Review: After his makeover, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ is legit funny, heartwarming and entertaining

I’m as surprised as anyone to report that “Sonic the Hedgehog,” the adaptation of the popular ’90s Sega video game, is actually good. James Marsden co-stars as Tom Wachowski, the cop who takes Sonic under his care, with Tika Sumpter playing Tom’s veterinarian wife, and Adam Pally and Natasha Rothwell in very funny supporting roles. But of course, the big news here, and drumroll please, is Jim Carrey’s glorious return to his best rubber-faced, fast-talking form as Sonic’s main antagonist, a secretive government mad scientist named Dr. Robotnik. This entire review could be dedicated to Carrey’s delightful, outsized and wildly campy performance, feverishly pitched somewhere between “Ace Ventura” and “The Mask.” With his fascist haircut, twirly mustache and high-tech mobile lab, Dr. Robotnik is deemed a “psychological tire fire” by a worried general, yet he’s dispatched to Montana after Sonic’s solo baseball game generates an electrical surge that causes a power outage throughout the Pacific Northwest.