The Mosley Review: Sonic the Hedgehog
Time and time again, Hollywood has been trying to adapt popular video games into films. The majority of the them go from being somewhat decent to an absolute abomination that doesn’t even carry a piece of the soul of what made the games magical. The 1995 film adaptation of Mortal Kombat has been the best video game to film representation for decades and now I can finally say that we have a new film that matches the same level of love and care. This film had everything going against it. The over the top acting, cheesy dialogue and the terrible first trailer that had a horrific character design of the titular character. The filmmakers realized their mistake, fixed it and delivered the character we all know and love. With all of that possibly ruining the film, I went in with mid-level excitement and I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this film. There are so many easter eggs, creatures and classic sounds that any casual to hardcore fan can spot and enjoy. There was so much heart put into this film and you can feel it every frame. There are a few things that feel out of place and they lean heavily into the cartoonish vibe of certain characters. The momentum of the film is never dragging and there are some surprisingly emotional character moments I wasn’t expecting.
Ben Schwartz voices Sonic in the film and I loved his work. He captured the fun loving, quick witted charm and genuine childlike heart of the character. Every moment you spend with him, you’re constantly smiling because of how lovable he is. James Marsden is always fun to watch and as Tom Wachowski/Donut Lord, he was great. His chemistry with Sonic was off the charts good and he had just the right amount lighthearted delivery to match Sonic. I liked Tika Sumpter as his wife Maddie and I thought they were a good pair. Natasha Rothwell was good and funny as Maddie’s sister, but she had few too many jokes and kinda annoyed me after while. Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik was great and eccentric. Jim has made a career on his ability to be overly animated while still making it fun to watch and he shows that off to great lengths. As Robotnik, he bounces back and forth between staying in the tone of the film and disappearing into a different film completely. Its a tricky balance, but he pulls it off gloriously and I liked his comedic weird moments. I loved his assistant Stone played by Lee Majdoub. He had one or two great moments in the film with Jim Carrey that almost stole the the scene.
The score by Tom Holkenborg was awesome and you get a hint of the classic Sonic theme. The visual effects in this film were excellent and I loved Sonic’s super charged moments. The sound design was interesting and crisp as well. Like I said, the only things I didn’t like were the over abundance of comedy. Trim a few moments back and it would’ve felt more balanced. Overall, director Jeff Fowler has made a surprisingly great family film that also pleases fans of Sonic in so many ways. If there is a sequel, I want him and his team back at the helm. Do stick around for 2 mid credit scenes that are amazing.
