A sequel to the 2020 introductory film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 2022 action/comedy children’s film, once again directed by Jeff Fowler and based on the Sega video game series of the same name. Sonic (Ben Schwartz) is living peacefully with Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie Wachowski (Tiki Sumpter) after defeating Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Soon, Robotnik returns with mega powerful Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) at his side, as they seek to discover the legendary Master Emerald. After appearing at the very end of the previous film, Miles “Tails” Prower the fox (Colleen O’Shaugnessey) arrives properly to warn Sonic of Knuckles’ arrival.
+ Jim Carrey is hilarious. I am not a fan of Jim Carrey in general, but his turn as Robotnik has now led to two great performances. He is once again that perfect balance of joking/threatening to keep you on edge through every scene. I absolutely love Ben Schwartz on Parks & Rec and he brings that same energy to Sonic once again, including one particular line he used in that series to great effect
+ Knucles (Elba) and Tails (O’Shaugnessey) are a welcome additions. I’d be more than okay if the inevitable next film only features Carrey (and his bumbling assistant, Agent Stone (Lee Madjoub)) as the only humans/non CGI characters
+ even at its most tense, the whole film is just some light-hearted fun. I never once believed that Sonic himself would be killed/banished/corrupted etc. or whatever situation he finds himself in, but not every movies needs those sort of stakes. That said, his friends and family are all on the table to be killed/banished/corrupted etc. as need be so the film is not devoid of any investment
– if Tails is just as fast as Sonic, and can fly, and Knuckles is just as fast as Sonic, and can hit like a truck, why is Sonic special? I am certain there is some convoluted lore answer from the games here, but I am asking solely in regards to these two movies
– this movie did not need to be so long. A lot of the non-Robotnik and non-Sonic related stuff could have been cut. There is an entire subplot about a wedding that does admittedly play into the film’s plot, but it felt like a lot of set up for a relatively small pay off.
> there is still room to grow, in certain aspects. Off the top of my head as a non-fan of the series, I know of two or three more Sonic characters that can and I expect will show up eventually
Should you see this film: This is not a long review, even for my standards, but it doesn’t have to be. This was a perfectly satisfactory if somewhat forgettable film, considering it came out in May-ish and I am just reviewing it now some two months later. If you liked the first one, this was better than that.
MoshFish Reviews 