In Sonic the Hedgehog, the first of presumably many films based on the iconic game from once-videogame industry giant Sega, we see the cute, blue, furry critter in a world brimming with danger.

Opening straight into action without much build-up, Sonic, assumed to be an orphan under the care of an owl guardian named Longclaw (Donna Jay Fulks), is sought by a tribe of Ninja-esque echidnas who want to harness the power of the supersonic speed he runs at.

Sonic, whose claim to fame in the videogame world is indeed his lighting-fast speed, is sent into our world through an inter-dimensional portal for his safety. Years later, Sonic lives a life of happy seclusion in a town called Green Hills (trivia: those who played Sonic may remember that Green Hill was the first round of the game). Green Hill is a boring utopia, and its lone long-arm-of-the-law Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), is fed up by the idea of not doing anything substantial in life.

Sonic considers himself Tom’s best buddy, living out of sight in shadows and play-acting as if the two are really close. Tom, on the other hand, doesn’t even know if someone such as Sonic exists. Sonic knows what he does is pathetic, but he accepts that there really is no other way for him to live his life, and the least he can do is be happy with what he’s got.

Director Jeff Flower’s forgettable Sonic The Hedgehog does do an okay-enough job of placing necessary story blocks that may launch a series of good-enough films

One night, all alone, Sonic plays baseball with himself — with his blazing speed and overactive imagination, he dons multiple personalities, pitching, batting, fielding — looking lonelier than before … until he accidentally discovers the devastating potential of his speed. In a matter of seconds, his power (an electromagnetic pulse) knocks out the power grid of the entire Pacific Northwest. With one-third of America covered in darkness, the government, anxious of this being a terrorist attack, sends one of their best — and kookiest — scientists and inventors, Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey), to investigate.

Dr Robotnik, obviously the villain with plans of world domination, is a mad genius who discovers that an alien critter with untapped power lives in Green Hill. Sonic, meanwhile, befriends Tom and the two try to outwit the mad villain, leading to an epic showdown in San Francisco.

Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, is likeable, and Jim Carrey, after years of serious and mediocre film work, finally gets to return to the type of off-hand, eccentric humour that had helped his career skyrocket. Irrespective of the talent, there isn’t much going on here.

Setting up a premise like this takes as much time as it did for me to write this review. The plot is miniscule, cliched, but it does do an okay-enough job of placing necessary story blocks that may launch a series of good-enough films. This one, however, isn’t that good, but hey, for nostalgia’s sake, one can just watch the film, and then forget that it even existed.

Directed by Jeff Flower, written by Patrick Casey and Josh Miller, Sonic the Hedgehog is rated PG for scenes of non-serious villainy and cartoony action. Kiddies will like it. Adults won’t mind it … that much. With a running time of nearly 100 minutes, at least it goes by in a flash.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 1st, 2020