I've never been a huge Sonic The Hedgehog fan. I remember playing it a bit as a kid, but I never had any of the Sega games consoles growing up, so those times were few and fleeting, and not enough to really get me hooked on the character like some of my friends. When it was announced that there would be a live action film I was a little intrigued, I was seeing a lot of good things about the Detective Pikachu movie and thought that maybe we'd get something similar with Sonic. Then that first trailer hit.
I don't know how I feel about what happened behind the scenes in regards to the film. The fact that fans petitioned for the design of Sonic to be drastically changed is both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand it altered a really, really bad design that would have taken a lot out of the movie into something that looks amazing and is a joy to watch running around on screen, on the other hand it seems to have 'proven' to some people that fan petitions work and has pushed more angry fans to start petitions about all kind of entertainment. The redesign also resulted in a massive crunch for the people working on the movie, with awful hours and work load, and then the company, Moving Picture Company, ended up being shut down.
Despite these last minute changes and troubled production the film looks incredibly good. There were a few times that I remembered scenes from the original trailer when watching the film and it stunned me that the film could be made to look this good in so short a time. Sonic himself is amazing, and is so emotive and engaging throughout. The level of detail in his character model was stunning.
One of the best sequences in the film from a visual standpoint was probably the opening moments of the film, where we see a young Sonic in the Green Hill Zone Stage from the games, or at least the alien world that looks like it. The scenery was amazing, looking real yet capturing the look and feel of the old games. And the echidna's that end up coming after Sonic looked phenomenal.
It was a genius touch to include these characters in so minor a role but making them important to Sonic's back story so as to allow easy access for Knuckles in a later film. It's one of the things that this film did that got me very excited for a sequel. I won't say what the other things are, but they featured during the end credits of the film, so make sure you watch till the end.
The human cast were also very good, and Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik is damn near perfect casting. I honestly couldn't picture anyone else in that role now that I've seen him play it. I was, at first, a little surprised as he doesn't fit the classic Eggman look from the source material, but he played the mad scientist so well that it didn't matter. Whether or not he does look like the iconic villain he embodied it so well that his scenes were some of the funniest in the movie; and being able to be more charming and funny than Sonic was not an easy thing by any means.
I liked James Marsden as Tom, the small town cop with dreams of being needed for more than the boring stuff that fills his day to day life and wanting to get the chance to save someone's life. Considering how little him being a cop actually played into the movie I kind of wish he had some other job, however. He could have been moving to San Francisco for any other reason than being a cop, and he could have been beloved by the town for something other than being the sheriff. Town doctor maybe? A beloved teacher?
It seemed like the film wanted to have a nice, 'good' cop in their narrative for some reason, and the cynical part of me suspects that his wife was Black to show he wasn't one of the racist 'bad' cops. I'm sure I'm going to get some kind of complaints about that, and people will be saying I'm reading too much into the film and projecting my own political beliefs, but changing his job would have hardly affected the movie at all.
Overall I really enjoyed Sonic The Hedgehog, there were moments that wowed me, times I laughed out loud, and even bits that got me emotionally. I really hope that this isn't a one-off film, and that we can get a sequel or two, because after not really thinking much about Sonic for most of my life I think I might be a fan now, and I want more.
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