Sonic the Hedgehog 2 review

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2: 

SEQUEL FULLY EMBRACES ITS VIDEO GAME ROOTS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SEGA

Sonic and Knuckles (& Knuckles) in Sonic the Hedgehog 2

 

            The blue blur is back for a new adventure in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the highly anticipated follow-up to enormously successful 2020 film based on the iconic Sega video game series. If you read my review of the first film (and especially the longer version of that review!) then you know that I’m a huge fan of Sonic the Hedgehog and grew up on his games, cartoons, comic books, etc. and through several ups and downs during his history, I’ve always retained my Sonic fandom, even when a game bites the dust I can still go back to the ones that stuck the landing. 

            The first film, I thought was a decent, if not formulaic kids’ movie with a lot of fun action, silly dialogue, and a very likable charm as well as some cute little callbacks to the Sonic the Hedgehog lore that longtime fans will appreciate and a delightfully bonkers performance from Jim Carrey (The Mask, Liar Liar, The Truman Show) as the villainous, Dr. Robotnik…or Eggman. It wasn’t quite the Sonic movie I wanted to see as a kid, but I enjoyed it and I kept coming back to it in anticipation for a sequel because of the Tails teaser at the end of the first one, which leads us to where we are now. 

            In a year that saw the release of The Batman and upcoming blockbusters like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One), this was one of my most anticipated films of 2022. The trailers looked like it was giving us a Sonic movie that’s much closer in spirit to the source material with the inclusion of Miles “Tails” Prower and Knuckles the Echidna, a more game-accurate Dr. Eggman, planes, snowboarding, Death Egg Robots, Chaos Emeralds, all that good stuff. 

            While the first one wasn’t the Sonic movie I wanted to see as a kid, this one certainly felt like it in terms of the marketing…and after coming out of the theater. I don’t know how this movie is doing with the public, but as a die-hard Sonic fan who had been playing and watching the character since childhood, I love the Hell out of this movie. 

            When I first heard they were making a Sonic movie, this was what I wanted to see, a film that fully embraces what the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is by taking more of an adventure route rather than a buddy road trip and recreating several famous moments from the games and not just subtle references in the background. The first one felt more like a buddy road trip movie that just happens to have Sonic in it, this one however is a Sonic movie all the way through. 

            The film is set right after the events of the first film, and Dr. Robotnik has escaped the Mushroom Planet and formed an unlikely partnership with a vengeful echidna known as Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba-The Wire, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Suicide Squad), who has a bit of a grudge with hedgehogs to say the least and the two of them set off to find the sacred, Master Emerald, a gem that harnesses Ultimate Power (as the film calls it) and can be used to destroy civilizations. Meanwhile, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz-Parks and Recreation, House of Lies, DuckTales (2017)) has happily moved into the home of Donut Lord, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden-X-Men franchise, Hairspray (2007), Enchanted) and his wife, Maddie (Tika Sumpter-One Life to Live, Think Like a Man, Get on Up) and tries to help the public as a vigilante, but he’s…a little careless. 

            Sonic soon meets up with Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey, who had voiced the character since 2014’s Sonic Boom TV series), a two-tailed fox from another planet who comes to warn Sonic that Robotnik is back, and he and Knuckles are on a hunt for the Master Emerald. So, the two of them set off on an adventure to find it before Robotnik and Knuckles and save the world from destruction. 

            The film also stars Natasha Rothwell (Love, Simon, Like a Boss, Wonder Woman 1984) reprising her role as Rachel, Adam Pally (Assassination of a High School President, Taking Woodstock, Iron Man 3) reprising his role as Wade Whipple, Shemar Moore (DC Animated Universe) as Randall, Lee Majdoub (The 100, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) reprising his role as Agent Stone, and Tom Butler (Sliders, Miracle, Snakes on a Plane) reprising his role as Commander Walters AKA The Olive Garden Guy. 

            Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 gives fans of the long-running video game franchise exactly what they want to see and surpasses its predecessor in just about every way. Keep in mind, I thought the first film was a decent starting point with this one being the main event. 

            The story is much closer in spirit to the plot of a Sonic game as it revolves around Sonic teaming up with other anthropomorphic creatures to find magic emeralds, explore new worlds, and fight Eggman and his army of robots, a “Sonic Adventure” if you will. It’s the real deal, not Sonic and Cyclops going on a buddy road trip, it was cute the first time, but it wasn’t Sonic. 

            The characters are also improved upon from the first movie, Sonic is still this lovable but reckless and attitude-filled hero in training who’s trying to learn how to be responsible with his powers, Jim Carrey is once again having a ball as Dr. Robotnik and manages to blur the line between being hilariously over-the-top and goofy to legitimately threatening. The new characters, Tails and Knuckles are also a lot of fun, while Tails doesn’t quite have as many funny lines as Sonic or Eggman, but as this innocent and wide-eyed sidekick who wants to be like Sonic, you really buy their brotherly bond and there are quite a few heartfelt moments between the two, while Knuckles in this movie is sort of like the Sonic equivalent to Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy where he’s this badass brute with a serious attitude problem and most of his comedy comes from how he takes things extremely literally, also Idris Elba’s voice fits him perfectly with a disappearing, reappearing British accent. 

            Granted, the human characters are downplayed more this time around, they all have their moments to shine. Marsden is once again decent as Tom the Donut Lord and the scenes with him and Sonic, as a parental figure to him are pretty effective, Tika Sumpter is given a little more to do via a sub-plot with her and Natasha Rothwell sneaking into a military base that captured Sonic, which you could argue goes on for too long and brings the movie to a halt, but the sequence is so entertaining and funny that I just didn’t care. 

            The action sequences are pretty much flawless in terms of a Sonic movie, it isn’t just Sonic bouncing on Robotnik’s ship a bunch of times. If anything, this has the Sonic equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic Universe climax involving Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the Death Egg Robot and like the final battle in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it made the little kid in me extremely happy, there were even moments during it where I got chills. 

            What more can I say? If you’re a Sonic fan, then do yourself a favor and see this movie, you won’t regret it. This film brought me back to my youth and I look forward to watching it again, all I got to say is bring on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 already.