Sonic the Hedgehog 2

The exciting yet peaceful life of Sonic is brought to a screeching halt when Doctor Robotnik returns from his deep space exile, and this time he has a new ally: Knuckles the Echidna.  When Sonic discovers their target is a powerful gem hidden on Earth, the Hedgehog races into danger.  But he wont be facing Robotnik and Knuckles alone as he’s joined by the brilliant but unsure Miles “Tails” Prowers.  The fate of Earth rests in the hands of Sonics speed…and possibly that of the entire universe.

For a movie everyone thought was doom to fail, especially with Sonic’s horrific original design (seriously who the hell thought that was going to work?), Sonic the Hedgehog defied all odds to become one of the highest grossing and highly praised movies based on a video game.  It featured a strong sense of fun and love for the source material and had extra benefits from bringing in Jim Carry as Doctor Robotnik.  A sequel was a no brainer but we’ve been here before with Video Game movies.  Even if the first film does things right, or at least passably, the sequel is bound to be terrible.  One need look no further than Resident Evil: Apocalypse or, worse, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.  Thankfully, Sonic 2 is neither of those films, not even close.  It has its problems and we’ll talk about them.  But compared to what Sonic 2 does right, you can forgive a few misguided plot diversions.
 
I’m just going to get it out of the way, those “misguided plot diversions” have 100% to do with the returning human cast from the first film.  James Marsden and Tika Sumpter’s Tom and Maddie both get important but slightly reduced roles as Sonic’s adoptive parents (but in a good way, I’ll talk about that).  No most of the negativity revolves around a subplot with Maddie’s sister, Rachel, getting married in Hawaii.  This is fine if it’s a slight distraction but the movie stops at one point to handle this plot point and it goes on WAY longer than needed.  It’s almost as if the adult who was forced to bring their kid to a movie they didn’t want to see changed the channel mid movie because reasons.  Come on guys, have we learned nothing from Transformers?  We don’t really care about forced human subplots unless they involve or tie into the stories of the main characters, in this case Sonic.  Plus poor Shemar Moore, come on man, you deserve a better part and its kind of criminal he doesn’t get to hang with Sonic at all.
 
Ok, that’s done, onto the good stuff which is kind of everything else.  Like I said, even though Tom and Maddie’s roles are reduced in the sequel, the trade off comes from Sonic getting a ton of screentime with his fellow franchise favorites.  Tails is adorable and you wanna give him a hug like all the time.  Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who has voiced Tails in several Sonic Video Games over the years, brings a welcome familiarity and likeability to the character.  Best yet, the movie wastes no time with Sonic embracing his new bestie and it’s a testament to seeing the two characters on box art and in video games together since 1992 that everything with Sonic and Tails is practically flawless.  Idris Elba, however, steals the show, even from Jim Carrey, as Knuckles.  He brings a lot of his usual gravitas but is equally a lot of laughs as the Echidna who takes things wayyyyy too seriously (think Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy and you’re on the right track).  Like with Tails, Sonic’s chemistry and rivalry with Knuckles is solid.  The two have a lot in common and you want to see them work together as allies…but it’s also way too much fun to see them go 1v1 in epic Sonic vs Knuckles fashion.  Jim Carrey’s Doctor Robotnik is as scenery chewing as ever and I hope that Jim Carrey isn’t serious about retiring from acting after this movie.  The Sonic films definitely benefit from his comedic energy and I don’t think there’s anyone else who can make Robotnik as fun as he has. 
 
Sonic 2 also steps up the action scenes which were already impressive in the first film.  The Snow Mountain chase is certainly a highlight, with Sonic embracing his inner Sega Dreamcast Sonic Adventure for a cool sequence (no pun intended).  We also get to see plenty of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles distinctive styles on display from Sonic’s improved speed handling to Tails’ iconic helicopter maneuvers with his tails and Knuckles’ raw power.  It’s clear that the people working on this film have fond memories of classic Sonic with all the easter eggs and imagery in the film too.  From Tails holding Sonic as he flies to Sonic standing defiantly and awesome on top of Tails plane and Knuckles climbing up a mountain with his fists, if you’ve played your fair share of Sonic from the original Sega Genesis era, you’re bound to see a child hood moment or three pop up here and there.  I just wish that composer Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) would use more classic Sonic tunes from the first few games in his score.  They used a kick ass orchestrated version of the Emerald Hill Theme from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 video game in the trailers.  Use it in the movie along with some other familiar sounds.
 
Is Sonic the Hedgehog 2 better than its predecessor?  You know, in spite of my gripes with the Wedding Subplot that feels like some kind of random and generic rom com in the middle of the film, yeah, I think it is better.  Sonic bounces well off of Tails and Knuckles and everytime he’s on screen, either interacting with the humans or running right into danger, I was never bored.  Tails and Knuckles offer a lot to the franchise and Robotnik is still as zany and iconic as ever (I want an extended solo film with Robotnik and Knuckles too).  This is a rare occasion where the sequel to a successful live action video game adaptation doesn’t suck.  In fact, if they can just cut out a lot of the annoying human distractions (that aren’t vital to the plot), we might just have the best live action video game franchise on our hands (I don’t care if Resident Evil made money, most of those movies were terrible and I’m not changing my mind).  It’s the win Sonic himself deserves since a lot of his modern day game adventures haven’t been great.  Sonic 2 is a film made by old school Sonic fans that feels accessible to every Sonic fan in existence.  Bring on Sonic the Hedgehog 3…oh yeah, it’s gonna happen.
 
8.5/10