After the infamous first trailer and subsequent redesign, 'Sonic the Hedgehog' (2020) is finally here and, rather surprisingly, it's pretty good. It's very generic and predictable, though, and takes a while to find its footing so the entertainment value only goes so far. After a bumpy start, however, it's never less than entertaining and moves at a decent pace. Marsden is good, especially when it comes to his believability with the CG Hedgehog, and makes the most out of the generic 'human' protagonist role. The relationship between him and Sonic is one of the piece's highlights, as is Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik. He's in full 'Carrey' mode here which is great to see, even if he sometimes goes ever so slightly overboard for the role he's given. A lot of the humor, though, is bizarre to say the least. Most of it, in fact, is very situational dialogue-based stuff that kids likely won't get, and a lot of it relies on making intertextual references to things that kids will have never heard of. It's strange that most of the humour isn't meant for its primary demographic. Of course, it's not inappropriate (for the most part anyway), and some of it is rather amusing, but it just feels a bit out of place, especially in a film that does, indeed, feature fart jokes. The action is always entertaining for children and adults alike, though, and there are a couple of inventive 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014) inspired sequences that are fun to watch. Overall, it's fun family-friendly fare that will entertain you while it lasts and then disappear from your mind rather quickly. It's certainly up there with Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) as far as video-game adaptations go. 6/10
Review of Sonic the Hedgehog
