Sonic the Hedgehog movie reviews are out, with the critical consensus coming in for the blue blur’s film debut. Starring Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, the highly-anticipated film makes its way to theaters on February 14. But what do the reviews say?
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie’s Rotten Tomatoes’ score currently sits at a ‘Fresh’ rating of 64%, with 23 positive reviews and 13 negative at the time of this writing. The film has a Metascore of 44 with 13 mixed reviews, 5 positive, and 5 negative.
The Radio Times compared it to the Pokemon film adaptation Detective Pikachu, saying that while it didn’t hit the heights of Nintendo’s movie, it’s “fun enough.” The Hollywood Reporter noted that it was “light-hearted fun unlikely to offend anyone,” while Digital Spy called it “entertaining” but added that “it will likely race out of your memory as quickly as Sonic collects rings.”
ALSO: Why Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s plea to keep politics out of gaming is dangerous
Some critics criticized the film’s writing and its lack of creativity. Referencing Sonic’s highly publicized digital makeover after the movie’s widely criticized original trailer, Time Out said in its review that “perhaps fans should have been consulted on the script as well.” The Guardian branded it a “rush job,” while Slant Magazine criticized Carrey’s performance, saying that it was “buried under the weight” of the comedian’s mugging.
All-in-all it’s not a stellar early critical response for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, but considering the track of record of films based on video games, it’s arguably better than expected. With its VFX team having to go back to the drawing board to redesign the character and the film being delayed as a result, a mostly positive reaction to it from critics suggests that it could perform well with a younger audience.
