It's a pretty pathetic evening when the most promising showing at the multiplex is a video game adaptation sequel. I never even watched a whole video game movie before, because none had been reputedly better than mediocre. So why'd I go at all? Because my apartment building would have no power until at least 8 p.m., possibly 10, and I could think of no other way to fight boredom that long. Hmm, perhaps I'm pretty pathetic that way.
The teenage anthropomorphic hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) presently lives in a U.S. suburb with two quasi-parental humans, Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). He wants to use his Flash-like speed for good but accidentally causes about as much trouble as he foils. Not feeling ready for heroic responsibility, he contents himself with partying while Tom and Maddie are attending a distant wedding. That's when his archnemesis, mad engineer Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (Jim Carrey), returns from exile with the help of Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba), who considers Sonic a tribal enemy and the key to recovering the Master Emerald, an extremely powerful creation. Of course, Robotnik has his own priorities for the emerald. But lest you think that Sonic has to handle them both alone, in comes Miles "Tails" Prower (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), a two-tailed, aerodynamic fox wunderkind with engineering skills rivaling Robotnik's, who's admired Sonic from afar and knows a few things about Knuckles.
Full disclosure: I've played a number of Sonic games and seen minutes' worth of each of several Sonic TV shows, but to call me a fan is a stretch. He was barely involved in my childhood, and I find the vast majority of his entertainment merely adequate. Still, my experience gave me a fair amount of knowledge going in, so I rarely felt remotely lost, and I could soon fill in the gaps from not having watched the first movie. I'm not sure how well someone like my dad could keep up. Or that he'd care to.
What we get is largely faithful to the source material, the exceptions being forgivable. The three key animals are now established as extraterrestrials, even if they all already speak English (but not Russian, as it turns out). The signature gold rings are no longer a way to add to one's defense/life force; instead, they can open portals to wherever the user envisions. Knuckles is played up as more daunting than usual, said to be one of the greatest warriors anywhere, being almost as fast as Sonic and super strong despite similarly wiry limbs. He's certainly self-serious, ironically to an amusing degree as he lacks the Earth savvy of the others. I wouldn't have nominated that voice for him, but what the heck, Elba's everywhere these days.
Another apparent difference is that the depicted Earth is supposed to be ours, not a close alternate, as evidenced by the many geographic and cultural references. I'm not talking about obvious parodies so much as characters acknowledging real movies and whatnot, some of them not even recent: "Klaatu barada nikto!" It's clear that Hollywood tries to make flicks as widely relatable as possible, which also explains the considerable presence of humans other than Robotnik. They're generally insipid and exaggerated, with little to offer in scenes without the stars, but that's par for the course in kid-friendly fare.
Of course, exaggeration can be a high point when done right. Carrey's done hammy villains before (e.g., the Riddler, Count Olaf), but Robotnik might just put the rest to shame, in keeping with prior incarnations. The result is delectable. "Dr. Eggman" may not be ovoid in shape this time, but a shaved head might suffice to justify his nickname.
The relative fidelity is a sign that Sonic is more filmable than most game icons. His quirky premises avoid the hackneyed feel of, say, Resident Evil without getting too unworldly like Super Mario Bros. And he and his best-known companions always had personality.
The comedy tends to err on the juvenile side with some mild vulgarities. Just as well that my theater was nearly empty and not packed with a noisy young target audience. Nevertheless, it has its clever parts, and I think a lot of it must have been fun to make. As an action-adventure, it's, well, video-gamey, for better or worse. The pacing is consistently good; I never thought things should be faster or, oddly enough, slower. Does it get heartwarming? Eh, a little. It helps when the animals are kind of cute; to that end, I especially like a certain moment with Tails.
As far as I know, the world has yet to produce a great video game movie. But at least I know that I can watch one without wanting my two hours back.
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