out of business soon after. And it’s his origin story
from outsider to hero. Ben Schwartz is definitely an interesting choice of voice.
I keep thinking of Dewey from the Ducktales reboot as they have similar voices
and personalities.
Obviously, the story is different to the games, but I think
it keeps just enough with the rings being given a different importance and the
core Sonic vs Doctor Robotnik conflict is there, and setting up for greater
things to come.
It’s not exactly an inventive story but it’s a good one,
good enough to appeal to newcomers like me and fans alike.
Praise Rating 75%
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