@travmoody
TRAVIS MOODY: Let’s get this out of the way before anything else: I enjoyed Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (in ScreenX) more than Sonic the Hedgehog (in 4DX). But it’s widely apparent everyone else doesn’t care, and the lil’ blue devil is beating the holy box office out of the pretty clown lady. In fact, Sonic has already soared past Detective Pikachu as the highest grossing video game movie of all time…
@assassinasan
DEE ASSASSINA: Yeah, Sonic The Hedgehog is one of those movies that you take kids to see because it’s made for them, but you know you’ll (maybe even secretly) enjoy it. It’s filled with Easter eggs from the video game, while bringing the furry creature down to Earth with humans. All of these features made this movie a tug at heartstrings for humanity and for nostalgia. Yet, these elements couldn’t overcome what a simple story this movie was trying to tell.
MOODY: Yeah, like how in the hell did the small-town nobody cop (James Marsden a.k.a. Cyclops) go from being accused as a domestic terrorist (that has no problem walking in and out of stores and businesses despite being “all over”) to national Donut-Lord hero in a matter of 30-minutes with no interrogation? I’ll save the rest of the details to prevent spoilers, but BAH GAWD this was a massive plothole. I’m usually not one go on about those, but damn.
DEE: Haha. Not good. So this man — and eventual Donut-Lord! — named Tom is living the mundane life as a sheriff in the Green Hill Mountains, which is a quiet suburban town. But not that kind of quiet, especially when this “alien” named Sonic transports there. This followed escaping forces on his own planet, who were trying to capture him for his super speed powers. When Tom and Sonic meet, their relationship blossoms into a heartfelt friendship.
MOODY: “Awww”, right? And kudos to Paramount for listening to the enraged fans and going back to the drawing board — literally — to clean up our furry friend’s look.
DEE: Oh yea, Sonic looks fine. Thanks for the fixes!
MOODY: Beyond CGI accuracy, Sonic The Hedgehog is a fun time, even when the writing (sans plotholes) can be totally hit and miss. I chuckled for most of it, but some of the one-liners and script just left me feeling.. “eh”. That hardly happened in the Harley Quinn movie, and the action in that flick was much more effective; but, as you mentioned earlier, Sonic definitely appeals far more to children (the B.O.P. flick is a hard “R”), so they definitely have that going for it.
DEE: Definitely. Yet while Sonic‘s bland premise does set things up for some sweet moments, I couldn’t fully sit with it because of Sonic’s voice and silly one liners; it made the movie feel too much like a kids cartoon and not enough like a movie for the adults who grew up with the franchise. I get it, it’s a kids movie, but a simple change in the voice acting could’ve gone a long way.
MOODY: When the jokes hit, the voice didn’t rattle me so much; but when they didn’t, Ben Schwartz‘ voice felt extra cheesy. As for 4DX, I initially didn’t find the format doing enough to justify the cost until the seat movement kicked it into Sonic speed for the two final grandstanding chase/action sequences! While more wind effects would’ve been nice (ironically, Detective Pikachu in 4DX was the king of that), the seat shifts and rattles will definitely send you to a higher path once Sonic battles Dr. Robotnik for a round or two. And Jim Carrey is absolutely splendid in the villain role, to boot. 3.25/5 Bibles (Movie = 3/5; 4DX = 3.5/5)
DEE: Thankfully! Carrey as Robotnik brought the right amount of grit and dark humor needed to keep me at least somewhat connected. Not only did he bring me back to his hay days of Ace Ventura and Liar Liar, but he made a damn good Eggman. 3/5 Bibles.
-Travis Moody & Dee Assassina