Sonic The Hedgehog

A definitive kids movie with questionable appeal for adults.

Sonic The Hedgehog is one of those movies that doesn't really know who it is aimed at. The bulk of the plot and jokes are aimed at kids when the property itself is not very well known to the audience. Then there are adult jokes that are so thinly veiled that you could walk right through them. Ben Schwartz plays the titular Sonic and does a wonderful job imitating a child alien, as he played the man child Jean Ralphio on Parks and Rec. James Marsden plays the wholesome police officer who feels like a big fish in a small town. He gets roped into protecting Sonic from the almost too obviously evil Dr. Robotnic played by Jim Carrey who is at his absolute most Jim Carrey ever seen. He is so eccentric that it often times removes you from the film with his absurdity. While the film is often over the top with its child based comedy it is a respectable take on the need for family and the need to belong. 

The controversy around Sonic's teeth was heavily overblown but the studio listened and changed the film for the better. The downside might be that the production budget ballooned and it may not make back as much of the return. The studio is depending on Sonic being a success as there are two obvious set ups for sequels that might not happen and in my view are not necessary. Sonic wraps up the story line in a nice little bow until those zingers and does not require a sequel. It can only go down from here and Sonic unfortunately doesn't start out extremely high.

A solid kids flick that will not sit perfectly with Sonic die hard fans, it earns a C+ from the Holmes Review.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

1½  pipes out of 4

Incredible in name but too many detractors inhibit Burt Wonderstone to live up to it. An intriguing dark comedy about the aging magician duo of Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) trying to get their energy and awe back. This would have been good enough except writers John Goldstein and John Daley team with director Don Scardino to take things too far with the addition of Steve Grey (Jim Carrey). Carrey’s character is meant to be a satire of today’s magicians performing extreme acts instead of performing actual magic. Besides almost all of his tricks being physically impossible, Carrey’s character is a complete waste of screen time and deflates most of the comedy before it can get going. There is a point that Goldstein, Daley and Scardino is trying to make which is today’s society is more into brutality and reality than theatricality and awe, but like most of Carrey’s characters, it goes way over the top, even going so far as to make fun of rape by calling himself the ‘Brain Rapist’. Alan Arkin follows up his Oscar nominated role in Argo to supplement Carell and actually is a highlight of the film. He just seems to get better with age. Olivia Wilde plays Jane, an aspiring magician who once idolized Wonderstone but upon meeting him, becomes disillusioned. From the get go one can see that this relationship will be the romance of the film but it just feels wrong. From the way they portray Carell with his makeup and hairdo, he is easily 50 years old while Wilde portrays the young 20 something assistant. The age gap is just too wide to bridge without awkwardness. There were a number of comical moments in the film, most of which come from the interactions between Carell and Buscemi whose chemistry is phenomenal. Over all this is an ok movie which could have been much better without Jim Carrey and his character.