When I went and saw Sonic The Hedgehog at my local Cineworld earlier this year I really enjoyed it, especially as it was the first time I had experienced 4DX movie, so I guess it was not much of a surprise that I was looking forward to getting a copy on Blu-Ray as soon as I was able once it was released. Fortune smiled and I got a copy for my birthday, brilliant! Let's check out the Blu-Ray and whizz through the special features!!
If you have not read my review of Sonic the Hedgehog, the movie is based on the global videogame franchise from Sega called...um, well...Sonic the Hedgehog and it tells the story of the Blue Blur (or, as Right Said Fred once sang "He's attitude in power sneakers".....oh dear, have I just outgeeked myself?) as he settles down and attempts to embrace Earth as his home, and it all seems to be going well until he accidentally knocks out a power grid and grabs the attention of the insane evil genius Dr. Robotnik. Teaming up with his new best friend, local Sherrif Tom (aka Donut Lord), he has to race around the globe in a race against time to beat Dr. Robotnik and his drone forces from dominating the World.
Now I have watched this movie several times on VOD since watching it at the cinema (yes, I really did enjoy this movie very much) although I do feel after a few watches that the movie was aimed a much more towards the younger audience than perhaps the older fans (which I guess makes sense in some ways as it was more likely to make money that way). Now I am not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing but as a 45-year-old Sonic fan, I did on occasion feel a little "left out" when it came to the story (especially with Sonic doing that damn flossing...twice!!!). Although saying that I did see a huge amount of easter eggs for Sonic fans all throughout the movie, and I have been wondering if I should do a post about that at some point. The cast is great, and as much as people either loved or hated that Jim Carrey starring as Dr. Robotnik I personally think it was absolute genius casting. His portrayal of Robotnik was vintage Carrey and the insanity just shines through which has some comedic moments as well as truly lonely dark moments too. With a sequel being greenlit I seriously hope he will be reprising his role again as it will be brilliant seeing the evolution of this character on celluloid. Also, watch through the credits, there is an extra bit you need to see, a tease that will make you REALLY want a sequel if you are a fan!
So, now that the movie has been watched, what about the Blu-Ray and the bonus features?
The movie audio was Dolby Atmos which was a beautiful audio experience. The English and English SDH subtitles were great with no errors (plenty of foreign subtitles too if you want to learn a new language!) and multiple languages too!
As for the goodies on the Blu-Ray, there is an audio commentary by Director Jeff Fowler and Ben Schwartz (Sonic) (This also has subtitles, which is cool), Around the World in 80 Seconds Short, Deleted Scenes with Intro, Blooper Reel, "Speed Me Up" Music Video, Origins of Sonic and some featurettes about the movie. I do admit, however, that I am a little disappointed that they did not include an advertising archive like posters and trailers (maybe showing the "bad trailer"?) and also I would love to see a workprint of this movie at some point if it ever surfaces to see if it ever had the bad looking Sonic in or if the conspiracy theories were true and it was done just to generate hype...maybe a Limited Edition many years in the future will have this happen...
I really like the movie, and the Blu-Ray is really good with some nice extras. So, if you like Sonic grab the movie I think you will like it!
Sonic The Hedgehog is rated PG and is available on VOD, DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4k at all good vendors now.