Sonic the Hedgehog was my first love, in the video game space at least. The neighbor boy around the corner was the first to get a Sega Genesis, and we spent hours playing over there. Not long after, I got my own Genesis, and for some reason, didn’t hang out with the neighbor boy as much after. Funny how that works. My Daddy and I were super into the console, and would hit up Blockbuster most weekends to rent games. Except Sonic games. Those were immediately purchase and play for hours. I still have my Genesis with every Sonic Game: 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Sonic 3D, Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Even had a Game Gear with Sonic Chaos. I eventually jumped ship to Nintendo when the N64 came out. I tried to return back to my homeboy on Wii, but he was no longer my Sonic. I could deal with the werewolf thing, but not with the extra controls. My Sonic can only run, jump, and spin dash. Anything else is an impostor.
Anyways, I was gonna skip this movie unless I got really bored. I’ve been giving myself permission to pass on the kiddie movies, and the whole human teeth debacle left me with no faith in this one. Add in that its release date was on a busy weekend and it was doomed. And then. And then, positive reviews started coming in, so my interest peaked a little. And then I saw Jim Carrey doing the late night circuit and it made me nostalgic for the Jim Carrey of the 90’s, which this film promised to deliver a little of. And then this movie earned my top priority spot for the following week, and there ya go.
Our furry little friend is a creature from an alien planet or parallel dimension or something. His speed makes him special, which makes him a target. As a result, he’s been hiding out on Earth for a while, enjoying everything our planet has to offer at a safe distance from humanity. That safety is threatened when he ends up on the government’s radar, who have dispatched the villainous Doctor Robotnik (Carrey) to track him down. He’ll need some help from a friend (James Marsden) in order to survive and move on to his next home.
I started watching waiting for Carrey to take the screen, but something unexpected happened along the way. I was really liking it, falling in love with the little blue devil all over again. As far as kids movies go, it was pretty solid, not unlike all the family films of the 90’s I grew up on. The story, humor, and heart were all there. Ben Schwartz’s voice imbued him with all the spunk and personality I didn’t realize I was expected. And it’s nice to see James Marsden get a strong leading role where he doesn’t get screwed over. The whole thing was just such a perfect combination.
I’m a little torn on Carrey. He was fantastic, do not misunderstand me. Part of me wanted more. It felt like such a tease just getting small tastes of his antics. But at this same time, this was Sonic’s film. You really didn’t want Dr Robotnik to take over the whole film. I think the balance was right, it’s just weird seeing Carrey on a bit of a leash.
There was something else I noticed as the film went on–the attention to detail. Particularly when we got to the boss fight (not a spoiler because of course there’s a boss fight). I noticed it playing out EXACTLY how it would play out in the game. IMDB trivia pointed out other Easter eggs for the sharp eyed. It made me realize that this film really was made by people who love this little dude as much as I do. Even if I still don’t understand what they were thinking with the original “realistic” animation, but the makeover was worth the waiting for.
Oh and if you’re a real fan, stay thru the mid credits. Something happened (no spoilers) that made me absolutely lose it and freak out. It’s what really opened the floodgates to my nostalgia. Memories of all the hours I spent playing with my Daddy just started pouring out. I went from squealing to nearly crying and walked out of there so emotional. If you had ask me two weeks ago what I would get out of this movie, that’s the last thing I would have expected.
I came home really wanting to bust out the Genesis from my top shelf of the closet. Was talking about it with a coworker who then told me about Sega Genesis Mini. Long story short, it was ordered minutes later. But the only reason I’m able to write this post instead of being glued to it was because there was a delivery delay and now I’m devastated that I hafta wait a couple more days to get it and prolly a few more days to play it. Life is hard. But first I blog
Sonic the Hedgehog – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/