86. Sonic The Hedgehog; movie review

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Cert PG
99 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild violence, threat, rude humour

My insane Saturdays usually involved treks across the country to watch my very average football team (not my fault, - I was brainwashed from the age of five).
Nowadays, I try to tie that obsession to my current one for watching films.
Mrs W tends to enjoy the latter more than the former but on Saturday was accompanying me to the match, so it made sense to take in Sonic The Hedgehog on the way.
Sorry, I meant, made sense to us, not to any right-minded people on planet earth.
The truth is that Mrs W doesn't watch quite as many movies as me but did say she wanted to see Sonic and during Jeff Fowler's movie I could see why.
I reckon she laughed six times which is a good number for any picture.
My view was that Sonic The Hedgehog it wasn't especially memorable but his enough buttons for it to be a success.
As was evidenced by the size of the audience in the giant screen eight at Sheffield Cineworld, this was the must-see half-term picture and there were enough giggles for it to justify that billing.
It is based on the Sega video game of the same name and the movie and features a bright blue alien animated character (voiced by Ben Schwartz) who darts about at great speed.
The film sees him being encouraged by his mentor, Longclaw The Owl, to hide his powers but he doesn't listen and they are attacked by a tribe of anteaters.
Thus, she gives him a bag of rings which can create portals to other planets and uses one to send him to earth.
The movie then spins a decade on and Sonic is living secretly among the people of Green Hills, Montana while having a soft spot for the bored law enforcement officer (James Marsden).
Anyway, to cut a convoluted story short, Sonic becomes the target for the US authorities who, for reasons which are not clear, commission a lunatic tech-wizard (Jim Carrey) to track him down.
Meanwhile, he inveigles himself with the aforementioned cop who sets about trying to keep him safe.
The result is a chase, involving speed, cunning and a fair few slapstick gags, halfway across America.
It is all knockabout stuff which appeared to keep the 10am Saturday crowd happy although I am not sure any laughed more than Mrs W.

Reasons to watch: Sonic's first film
Reasons to avoid: Jim Carrey has lost his lustre

Laughs: two for me - six for Mrs W
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Sega was bent on creating a character that would rival the appeal of Nintendo’s Mario. Early drafts of the brand’s hero envisioned him as a rabbit that could grasp things and fight with prehensile ears.

The final word. Ben Schwartz: "I played the game when I was a kid. So when I found out that I was going to be the voice, it was a huge deal because I played that game for so long and I loved it so much." Raising Whasians

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