Some of the wacky adventures are fun. Sonic gets to show his Quicksilver powers in a country bar fight. There’s also a little back story as Maddie’s aunt is trying to split up her and Tom’s marriage. These side quests for mildly fun, and I suppose a requisite for the genre.
Sonic’s animation and character design are enjoyable, which meant releasing the original trailer was a good thing. It forced Paramount to spend more money to get the little guy right and they did.
“…just because you have a cute little character and you then place that character in mortal danger…it doesn’t mean I will automatically care…”
What’s wrong with Sonic is just how much I didn’t care about him and his backstory, which is the exact criticism I had with Birds of Prey. The mistake here is just because you have a cute little character and you then place that character in mortal danger and have him chased by a sadistic scientist, it doesn’t mean I will automatically care about that character. This is where Pixar has story down to a tee. They give you reasons to care. In Up, you’re crying in the first three minutes of the film. When films force you to care about a character for no reason, we then subconsciously refuse to care.
One last thing, small towns in middle America listen up. Manage your budgets better. While it looks good that you hire an overqualified sherrif for a high price in Sheriff Tom, but what happens is you only have enough money left to recruit a moron deputy, like Deputy Wade (Adam Pally). Maybe hire two equally qualified officers instead.
That said, Sonic the Hedgehog succeeds at making a cute, action-packed kid’s film. But just a little more effort in its overall story can propel these franchises to Disney levels. Slowdown and work over the script a few more times, you might just find yourself with an exceptional film.
"…Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik does what he does best. His portrayal is over-the-top funny..."
