Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

 

6/10

Starring

James Marsden

Ben Schwartz (voice)

Tika Sumpter

Colleen O'Shaughnessey (voice)

Idris Elba (voice)

Jim Carrey

 

 

Directed by Jeff Fowler

 

For someone like me, born in the 80s and who grew up playing the SEGA Sonic games, the joy of finally seeing aspects of the games and character depictions from the old animations brought to life in this film was beautiful. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has the same magic as the first movie, Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). The animation of the characters is wonderful, with the three—Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles—looking just like they do in the games.

The addition of Knuckles brought another layer of comedy, which you wouldn’t typically associate with the character. In the movie, Knuckles is portrayed as the "dumb muscle" of the group, and it worked well. The film also includes some fine gameplay-inspired shots: Tails’ red plane with Sonic riding on it, Sonic snowboarding, and Dr. Robotnik finally looking more like his game counterpart, complete with his iconic red lab coat and exaggerated mustache.

Knuckles’ lack of cultural understanding and all his macho talk made for some genuinely funny moments. As expected, Jim Carrey outdid himself with his portrayal of Dr. Robotnik, and the rest of the supporting cast did a great job by simply staying out of the way of the main event.

This is the second live-action adaptation of the beloved SEGA game from the 90s. Since the first film was a huge success, it only made sense to follow up with a sequel.

Miles "Tails" Prower's addition to the movie felt almost identical to his backstory in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game. Tails admires Sonic and seeks him out, and Sonic quickly adopts him as his sidekick. The movie starts with Knuckles and Robotnik teaming up to go after Sonic and find the Master Emerald. Sonic and Tails must stop the duo from obtaining the Emerald, as Robotnik plans to use its power to reshape the world however he pleases.

As you’d expect—just like in the game—Knuckles eventually switches sides and teams up with Sonic and Tails to stop Robotnik.

While I enjoyed the movie overall, I felt there was too much sentimental filler. It seemed like the movie had an overly long runtime and padded it with unnecessary "mushy" moments. If you enjoyed the first film, you’ll find plenty of reasons to enjoy this one as well—once you get through what feels like a quarter of the movie wasted on setting up the four main characters’ meeting. Sonic’s lack of maturity was sometimes annoying, but it’s clear it was intentionally included as part of his character arc.

Contains Spoilers

The movie’s post-credit scene teases plans for a third installment, introducing another beloved character from the games: Shadow the Hedgehog.