SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday with break-neck speed from director Jeff Fowler and Paramount Pictures comes a new meaning to the word fast provided by SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) is the local law in their small town where nothing really happens. When a letter arrives offering him a job in San Francisco, wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter) believes he will finally be happy with the life change. When she goes off to San Fran to look for a place to live, Tom is back on duty trying to figure out how to tell everyone.

In the surrounding forest lives Sonic (Ben Schwartz), a blue alien who knows everything about Tom and pretty much everyone else. Trying to stay under the radar, imagine the surprise when a disturbing town power outage brings Sonic face-to-face with Tom! The rather unusual event also catches the attention of Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) who isn’t about to let anything stop him from discovering the truth.

Using his uber technology, Robotnik finds himself at Tom’s doorstep and the two make it plain what their intentions are. Robotnik wants the fast-blue alien and Tom wants to protect Sonic from anyone getting their hands on hurting him. Making a run for it, it becomes clear that Sonic has to leave Earth but the only way to do that is by the pouch of rings that accidentally got sent to the top of a building in San Francisco.

It’s time for them to take a road trip and what happens along the way brings about learning for them both including a little fun. But they are always looking behind them to see how close the relentless Dr. Robotnik is because he isn’t at all about having fun – he’s about being in control.

Tom and Sonic have a few tricks up their sleeve to give their nemesis something to think about!

Marsden as Tom is a small-town sheriff who doesn’t realize what kind of life that truly is. Meeting Sonic isn’t just about protecting an alien, their time together really gives him an opportunity to see the world in a different way – through Sonic’s eyes. Marsden is charming, sweet and patient (not sure I could be THAT patient) and doesn’t scare easily. Watching Marsden take on Robotnik is entertaining but then again, his whole character is.

Schwartz as the voice of Sonic is fast talking and fast on his feet. Most of us know the character of Sonic but don’t hear him in the video games (yes, I play video games!) so finally hearing him speak in the film is fun, silly (as my granddaughter says) and full of spunk and excitement.

Carrey as Dr. Robotnik is nothing short of stunning, hilarious and everything my family and I wanted to see. Having seen a sneak peek last year presented by Carrey himself, no one was going to tell me if the film was good, bad or indifferent – I was going to see it! This is a comic who has always made me and daughter Jenise laugh and that is saying something. From the very first we knew there was something unique about his humor and special about his ability to use facial expressions and timing. As Robotnik I laughed at his cutting (and admittedly sometimes adult humor) and now can’t imagine anybody else playing Robotnik (or Egg-man as the granddaughter prefers to call him).

Sumpter as wife Maddie is the calm in the middle of the Sonic Storm. She supports whatever Tom wants to do but when she sees Sonic, the extra calm kicks in because she isn’t going to move from her spot until her questions are answered. Melody Niemann as JoJo is absolutely adorable and the reason behind one of Sonics iconic accessories. Shout out to Natasha Rothwell as Maddie’s sister Rachel because she is hilarious. Not exactly thrilled that her sister is married to Tom, she doesn’t miss an opportunity to throw her two cents in which is thrown back when Sonic is near!

Other cast include Tom Butler as Commander Walters, Frank Turner as Crazy Carl, Elfina Luk as Secretary of Homeland Security, Adam Pally as Billy Robb, Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone and Neal McDonough as Major Bennington.

Let me get this out of the way and move on, I am thrilled that they made the changes to Sonic as now he feels and looks more like the character as I thought he should look. He is edgy, really blue and, well, fast! Also, this is going to be a strictly liking the film or it not being on your film radar, it’s a simple as that.

Now, I taught my granddaughter to play the original Sega Sonic the Hedgehog and she picked up on it quick and learned all the characters without me saying a word! Now, she has her sonic pajamas, socks, stuffed doll and the most awesome sunglasses. It is hard to believe that my first experience with Sonic was a game played back in in 1991 taught to me by my sons. The following Christmas they got me a Sega system to play the games and – are you ready for this? – I still have it and it still works (are you reading this Sega?).

So, to go see the film with my family was beyond fun, it was a great day at the theatre. Look, this isn’t rocket science, it is just an escape to the movies for families that want to do something fun together. The adults are going to be brought back to a pretty cool time in their then young lives and the kids are going to giggle at all the antics Sonic provides.

It is the reason we go to the movies as a family, there is something for everyone and with a run time of 99 minutes there isn’t a second of non-stop action. There are just silly laughs and a good time with the family.

In the end – when the world needs a hero…think fast!