261.
Sonic the Hedgehog
7/10
What can I say? One of my favourite games to play as a kid when my Sega Mega Drive was working has somehow finally made its way to the big screen and not without many a stumbling block along the way. This movie has been in line since the 90s' but the ball didn't start rolling until Sony bought the rights in 2013. This then hit a delay and Paramount Pictures picked it up the cast started coming in. The most recent negative moment when it came to the movie was the release of the first trailer. Everyone who has ever seen and remembers Sonic probably has an image in their mind of how he would look, other than being simply blue. He has these massive eyes to go along with his character and sass and unfortunately, this wasn't put into his design until the feedback and this caused a delay of three months for a much-needed redesign. Video games becoming movies very rarely have a good outcome, let alone great. Let's find out if this one runs rings around those critics!
The movie begins with Sonic racing through a city, being chased by some sort of craft. It's going to be the usual introduction that has been seen many times. A case of 'this is how I got here' and a run through until we see this moment later on in the movie. Now for the history lesson. A gang of echidnas chasing down Sonic for his power of supersonic speed. His guardian at the time, a massive owl, gives sonic a bag of rings that can create portals and uses one to send him to Earth. She also gives him a map of a planet of mushrooms which he can then escape to if he finds more trouble. Ten years later and Sonic has been living in Green Hills. Green Hills was the location of the first three levels in the Sega game. Whilst living there, he has been unable to make friends but idolizes the local sheriff, played by James Marsden. His name is Tom and with his wife, is due to move to San Francisco soon to take up a job with the Police Department there.
Sonic is really struggling with his loneliness and after playing a game of baseball by himself and upsetting himself whilst doing so, he runs the bases faster and faster until he goes into supersonic speed and creates a power surge that wipes out the power in the Pacific Northwest. This brings the big boys down to investigate and who else other than Doctor Robotnik.
A scientific genius recruited by the US government, he puts himself straight to work, finding tracks that lead to Tom's shed. As all of this is going on, Tom has encountered Sonic and accidentally shot him with a tranq. Doing this led to Sonic dropping his bag of rings and sending them through a portal to San Fran. After waking up and chatting, getting over the fact that Sonic can talk, Tom agrees to help the little blue guy out. Robotnik isn't too far away and after a confrontation with Tom, calling him a domestic terrorist and taking a punch from the Sheriff, Tom and Sonic escape, taking to the road and bonding a little on the drive. All Sonic really wants it to find a friend after all of these years.
Now as for Robotnik, he finds a quill from Sonic and discovers that the power that it possesses alone is enough to turn this man into an obsessive maniac. Robots are sent out to track down the pair and one even injures Sonic. Tom takes him to his wife, who is a vet and called Maddie who, after her surprise, is filled in with all that is happening. Although her comical sister who doesn't like Tom anyway disapproves of their plan to help Sonic, Maddie agrees to help and their niece gives Sonic some new trainers. These trainers are the iconic Red and White ones that we've been waiting to see. The trio head to San Fran to the rooftop on which the bag of rings sit but Robotnik is also on his way, in a hovercraft and we are about to catch up with the first scene. Sonic uses a ring to send Tom and Maddie on their way, back to Green Hills, whilst Sonic uses supersonic speed to try and outrun Robotnik but with the use of the quill he found, this mad man can now match the speed. Running through all areas of the world, they end up back at Green Hills. Sonic is shot down by Robotnik but Tom and the townsfolk come to his aide, even the guy who was seen as the crazy man for thinking a Blue alien existed in the woods somewhere. This gives Sonic some time to recharge his battery and turn the fight around, sending Robotnik to that Mushroom planet and ultimately winning. Following everything, Tom and Maddie decide to stay put and let Sonic move in, the Government erases all information about Sonic and the fact that Robotnik existed. On the Mushroom planet, Robotnik has saved Sonic's quill from the ship that crashed and having lost his mind, shaved his hair off and grown a moustache, which is the look that we know for Robotnik, he is looking for a way to return. Back on Earth, we get one final scene. Another portal opens up and with a spinning ginger tail, in flies Tails.
When it comes to Video game adaptations on the big screen this was a reasonable success in my book. With the criticism coming before the movie even hit the main screen, it seemed to work and had a lot of ties with the games themselves. Although we were introduced to human characters other than Robotnik, the origin of the story worked very well. It was a feel-good story that ended in the acceptance that our main character had strived for. The story wasn't too hard for the younger viewers to follow either but with a little bit of hidden adult comedy, there was something for everyone but this can mean that is is the standard story with no real surprises. The character of Robotnik was an interesting one to say the least. It allowed Jim Carrey to head back to his sporadic and excentric roots, just like his role as The Riddler in Batman Forever. I felt a little awkward during a random dance scene for him in this movie but I can ignore that and enjoy the rest and his drop from sanity into the crazy Doctor. Probably the best part of the movie. James Marsden had been off the map for a long time before this movie but his role was an ample one, if not predictable. As for the voice actor for Sonic, Ben Schwartz, I had only witnessed him in a couple of small roles but he got by very well in this movie. He even gave his fave to the motion capture.
If a company is willing to spend the money on a redesign and listen to their fanbase then I was going to take the time and watch this movie. With plenty of nostalgia and easter eggs it will be interesting to see if the rumours of sequels truly are in the pipeline. The humour was pretty average but visible whether it be animated or through the script. This movie was quite short compared to what has been released recently and if you are looking for some family fun, look no further.
7/10
What can I say? One of my favourite games to play as a kid when my Sega Mega Drive was working has somehow finally made its way to the big screen and not without many a stumbling block along the way. This movie has been in line since the 90s' but the ball didn't start rolling until Sony bought the rights in 2013. This then hit a delay and Paramount Pictures picked it up the cast started coming in. The most recent negative moment when it came to the movie was the release of the first trailer. Everyone who has ever seen and remembers Sonic probably has an image in their mind of how he would look, other than being simply blue. He has these massive eyes to go along with his character and sass and unfortunately, this wasn't put into his design until the feedback and this caused a delay of three months for a much-needed redesign. Video games becoming movies very rarely have a good outcome, let alone great. Let's find out if this one runs rings around those critics!
The movie begins with Sonic racing through a city, being chased by some sort of craft. It's going to be the usual introduction that has been seen many times. A case of 'this is how I got here' and a run through until we see this moment later on in the movie. Now for the history lesson. A gang of echidnas chasing down Sonic for his power of supersonic speed. His guardian at the time, a massive owl, gives sonic a bag of rings that can create portals and uses one to send him to Earth. She also gives him a map of a planet of mushrooms which he can then escape to if he finds more trouble. Ten years later and Sonic has been living in Green Hills. Green Hills was the location of the first three levels in the Sega game. Whilst living there, he has been unable to make friends but idolizes the local sheriff, played by James Marsden. His name is Tom and with his wife, is due to move to San Francisco soon to take up a job with the Police Department there.
Sonic is really struggling with his loneliness and after playing a game of baseball by himself and upsetting himself whilst doing so, he runs the bases faster and faster until he goes into supersonic speed and creates a power surge that wipes out the power in the Pacific Northwest. This brings the big boys down to investigate and who else other than Doctor Robotnik.
A scientific genius recruited by the US government, he puts himself straight to work, finding tracks that lead to Tom's shed. As all of this is going on, Tom has encountered Sonic and accidentally shot him with a tranq. Doing this led to Sonic dropping his bag of rings and sending them through a portal to San Fran. After waking up and chatting, getting over the fact that Sonic can talk, Tom agrees to help the little blue guy out. Robotnik isn't too far away and after a confrontation with Tom, calling him a domestic terrorist and taking a punch from the Sheriff, Tom and Sonic escape, taking to the road and bonding a little on the drive. All Sonic really wants it to find a friend after all of these years.
Now as for Robotnik, he finds a quill from Sonic and discovers that the power that it possesses alone is enough to turn this man into an obsessive maniac. Robots are sent out to track down the pair and one even injures Sonic. Tom takes him to his wife, who is a vet and called Maddie who, after her surprise, is filled in with all that is happening. Although her comical sister who doesn't like Tom anyway disapproves of their plan to help Sonic, Maddie agrees to help and their niece gives Sonic some new trainers. These trainers are the iconic Red and White ones that we've been waiting to see. The trio head to San Fran to the rooftop on which the bag of rings sit but Robotnik is also on his way, in a hovercraft and we are about to catch up with the first scene. Sonic uses a ring to send Tom and Maddie on their way, back to Green Hills, whilst Sonic uses supersonic speed to try and outrun Robotnik but with the use of the quill he found, this mad man can now match the speed. Running through all areas of the world, they end up back at Green Hills. Sonic is shot down by Robotnik but Tom and the townsfolk come to his aide, even the guy who was seen as the crazy man for thinking a Blue alien existed in the woods somewhere. This gives Sonic some time to recharge his battery and turn the fight around, sending Robotnik to that Mushroom planet and ultimately winning. Following everything, Tom and Maddie decide to stay put and let Sonic move in, the Government erases all information about Sonic and the fact that Robotnik existed. On the Mushroom planet, Robotnik has saved Sonic's quill from the ship that crashed and having lost his mind, shaved his hair off and grown a moustache, which is the look that we know for Robotnik, he is looking for a way to return. Back on Earth, we get one final scene. Another portal opens up and with a spinning ginger tail, in flies Tails.
When it comes to Video game adaptations on the big screen this was a reasonable success in my book. With the criticism coming before the movie even hit the main screen, it seemed to work and had a lot of ties with the games themselves. Although we were introduced to human characters other than Robotnik, the origin of the story worked very well. It was a feel-good story that ended in the acceptance that our main character had strived for. The story wasn't too hard for the younger viewers to follow either but with a little bit of hidden adult comedy, there was something for everyone but this can mean that is is the standard story with no real surprises. The character of Robotnik was an interesting one to say the least. It allowed Jim Carrey to head back to his sporadic and excentric roots, just like his role as The Riddler in Batman Forever. I felt a little awkward during a random dance scene for him in this movie but I can ignore that and enjoy the rest and his drop from sanity into the crazy Doctor. Probably the best part of the movie. James Marsden had been off the map for a long time before this movie but his role was an ample one, if not predictable. As for the voice actor for Sonic, Ben Schwartz, I had only witnessed him in a couple of small roles but he got by very well in this movie. He even gave his fave to the motion capture.
If a company is willing to spend the money on a redesign and listen to their fanbase then I was going to take the time and watch this movie. With plenty of nostalgia and easter eggs it will be interesting to see if the rumours of sequels truly are in the pipeline. The humour was pretty average but visible whether it be animated or through the script. This movie was quite short compared to what has been released recently and if you are looking for some family fun, look no further.
No comments:
Post a Comment