 Hello, we are just back through the door from having seen Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Yeah, it had a blue hedgehog in it. I liked the hedgehog. It was very blue. So that was our Valentine's. We have just come back from our date and we thought we'd share our thoughts with you. So we're going to go through some non-spoilery type thoughts. I think going into the film, I wasn't really sure if it was going to be, well, any good. You've not seen Hop, have you? No. Hop is the film that James Marsden made with Russell Brand as the Easter Bunny, or like the Easter Bunny's wayward son. It's stuck with me. So when I saw the trailer for Sonic, I was like, yeah, sure, the Sonic looks weird. But the real problem I had with it was, oh, it's another film where James Marsden tracks his way across the country with a CGI animal. And so I thought it was going to be just very bland and not particularly engaging and not particularly interesting. See, I had a very different sort of preconceived idea coming in because I've not seen Hop, but also I didn't focus in on the James Marsden aspect. I saw the trailer and went, oh, this is the Jim Carrey movie that I didn't even know I needed to see in my life. But actually I got pretty excited about it on that basis. I imagine a lot of people will probably come out of this disappointed that you don't get a more video game accurate Dr. Robotnik, that he's not that character. I think the comic, you know, that might have been someone's introduction to it and that's where they get their love. That was my introduction. But I don't mind that it's not a more accurate Dr. Robotnik because Jim Carrey makes such an interesting character. But I really got into his vibe as Dr. Robotnik and I thought, yes, picking up on the idea of the story, one thing I really liked was that actually it had a story. I felt like it was a pretty coherent plot that went through, you know, the motions of a good story arc. I was probably expecting a few more awkwardly gaping plot holes than we got. I felt quite satisfied with how that story went. Yeah, no, I really think they did a great job of making Sonic a likable character and someone that you empathize with. Like you can kind of see his motivation a lot. And I definitely looked at it a few times and thought to myself, yes, I can relate to having those same kinds of issues because I also come from a foreign planet. In terms of acting, I quite enjoyed James Marsden in the role. I had no special feelings about him going into it, but I thought he played it admirably. I quite enjoyed it. I think he did well, especially considering he was acting against a sock puppet most of the time. He would have had absolutely nothing and he did a good job of building a rapport. I particularly enjoyed Ben Schwartz during The Voice. I thought he did a good job. I enjoyed that. Yeah, he was solid. I didn't think about it, which I think is a good sign that it was a solid voice acting. I'm not familiar with Tika Sumter's previous work, but I have to say this was a particularly nice introduction to her as an actress. I enjoyed her role. Would have actually liked to have seen more of her dynamic in the film. Yeah, I really loved her in this. I think if there's one criticism I have for the film it's they could have done with more of Tika because she was just, yeah, she was really fun. I enjoyed her dynamic with James Marsden. I enjoyed their relationship in the film and I enjoyed what more of her extended family that you see as well. One of the things I really liked about this was the fact that they had a little girl in it and I wish that she was in it more and more. Melody Neiman. Yes, I think she was adorable. I would have quite happily watched a lot more of her on screen and I agree. I feel like that's what was missing was more child interaction with him. They could have gone a bit more like ET-style storytelling. I think seeing like the recent success of kind of preteen things that are all young person led cast like Stranger Things for example that are again trading heavily on this nostalgia vibe, I would have quite liked to have seen a young sort of child or preteen cast even for just a few scenes. That's the thing that make this work for me. Like you go into the film expecting to see Sonic do Sonic-y things and there's lots of that but the fact that all of the supporting cast also feel like fully realized people as well. They all feel like they actually exist and they have their own wants and desires and they have their own challenges. Talking of minor characters, Lee who played Agent Stone was particularly enjoyable I thought as a minor role. He just played off with a nice subtlety but still had presence when he was on screen so I enjoyed him. I think I definitely came out of the cinema with one of those big grins on your face that you get after a really nice experience. We're just like yeah I feel good today now. I mean I would totally see it again which I think is rare for movies nowadays where you see one and then there's something new coming out or something else and when you're time poor very often I don't really watch things nowadays at all but I'd quite happily stick that on of an afternoon and chill them out in front of you. I look forward to when it's released on home video watching selected scenes with our daughter. There's no way she would want to watch the entire thing all the way through because there are plenty of bits where she would be like oh this is intense I don't like this just because she's... Four. Yeah basically. Last thing, final thoughts. I really really really enjoyed this film significantly more than I expected to. I think I enjoyed this as much as I expected to which is rare. It actually met your expectations. Yeah I think so. I by all accounts do not take our word for it. Go out and see the movie. Let us know what you think in the comments and you can completely contradict us. We've got a thick skin we don't mind. This is not a prescriptive opinion but yes go check it out. Let us know what you think and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did because I had a really fun time going to see it so I wish that kind of yay moment on everyone.