Nearly 30 years after taking the gaming world by storm, the world’s fastest alien hedgehog makes his film debut in this entertaining and appropriately fast-paced family action comedy.
Successfully meshing big budget Hollywood storytelling with Sonic’s playful spirit and core concept, it sees the cute and cuddly CGI critter having to collect his magic gold rings while battling the psychotic scientist, Dr Robotnik.
However, in order to incorporate more relatable human characters, Sonic is dropped into our real live
world, and the story is structured around a familiar and predictable ode to family, friendship and American small-town life.
James Marsden is an agreeably amiable and comic presence as Tom, a good-natured local sheriff with ambitions of proving himself on the mean streets of the big city.
He’s presented with the perfect opportunity when he meets the motor-mouthed Sonic who needs to get to San Francisco which allows for some father and son-style bonding.
Voiced with enthusiasm and energy by Ben Schwartz, Sonic’s epic expression of teenage loneliness and angst causes a power cut, which alerts the military to his presence and they send Dr Robotnik to investigate.
Played by Jim Carrey – for whom this is an overdue and welcome big screen return – his unique brand of deranged physical comedy is perfectly suited to the cartoon tone, and although his mania has marginally diminished with age, he still seems a biscuit short of a barrel.
Robotnik is heavily armed with mechanical gadgets which he transports around in a large black truck, which resembles the Batmobile’s angry big brother.
And the film’s best sequences are when we see the world from Sonic’s super-fast view, with the humans seemingly frozen in time allowing him to cause merry mayhem. My game-addicted nine year old is going to love it, and so will yours.
