#krissiefox movie reviews

[krissiefox]

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Movie Review!

While I was sick recently, I was holed up in my room trying not to infect the rest of my family. I'd been reading Sonic fanfics in the meantime, and this gave me the idea to finally watch the DVD I got of the the 2020 Sonic movie, and then of course, I wanted to write a review, because it's fun (and my wife seems to like them)! I'll put a divider here, because this review does contain spoilers for most of the plot points, so this is your warning before you read on!

To get the unfortunate bits out of the way, the movie had a rough start, with the strange first design of Sonic becoming a social media trend of snark and negativity that I remember making me pretty depressed. In response to the backlash, Paramount changed up Sonic's design to something cuter. I've heard mixed claims saying that during this time the artists for the movie were abused with crunch, while others claim this didn't occur, so I'm not sure about whether or not it happened, but I hope not.

A worried Sonic ball, hiding from badniks....

With that unpleasantness out of the way, the movie eventually finished and came out, and at-least on tumblr I saw a lot of folks seemed to really enjoy it. My little brother expressed interest in watching it with me, so eventually while out shopping with my wife I picked up copies of the first two movies.

This movie does commit the act of "Hollywood Video Game Adaptations" by largely changing the source material and basically creating another AU for the Sonicverse, and I know that's a turnoff for some, so this wouldn't be every one's cup of tea as many folks would prefer something rooted in one the already established Sonic worlds. I was able to enjoy the film though, and found it quite cute, sweet and funny. It also gave warm fuzzies to see my favorite childhood video game hero in his first big screen movie adaption.

The Story follows Sonic as he is ousted from his home world by his owl mom to live on Earth, after a tribe of echidnas attacks their house. Sonic is ordered to live in hiding, and is given a bag of magic teleportation rings that he is to use only in an emergency to escape to another place.

As ordered, Sonic lives on Earth in secret, in a town called Green Hills. He spies on the humans and enjoys learning about Earth, but is still very lonely as he isn't allowed to interact with them. Some of his favorite humans are a local couple that he has named "Donut Lord" and "Pretzel Lady". One night, while playing at a baseball field at night, Sonic gets so upset about his isolated life that he causes a massive power surge with his speed, drawing attention to his location.

Dr. Robotnik meets Donut Lord!

The government calls in Dr. Robotnik (and his minion/boyfriend Agent Stone), whom in this universe is an earthling rather than a resident of Mobius. He is played by Jim Carrey as a delightfully fun and strange villain throughout the film. He takes over the search for the source of the power surge, and eventually closes in on the cave Sonic has been living in.

In a panic, Sonic decides he'll need to bail on this world, though he hates the thought of having to do so, being so fond oft it. He sneaks into Donut Lords home to use one of his teleport rings, when Donut (aka Tom) finds him and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart gun. One of Sonic's rings opens up and since Donut's shirt made Sonic think of San Francisco, that's where the portal leads to and Sonic's rings end up there.

After getting to know each-other, Sonic and Donut end up fleeing as vigilantes both from the government and Dr. Robotnik. Eventually they make it to San Francisco, Sonic gets his rings back, and he has a big showdown with Robotnik where he ends up sending Robotnik through a portal to the mushroom world he was originally going to go to. Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady end up adopting Sonic, and the movie wraps up as Sonic sees his new bedroom in a really sweet scene. Mid credits, we also get a teaser showing Tails arriving on Earth!

One of the movie's more badass looking scenes.

Outside of the aforementioned issue that creating an entirely new Sonic AU for the film will alienate some folks, my only other criticism is that I would have liked to learn more Sonic's owl mom, as she seemed pretty cool. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. It was colorful, pretty, Sonic was adorable, Robotnik was very funny, and Sonic's new friends were quite likeable. Definitely a recommended watch for anyone curious about the film. :) I may end up watching the sequel sometime soon, too!