I am relieved to announce that this movie is nothing special.

By Scott Wood, Staff Writer/Artist

When the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was first announced, I, along with millions of moviegoers across the world, felt a gut feeling of morbid curiosity mixed with impending dread, dread which would later be further amplified and echoed upon the release of the initial trailer. Showcasing Sonic’s original — and, frankly, terrifying — character design, this trailer caused a seismic amount of backlash, forcing a subsequent redesign and delay to right the wrongs committed.

But after all the delays and production hell this movie went through, it finally debuted this February, and I am relieved to announce that this movie is nothing special: not necessarily good, but not Cats-level bad as I had feared. 

This movie’s main problem is that it does little to deviate from the standard kids’ B-movie formula. This movie is very much in the same vein as films such as Hop, Yogi Bear, and Garfield: The Movie. It contains the same brand of cheap humor, the same odd blend of animation and live-action and the same awkward product placements (Have you heard of Olive Garden?) that have been staples of these types of films for years. 

Even with its faults, this is a tough film to hate. In fact, certain parts of this film do stand out as unique among its peers, such as Jim Carrey’s energetic performance as Dr. Robotnik, as well as some peppered-in references to the meme culture the Sonic franchise has cultivated. 

Overall, while this film isn’t great (or even good, really), but it did manage to get a few laughs out of me.