After months of redesigns from public backlash, Sonic the Hedgehog has lost his disturbing appearance and has finally found his way to the big screen, all without being a bad film, but not a great one either. The film stars Jim Carrey as Doctor Eggman, Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog, and James Marsden as Sonic’s friend Tom. The film features a fairly boring plot mixed with fun characters and decent graphics.

Schwartz and Carrey give great performances, with Carrey by far shining brighter than any of them, bringing back his acting charm he was known for in the ‘90s.

Carrey’s Doctor Eggman is crazy, chaotic and reminiscent of what Ace Venture might have looked like if he went into engineering instead of searching for lost pets. Carrey himself was a strong source of joy for the movie. Every scene he is in becomes instantly funnier and more enjoyable.

Marsden does a good job in his role but it’s a fairly generic and bland character. Schwartz does a good job as Sonic, but it is clear his lines were recorded in a sound booth months before shooting the film. This speaks to a heavy problem: a fairly boring plot.

When Jim Carrey was not in the scene, the plot felt very slow, which is surprising since every other joke the film made was about how fast Sonic is. Sonic wants to visit a giant rubber band ball and runs there fast. Sonic is fast, and you should laugh, because it is true. If it isn’t the same joke, then it’s absolutely egregious product placements where they might as well look at the camera and fully endorse the product for a minute. By proxy, this is a review of Olive Garden, Amazon and Zillow for how blatant their ads were.

Despite the slow plot, the films graphics were very good. The editing team saved the film by making Sonic something you can look at for more than three seconds without getting lightheaded.

Video games ask you to actively be involved in controlling a character, but taking the control away from the consumer can cause some of the magic to be lost.

So, where does Sonic the Hedgehog fall? Well, somewhere in the middle. The film is not bad, as Carrey and Schwartz give enjoyable performances. However, I don’t know If I can bring myself it say it’s good either. It’s fun one moment, then the next it’s giving you blatant product placements as if it was casual conversation to say “oh I was just looking up apartments for us to rent online with Zillow.” Seriously, these product placements destroy the flow of the movie and show up for no reason whatsoever besides to pay for the poor editors who had to fix Sonics face.

I am giving this film 2.5/5. It’s not bad, but it definitely is not good. I would say if you have nothing to do on a Friday and everyone you know is gone, it’s better than staring at your wall for an hour and 40 minutes. Jim Carrey alone makes the ticket almost worth it. However, if you’re considering dropping plans to see Sonic , don’t. Wait for the film to be released on some streaming service and remember how fun and crazy Jim Carrey was in the ‘90s.

The opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Winona State University, the Minnesota State Colleges and University system, or the Winona State University student body.