Review | Sonic the Hedgehog film review: Jim Carrey vs Sega’s beloved video game character in family comedy

Jim Carrey is back in a welcome major role, playing the evil Dr Robotnik in this amusing if derivative film

Sonic, the high-speed blue character from the 1990s platform video games, is mischievous yet vulnerable

Reading Time:2 minutes

Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) in a still from Sonic the Hedgehog (category TBC), directed by Jeff Fowler. Photo: courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Sega of America.

Published: 2:00pm, 13 Feb 2020Updated: 2:00pm, 13 Feb 2020

3/5 stars

When Paramount first unveiled their computer-animated Sonic the Hedgehog, the Twitterverse was set ablaze by fans complaining that this gold ring-collecting blue critter looked nothing like Sega’s original video game character. Cue one expensive remodelling session and, you’d imagine, a lot of sleepless nights for debut director Jeff Fowler. Even now, it’s only a marginal improvement.

Fortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog is amusing enough for this not to matter. Plus he moves so fast, half the time you won’t really be able to see him anyway; this is the one kids’ film where obligatory chase sequences should actually be encouraged. It also benefits hugely from the presence of Jim Carrey, his first major role in years, as Sonic’s enemy Dr Robotnik.

After being forced to leave his own island, with its brightly coloured loop-the-loop landscapes, Sonic has been hiding out on Earth for the past 10 years, in a cave in the rural backwater of Green Hills, Montana. His super speed has largely kept him secret, but his isolation has so got to him that one day he runs so fast around a baseball diamond, he causes a huge power surge.

With the government alerted, Robotnik is sent to capture Sonic, who takes to hiding in the home of local cop Tom (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter). After Tom accidentally shoots Sonic with a tranquilliser gun, causing him to lose his emergency gold rings that act as portals to other worlds, the two begin an odd couple road trip to recover them while trying to stay one step ahead of the evil Robotnik.