I Saw "Sonic the Hedgehog" and You Should Too

When I was younger, one of my favorite toys had to be my GameCube. I had Fire Emblem, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and of course Super Smash Bros. I also had a bunch of Sonic the Hedgehog games. Sonic Heroes and Sonic Adventure 2 were two of my favorite games ever. I’d beaten both of them multiple times, and still replayed them frequently. I’ve always really loved Sonic.

Flash forward to the past year. We all know the CGI monstrosity this new Sonic movie started out as. It was a great sign that they went back and painstakingly redid the effects to make Sonic look more like…well…Sonic. They cared enough about the movie and the fanbase that they decided to go back when they really didn’t have to. Shout out to the VFX department and all the hard work they put in.

I walked in to Sonic the Hedgehog fully anticipating this to be a meme of a movie without too much substance to it. I was ridiculously surprised at just how much I loved this movie. It was exactly the kind of fun I wanted, and it had a coherent story, emotional weight, and good characters. I left immediately wanting a sequel. I’ll talk about sequel prospects later. Oh yes…I will.

Sonic the Hedgehog has a cute story at the center of it; the titular hedgehog has to flee Dr. Eggman and in the process, find his true home and friends. It’s not a movie where you walk in not knowing what’s going to happen. Of course James Marsden’s character, Tom, is going to be Sonic’s friend. Of course Sonic is going to win against Dr. Eggman. The fun of this movie has nothing to do with what’s going to happen. This movie knows that it’s not to be taken seriously. I mean, Olive Garden is referenced a few times, and I’m pretty sure the Zillow reference was the most on the nose product placement I've ever witnessed. That was part of the fun and charm to this movie, however, In a more serious movie, people wouldn’t be so quick to believe a blue hedgehog with super speed and magic teleportation rings exist. In Sonic, that’s no problem. Everyone gets on board quickly with the wild plot without bogging the movie down with tedious exposition. It helps the plot move along quickly, and keeps the audience entertained the whole time.

I think the best part about this movie would have to be the acting. James Marsden looked like he was really enjoying himself as Tom, and he did a good job with interacting with a blue CGI creature. I mean, there would be moments when he and Sonic would talk about how their friendship had grown, and I genuinely felt emotional over it. Don’t get me wrong, those scenes were still pretty funny, but I believed there was a connection between Tom and Sonic.

Can I just…can I just take a moment to appreciate Jim Carrey acting like a complete fool? He. Was. Perfect. He embodied the tone they were going for and he pulled out all the classic Jim Carrey-isms you’d expect. His facial expressions were wild. He had some wild posing and dancing going on, and was just…so goofy. It was the best thing ever. The scene with him dancing in his lab almost had me rolling on the floor.

Overall, everyone in this movie came on set to have a good time and make a fun movie. It doesn’t come off as a movie made just to cash in on the Sonic fanbase. The plot was heartfelt and I was genuinely so happy to see Sonic find his own little family at the end.

Now on to sequel talk. End credit scene spoilers ahead, in case you were concerned. We have to be getting a sequel. There’s too much in the Sonic universe to just give it one movie. For example, the echidnas that attacked baby Sonic at the beginning? I turned to the friend I saw this with and went “OMG JUST LIKE KNUCKLES!! WHERE IS KNUCKLES?!” I was hoping for other Sonic characters to pop up in an end credit scene or something like that. I wasn’t disappointed!! While Knuckles is my favorite, we got to see Tails, Sonic’s yellow flying friend. I lost my mind. So did the whole theater. This movie has been getting a lot of great reviews, to everyone’s surprise, and so I think it’s safe to assume there will be a sequel. There has to be. There were people in my theater yelling, “Shadow the Hedgehog!” at the end. Wouldn’t it be cool to see Shadow? Or Metal Sonic?! The possibilities seem to be endless.

In short, Sonic the Hedgehog is fun. So much fun. You’ll laugh a lot, smile a lot, and walk out thinking about the future of (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) the Sonic universe to come. I know I am. Give me a sequel already!