“Sonic the Hedgehog” is lighthearted and pleasant.
First things first, “Sonic the Hedgehog” marks the return of Jim Carrey after a 4-year hiatus from films, and nothing has changed. Carrey develops Sonic's nemesis, Dr. Eggman (or Dr. Robotnik), a typical shallow villain, into another one of his classic comic characters. This is easily one of the highlights of the film and watching Carrey on the silver screen again is exciting.
James Marsden and Tika Sumpter deliver performances and play characters that are likable. Marsden's role can be likened to his in the 2011 film “Hop,” where, again, he assists an ebullient anthropomorphized animal in defeating an eccentric enemy. These types of characters fit him especially well because of how conspicuous his animated expressions are.
“Sonic the Hedgehog” and its innocent humor does tend more towards a kids film. Though there is some teenager appeal due to the popularity of Sega's video games, it is a lot more of a family-friendly film than most other films that are based on video games. Despite - or due to - that, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is speeding towards dethroning “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” as the highest-grossing video game-based movie of all time.
On that note, the film does remain mostly true to the video game character. Following the overwhelmingly critical response from the initial trailer, Paramount Pictures and director Jeff Fowler did a good job in bouncing back and making the film's animation a lot better and distinctive of the Sega character. If anything, the film does show Sonic as being a bit more juvenile (at least in my experience) than avid gamers would typically be accustomed to. This equates to less action and violence than a lot of Sonic fans would expect; this is another one of the reasons for it being more of a family-friendly film.
In a nutshell, go for “Sonic the Hedgehog” if you are craving some PG entertainment. If you are a Jim Carrey fan, you will not be disappointed. However, even if none of the above is the case, I can't say you won't enjoy it.
