Director Jeff Fowler’s feature directorial debut, “Sonic the Hedgehog,” takes the classic video game character into a fun, carefree movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

It’s been an entire year since we got a first glimpse at the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie, and we can all recall the utter terror we felt after seeing the original animation style. 

Thankfully, the creators of the film made a decision to completely redo the movie with all new animation and the final product is something I’m relieved to say is fairly good.

“Sonic the Hedgehog” follows Sonic (Ben Shwartz) into his new life on Earth in a small town in Montana.  After teaming up with the town sheriff (James Marsden), the two work together to defeat mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).

One of the most engaging aspects of the movie is a cast that works surprisingly well together. Some of my favorite performances, however, came from Carrey who is amazing as an insane, robot scientist. He brings an evil “Ace Ventura” energy to his character that I didn’t know I would enjoy as much as I did.

Of course, the animation is much better than in the original version and Sonic looks more like the familiar Sega character everyone loves rather than a terrifying uncanny-valley hedgehog.  This serves as a pretty gratifying experience, especially after the long-awaited reveal of the movie.

With all of the buzz that came along with the remaking of the film, it makes it all the more satisfying to see that it is an enjoyable movie that takes a household character name and brings it to life in a well-animated, adorable way. 

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at times because of how wholesome it was. 

The movie is held together by the theme of friendship which made me think, for the first time, “Am I about to cry watching ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’?”

Overall, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is a stupidly cute movie that truly exceeded my expectations and made me feel so grateful for the creators decision to revamp it. I would say this is a film you don’t have to see, but one that is a fun, casual watch.

Rating: 3 stars

Danielle Kessler can be reached at [email protected] or @reserv0irpups on Twitter.