Let’s backtrack a little, Bingers. Can you name a videogame turned movie that was a success, or at least fun to watch? Hardly, right? On top of my head was Detective Pikachu but it is debatable because it was inspired by a Pokemon game. The old Mortal Kombat and Mario movies were cringe-worthy that I just decided to throw them at the back of my mind. The recent Assassin’s Creed was so-so. It seems like there really is a curse to video games turned movies, that they are always bound to fail. To be honest, this is not surprising because of the difference in medium. Last weekend, however, I was greatly surprised with Sonic The Hedgehog! To me, it broke the video game curse. Wanna know why? Read our review, Bingers .
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A Whole New World
Not gonna lie, when I first saw the trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog, I was like, “What the hell is that?” “Oh no, not again!” and “WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE THAT?” Yes, Sonic’s look at the first trailer garnered negative feedback. It lost the cute appearance of the character that everybody loved and instead made it look horrifying in an attempt to be realistic. With that initial backlash, the studio did some changes and it had me saying, “Now we’re talking.”
Thank god, Sony Pictures made the changes because I would totally be skipping this movie. This is the perfect example that not every adaptation has to look realistic! The world in which the game was set in was colorful and attractive so putting it into the real world has to be something else. Sonic The Hedgehog did this successfully by creating a plot that sees the character into our world. Sonic’s jump in between worlds made the integration seamless.
Now that he is in our world, he is all by himself. He is lost and trying to adapt and survive with humans. I particularly loved this approach to the character because underneath the hilarity of it is a heart of a loner trying to find a world to fit in. It was not long til he found a friend in Tom or Donut Lord (James Marsden). Although it was a rough friendship at first. The progression of their relationship upped the fun factor of the film which became a buddy cop film. All this while going after Dr. Robotnik.
Carrey’s Back
The humor and pop culture references in the film were spot-on. It screamed fun all throughout and had no dull moments at all. Marsden and Schwartz (as voice of Sonic) had great dynamics but if there is one great thing about the movie, it is Jim Carrey. OH HOW I LOVE JIM CARREY! This comedic icon plays the villain Dr. Robotnik. The movie could not have a picked a more perfect actor for the role than him. As Dr. Robotnik, Carrey was both terrifying and hilarious!
Part of me, however, kept thinking that his Dr. Robotnik does not look as the videogame but again, not everything has to be faithful to the source material. And then comes a surprise which you will have to see for yourself!
There is a saying that video game movie adaptations are cursed and that they will always be bad. Well, I guess Sonic The Hedgehog broke the curse because it is good, scratch that. It was great- funny, heartwarming, and exciting! Also, it brings back the Jim Carrey that I LOVED!!!
Director: Jeff Fowler
Cast: James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, and Jim Carrey
Binge-level: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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