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When I first saw the early previews for Sonic the Hedgehog, I thought that there was no way this movie would be good. It was destined to be a flop. Thankfully, the Sonic fan community thought so too and launched a very successful campaign to get Sonic redesigned. This did delay the release of the movie by about 3 months, but by doing this may have guaranteed a hit movie! But just because the fans like the movie, doesn’t mean that it is suitable for everyone. Find out the low-down in Sonic Christian Movie Review below!

However, before I get started, I need to confess that I never really liked Sonic. The original Sonic video game made for the Sega Genesis was introduced to the world in 1991. And I would be lying if I said I embraced the game super sonic style. This little blue hedgehog has been in my house since the mid-90s, but I have an open mind for new movies, and my prejudice against video games does not influence the guidelines I have for movie reviewing.

SYNOPSIS of Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) finds himself on Earth with a bagful of gold rings and the warning to not let anyone know of his powers. Sonic possesses super speed, and his golden rings will help him to move to other lands. 

He hides for a long period of time in an underground tunnel outside the town of Green Hills. Only one man has ever seen him, but Carl (Frank Turner) is considered the town crazy person. Carl dubs Sonic The Blue Devil. 

Since Sonic tries to remain incognito, all the people he encounters, outside of Crazy Carl, never know of his existence until one night when Sonic causes a major power outage that alerts government authorities. 

Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) is called upon to find what has caused such an outage. Meanwhile, Sonic befriends the local sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and convinces him to take him to San Francisco to find his lost rings. 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG CHRISTIAN MOVIE REVIEW: The Good

While there are so many good aspects of the film, the biggest one is that the producers listened to the fans and redesigned Sonic himself. This redesign works. Additionally, this movie is not going to be a hit or flop by the PG rating or the children viewing it. If it succeeds, it will be because of the huge Sonic fan base. 

Early results look like this movie is loved by the original Sonic fans. Dr. Robotnik is a villain you love to hate. Jim Carrey does an excellent job making you hate Dr. Robotnik. Additionally, there is plenty of comic relief to keep you entertained.

Sonic is a kind creature. He shows that in little things such as picking up a turtle off the road to save it from getting hit. 

I must admit that I wasn’t a Sonic fan, but after seeing the movie, I asked my son, Marcus, for more Sonic information. I wanted to know everything about the movie versus the video game. More on that later.

SONIC CHRISTIAN MOVIE REVIEW: WHAT YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

Sonic is called the Blue Devil by the town crazy person. Furthermore, Sonic calls the town sheriff Donut Lord. This is used as an affectionate term.

Language:

There is some language in this film which includes h-ll, Oh My G-d, son of a (this is not finished), and a few potty humor references. The word Sucks is written on a wall.

A song is played entitled Where Evil Grows during a scene with Dr. Robotnik entitled Where Evil Grows by The Poppy Family. Here is a portion of the lyrics:

As a Christian, I reject what this song implies which is that evil is growing in me because of someone else. Dr. Robotnik blames his obsession with Sonic on Sonic himself and not at the evil within him.

Other lines within the movie: “I’ve seen you’ve taken a lover.” A woman encourages her sister to leave her husband and spells the word D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Someone says “A payphone is mostly used for drug dealers and fugitives from the law.”

VIOLENCE:

This is an area that definitely has parents confused. How much violence is too violent. When I look at the violence in films, I try to assess how an average child would react, but that has gotten increasingly difficult as the average child is exposed to violence at younger and younger ages. 

Within this film, there are plenty of explosions, blowing things up, cars flipping and several fight scenes. One of those scenes includes a barroom brawl. This is a typical barroom scene complete with beer bottles and includes motorcyclists, but with Sonic it becomes comedic. 

Sonic also has numerous chase scenes with a lot of action. Additionally, a character is shot with a tranquilizer gun. 

LEARNING ELEMENTS from a Christian Mom Perspective for Sonic The Hedgehog Movie:

Because I use movies to teach my own children, and because I think movies are a great teaching element, I will share with you some concepts that can be used to teach with this movie.

Tom is a police officer who is defying the law to do the right thing. This has just been a topic in my household lately. If a government makes a law and that law goes against what you believe as a Christian, do you have an obligation to follow Christ and break the law? Ideas for topic starters include countries that ban the Bible or make worshiping God illegal. 

Furthermore, as a Christian how do you reconcile Romans 13:1-2 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”?

Another topic of discussion could include helping others. Tom goes out of his way to help Sonic who is harmless and afraid. These same elements are seen in the movie E.T.

Dr. Robotnik is a bully. He treats everyone around him in a demeaning way. In one scene in yells at his “right-hand man” even when the man is serving him. Furthermore, he uses his genius to harm others and not for doing good.

 Finally, talk about good and evil. Clearly, Dr. Robotnik is evil, but all of us have the potential to do evil and have evil thoughts. It is only through our faith in Jesus Christ that we are redeemed.

NODS TO THE VIDEO GAME:

Sonic was originally a video game, that lacks a strong storyline. However, this movie does deviate from the original story in the video game. In the games, Dr. Robotnik traps and enslaves animals and puts them in robot suits. While Robotnik is doing experiments on a hedgehog, an explosion occurs which creates Sonic. Sonic then works to free the other animals.

The term Eggman for Dr. Robotnik is used in both the film and the game. Furthermore, Sonic does eat chili dogs in the game. During the movie, Crazy Carl shows a drawing of Sonic that is actually the popular fan meme Sanic. In another scene, there is a fuse box that has the label badniks in a reference to the robots from the video game.

RECOMMENDATION for Sonic The Hedgehog Movie

Our family did like this movie, but I cannot recommend it for all ages. Sonic the Movie is rated PG and it definitely pushes that boundary as far as violence is concerned, and may be scary for younger children. I would recommend this movie for 8 and up. Make sure to stay around to see the clip at the end of the special credits which hints at a sequel!

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