Sonic movie reviews brand it ‘forgettable’ and ‘formulaic’
While Jim Carey praised for his performance as Robotnik
Sonic the Hedgehog movie reviews have branded the character’s live-action debut “forgettable” and “formulaic”, while praising the performance of Jim Carey as villain Dr. Robotnik.
The Sonic movie currently has a score of 64% on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, ahead of its general release on February 14.
The film follows the (mis)adventures of Sonic as he navigates the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound – human – best friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden).
Sonic and Tom join forces to try and stop villain Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination. The film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
Empire wrote in its 2/5 review: “An on-form Jim Carrey can’t stop Sonic’s live-action debut from feeling like a missed opportunity. If the teased sequels do materialise, here’s hoping the storytelling levels up.”
Eurogamer adds: “It’s not that the Sonic movie is bad, although it’s certainly not good. It’s that it was a terrible idea from the start.”
See a round-up of Sonic movie reviews below.
Sonic Movie Reviews
- Empire (2/5) – “An on-form Jim Carrey can’t stop Sonic’s live-action debut from feeling like a missed opportunity. If the teased sequels do materialise, here’s hoping the storytelling levels up.”
- The Guardian (2/5) – “If this movie has an ace in the hole, it’s Jim Carrey, playing government-sponsored inventor Doctor Robotnik. Carrey gives his cartoon villain the full treatment: darting eyes, twirlable moustache, withering superiority complex, and movements so balletically exaggerated they verge on interpretive dance. He’s far more animated than Sonic. And far too good for this.”
- Eurogamer – “It’s not that the Sonic movie is bad, although it’s certainly not good. It’s that it was a terrible idea from the start. It’s a formulaic cut-and-paste job from a Hollywood so starved of intellectual property that it will try making a movie about any recognisable character it can get its hands on – without asking who he is or why people liked him in the first place.”
- Hollywood Reporter – “While Fowler keeps the story moving efficiently, Marsden’s easy geniality prevents the simple narrative from feeling rote. Carrey gets a moment or two to cut loose — an evil-genius happy-dance in his lab will likely be mimicked by young viewers on the way out of the theater. ”
- Variety – “As a movie hero, Sonic could, and should, have been hipper and sharper, less megaplex arrested. Even as they fixed his face, the filmmakers strove so hard to make him “likable” that they never figured out a way to make him cool.”
- IGN (7/10) – “While this family-friendly action-comedy suffers from a simplistic story and leans too heavily on tired visual cliches, Sonic the Hedgehog is nevertheless boosted by solid performances from Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik.”
- The Telegraph (2/5) – “The video game speed freak slowed down to a drab, joyless crawl”
- The Verge – “The movie shines when it remembers it’s based on a video game, and there’s some genuinely fun stuff — like when Sonic uses his time-stopping powers or Robotnik’s elaborate “evil-plotting” montage that makes you wonder why more movies don’t feature bad guys with choreographed dance sequences.”
- Digital Spy (3/5) – “Like Detective Pikachu last year, Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t perfect, but it’s another good movie adaptation of a video game that’s a lot better than some would have feared.”
- New York Times – “Improvements to Sonic’s appearance haven’t done much for a generic script.”
- CinemaBlend (3.5/5) – “This video game movie does what others don’t. Playing in a sandbox that wears its heart on its sleeve, but isn’t afraid to go big and goofy, this is a starter film that has its eyes on the future, but doesn’t forget to do the job right in the here and now.”
- Cnet – “It’s a shame Sonic the Hedgehog’s forgettable jokes don’t live up to its visuals, but it’s a decent cinematic start for the blue blur and leaves me with the hope of an even more adventurous sequel down the line.”
- Arstechnica – “The only thing that would get me to recommend this film over other family-friendly options is, honestly, Jim Carrey’s performance. Nothing else in Sonic the Hedgehog feels particularly exciting, even within its specific niche of a clear “PG, not PG-13” rating.”
Related Products
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Xbox)
Sonic Frontiers (PS5)
