First Take: Sonic the Hedgehog- video game movies can be good?

SYNOPSIS: After discovering a small, blue, fast hedgehog, a small-town police officer must help him defeat an evil genius who wants to do experiments on him.

It’s been quite the few years in the buildup to this movie. First, the announcement and subsequent dropping of the project by Sony, transferring the rights to Paramount, *that* trailer and the subsequent fan backlash, and now, at long last, the film is out, and back in UK cinemas as we edge closer to Tenet. And I’m glad it’s back in cinemas. Because this is a good video game to film adaptation- something which noone ever thought would happen.

For a first time director, Jeff Fowler is able to nail this one, creating a very well paced 1 hour 39 minute movie that ticks all the boxes- yes, it may be archetypical of the origin story, but with that script from Pat Casey and Josh Miller, there are enough pop culture references to satisfy every audience, and importantly pass the 6 laugh test. Behind the camera is Stephen F Windon, cinematographer on the last few Fast & Furious films- he does a great job on this one, and on scoring duties is Tom Holkenborg (who went by the name Junkie XL once upon a time), someone who delivered the goods once again… especially by integrating the iconic Sega sting and the Green Hill Zone music into his cues for the film.

Now, performances. We’ll start with the on-screen talent first. James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and many others are in this cast, and they all do a good job here- it is obvious that there was a lot of fun on set. But then there’s Jim Carrey. It has been YEARS since he was at his best, and my god, it was refreshing to see him do the kind of comedy that he brought to the Ace Ventura films in a modern Hollywood blockbuster. Add Ben Schwartz - the voice and facial capture behind Sonic - to the mix, and you have a film that has been jokingly touted to win Best Picture at the Oscars next April- but this is a great family film. Kids will love it, adults will love it, and fans of the games will be in their element.

THE VERDICT

Sonic is really damn good for a video game film- it gets the character right, it’s faithful to the source material, the script is funny, and audiences of all ages, regardless of whether they’ve played the games, can enjoy 90 minutes of top tier big screen entertainment.

RATING: 4/5