SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2: Speeding Into A Standard Sequel

The return of the blue alien hedgehog to the big screen is a mildly better experience. Some of the issues from the first film have been improved upon, such as the lukewarm buddy road-trip dynamic replaced with a standard globetrotting adventure. The references are updated a little, citing pop culture that is six years old instead of decade-old gags about hipsters. Even the product placement is toned down a little, where characters don’t have to say Oreo by name when it appears on the screen.

Yet these improvements only made me appreciate the film as a more passive family entertainment instead of an empty commercial product. Full disclosure, I grew up in the era where Sonic was my favorite game and the Sega Genesis was my console of choice. I dare say that had this film come out when I was at that age of peak Sonic fandom, I would be just as awe-struck as the kids in that theater. That being said, I probably would’ve grown up to look back on the film as being okay.

Grow Up, Sonic

I’m sure parents will appreciate that the central theme of the picture is Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) learning to take responsibility for others and his surroundings. All that destruction he caused in the previous film is becoming unacceptable to Sonic’s human roommate of Tom (James Marsden). He quite literally tells the c*cky kid he’s got some growing up to do.

Tom gives Sonic the chance to prove himself by watching over the house while Tom and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter) venture off to a family wedding in Hawaii. Of course, Sonic screws this up a bit by going all Risky Business on the house. He needs something bigger.

Finding Treasure

Sonic gets a chance to show off how he’s grown with the bog-standard treasure hunting adventure. He learns that he was sent to Earth for more than just sanctuary, as it turns out Earth houses a Chaos Emerald. There’s some lore to this shiny object but all you need to know is it makes you more powerful and turns your eyeballs green.

Sonic is told this information by the chipper alien fox visitor of Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey). Although this character is posed as the smarts of the operation, he is also the least interesting character, acting more like a cute mascot than anything else. He’s also posed as someone for Sonic to take care of. Tails is a big fan of Sonic and that means the blue space creature needs to set a good example. Or good enough.

Chasing after Emerald is the returning villain of Doctor Robotnik, once again played by a scenery-chewing Jim Carrey. His energy has not diminished but it certainly hasn’t grown as much as the character’s comically large mustache. One can’t help but wonder if some of his better improvs ended up on the cutting room floor.

A New Challenger

The newest villain on the block is Knuckles, a red echidna voiced by Idris Elba. He’s easily the funniest character for being the only one of three CGI alien characters who feel like he doesn’t understand Earth culture. While both Sonic and Tails were quick adapters, Knuckles struggles to understand this concept of ice cream.

This leads to a lot of straight-man comedy with the character, where Elba ends up being the funniest by misinterpreting everything. Be it Earth technology or moral motivations, he’s a lot of fun to watch in his battles with Sonic. It should come as no surprise that his honor-bound nature turns him into more of an ambiguous character.

Fast Food Adventure

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 employs a lot of familiar adventure tropes and does little to shake them up. Sonic’s quest for the almighty emerald of generic ultimate power leads to some familiar adventure spots. A temple in Siberia houses a compass for the Emerald and crumbles in a heap of stone rubble. A stop at a tavern leads to a dance-off with some unsavory patrons. The final quest of going through a maze leads to all the stock traps of rolling boulders and swinging pendulums.

I kept waiting for one of the many snarky and witty characters to provide some funny commentary on this. This does not happen. The film really wants you to be excited about these dirt-old adventure aspects and dare not poke fun at them. Even the pop culture commentary feels lukewarm, with Sonic making passive references to Marvel movies and Dwayne Johnson.

The Human Asides

Now that I think about it, I take back my statement about Knuckles being the funniest character. Natasha Rothwell as Rachel, the sister of Maddie, absolutely dominates this movie. She nearly takes control of the entire second act as the contrary voice and refuses to be held down as forgettable. Her scenes of taking action have the most energy, most hilarity, and more absurd displays. I enjoyed every moment of her on-screen.

But my enjoyment of this scene was entirely on Rothwell‘s performance being so much outside the core adventure. Her scenes are mostly Sonic-free. And when the film gets back to the Emerald adventure, the picture settles back into being a fairly by-the-numbers third act, complete with a grand showdown between Sonic and Robotnik is big, new giant robot.

All of the other human characters exist mostly as sidelined figures with passive jokes in the story. There’s a key scene that showcases this tiring line when Sonic and Tails discuss Knuckles and emeralds while an onlooking law officer makes some dull dad jokes about the name Knuckles. His joke isn’t funny but the seeking of the Chaos Emerald search our CGI characters are talking about isn’t all that intriguing either.

Fine For Kids

All that being said, Sonic 2 has a better dynamic for the younger crowd even if it did little for this older soul. The product placement is toned down enough that most kids may tune it out. The general message of responsibility and working together is a simplistic but still admirable theme. The references to other films may hopefully get kids interested enough to watch The Day The Earth Stood Still or Indiana Jones in the future, even if their first experience of these pictures is that they’re just like the Sonic movie.

For the kids, a bit too young for most Marvel movies, something like Sonic 2 is a decent starter film. It’s honest enough that kids won’t feel talked down to and most of the humor won’t zoom over their heads. I can’t speak for the parents so much but, as a parent myself, I sat there with a half-smile throughout, taking small glee in noticing the reference to Doctor Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine.

Conclusion: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

For setting low goals, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 mostly delivers what it promises for the fans and families.  You’ll still end up sitting through some bland bits, as Robotnik attempts to show how cool he is by doing the Fortnite floss and Sonic dancing to Uptown Funk. For the most part, however, the film is just okay and clearly, the kids really enjoyed this film with how uproarious they became with every notable video game reference. I can’t deny that level of excitement generated in the kid crowd and can only hope it’ll open the door to far better films in the future.

Did you see Sonic the Hedgehog 2? Was it better or worse than the previous film? Let us know in the comments below.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in theaters on April 8, 2022!