Something works about the Sonic the Hedgehog movie for the five and under set. My son now only lets me call him Sonic. The “blue character,” as he calls Sonic, resonated with him. Kids can relate to Sonic because he’s small in stature, so he’s often underestimated. And he’s also got a secret super power—he’s REALLY fast.
Who or what is Sonic the Hedgehog? A little backstory: he’s a popular Sega video game character from 1991 that had impressive graphics and motion capabilities. In fact, many think this is one of the greatest videogames of all time. There’s tremendous nostalgic goodwill toward Sonic on the part of audiences, as witnessed by the packed weekend screening of cheering fans I attended. People just love rooting for the under hedgehog.
Sonic’s movie story
In the movie version, Sonic (the voice of Ben Schwartz) is an extraterrestrial who finds himself literally running for his life, because there will always be someone after him for his special abilities. He goes into hiding in the tiny town of Green Hills, Montana. But there, loneliness catches up to him. He longs for a friend, and he wishes it were Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), the town’s sheriff. It isn’t long before Sonic’s powers get him into a lot of trouble: he causes a massive power outage. The US government sends in Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to investigate.
What to love about Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog movie is just what the videogame lovers wanted, and on top of this, it’s so great to see Jim Carrey back! He’s born to play the mustache-twisting cartoon bad guy Dr. Robotnik. It’s so fun to watch his over-the-top-ness. It reminds us that he immortalized characters like the Grinch and Ace Ventura. Audiences need Jim Carrey. We need to laugh hard, till we’re spewing Sprite out of our noses.
There are some laugh-out-loud funny lines. Sonic is innocent but clever. He’s hyper and loves potty humor. In short, he’s a lovable character who may remind you of a little boy in your life, and he might even make you forget about the CGI for a while.
So stop running. Go to the movies and enjoy this, whether you have kids or not.
