Not necessarily a good movie but a fun movie.
Something we might genuinely enjoy, experience some thrills perhaps and maybe even share a laugh or two.
So last week, Andrea and I watched Sonic the Hedgehog, a 2020 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series.
The place: NOT Earth.
Sonic is a young anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed.
His guardian is an anthropomorphic owl named Longclaw who has tried to keep Sonic safe by teaching him not to show off his super speed powers.
But it's hard to make a young anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed stay still.
Unfortunately this exposes him to an echidna tribe who is on the attack with the intent to kill and eat him, I guess?
Longclaw gives Sonic a bag of golden rings that open portals to distant locations. She uses one to send him to Earth while she stays behind to hold off the echidnas.
The place: NOW it's Earth!
It's been 10 years and now a teenager, Sonic enjoys a secret life in a dark cave under the rural town of Green Hills, Montana.
Sonic is "friends" with sheriff, Tom Wachowski and his wife, Maddie if even if they are aware of his presence. Sonic watches from outside their house as they enjoy movie night (and I hope just movie night).
Sonic is unaware Tom and Maddie are making plans to move to San Francisco.
One night, while running at unusually high speeds to clear his mind, Sonic accidentally triggers an electromagnetic pulse that causes a massive power outage across the Pacific Northwest.
The U.S. Department of Defense reluctantly enlists the services of eccentric roboticist and scientific genius Dr. Ivo Robotnik to determine the cause of the outage.
Well, that can't be good!
Realizing his cover has been blown, Sonic reluctantly plans to leave Earth for a different planet that only contains mushrooms.
No movies or pizza or people. Just... mushrooms.
He really doesn't want to go there.
But...
Robotnik blows into town full of bluster and arrogance.
Tom discovers Sonic. Tom's not sure what to do with a young anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed but an encounter with Robotnik seals the deal: the not so good doctor is a nogoodnik and Tom winds up helping Sonic.
High speed hijinks and hilarity ensue.
I don't want to oversell Sonic the Hedgehog but it delivered on the mission statement for our Saturday evening movie watching: Andrea and I genuinely enjoyed this movie, there were thrills a plenty to experience and we laughed, out loud even.
Admittedly the bar was low. Jack Black in Dear Santa low.
Sonic is a fun, likeable character with a twinge of sadness. Sonic has missed out on so much of life forced to stay in hiding and now he has to go to the mushroom planet? Kudos to Ben Schwartz's voicework that contributed a lot of making Sonic an interesting and engaging character.
James Marsden as Tom Wachowski, the sheriff of Green Hills, does a good job of evolving from confusion and frustration over just what the deal is with this young anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed to becoming empathetic to his plight and assuming a father like role to Sonic.
And of course there's Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik who just Jim Carreys the hell out of this role. Robotnik is a genius but he is also not a well man, prone to sudden shifts in mood and just plain annoying the hell out of everyone around him.
Andrea and I enjoyed the movie enough without reference to the Sonic the Hedgehog video game. My Sonic knowledge mostly comes from the Sonic the Hedgehog comics that Archie Comics would release on Free Comic Book Day.
Sonic the Hedgehog more than met my expectations: we genuinely enjoyed it, experienced some thrills and even shared a laugh or two.
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Tomorrow, it's a Doctor Who post as we go back in time for an adventure with William Hartnell as the First Doctor.
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