Jim Carrey has been the star of so many successful movies that it’s almost a certainty that one of them will be a popular streaming choice at any given time. The latest of these also happens to feature his most recent role, though, as Sonic the Hedgehog was added to Hulu a couple of weeks ago and is now taking off on the platform.
The story sees Mobius’ eponymous speedster living a lonely life hiding in a small town in our world after escaping his own, only to accidentally cause a massive power outage that threatens to reveal his presence. Aided by local sheriff Tom, he sets out to locate his bag of magic rings that can open portals, while being hunted by the villainous Dr. Robotnik, who wants to harness Sonic’s powers to fuel his army of automata.
Carrey plays the antagonist madman, driven by megalomaniacal ambition and contemptuous disregard for anyone he considers his intellectual inferior. While not the scariest of villains, he certainly leaves a lasting impression, and his seemingly limitless reserves of robotic minions give the actions scenes constant variation.
The actor’s performance harks back to the ‘90s comedies that made him a star, such as The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dumb and Dumber, plus a supporting role in Batman Forever, each of which is marked by rubber-faced gurning and a hyperactive unpredictability that makes his screen presence compelling if not always engaging.
Adaptations of video games are notoriously difficult to get right, of course, with Sonic the Hedgehog being one of the few to have received a positive reception from both general audiences and fans of the media that inspired it. A large part of this is down to Jim Carrey’s manic histrionics as the bad guy, and when the sequel materializes, his return will surely be a highlight.