After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is ready for more freedom, and Tom and Maddie agree to leave him home while they go on vacation. But, no sooner are they gone, when Dr. Robotnik comes back, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to both build and destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands. Being directed by Jeff Fowler, and starring Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Ben Schwartz.
It feels like the curse of video adaptations is over because Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is a blast and so much more! Paramount accomplished this with the prequel back in 2019, and they’ve done it again here with the sequel in 2022. It’s such a breath of fresh air to be a fan of a popular video game as a child and to see that same magic properly appear onscreen decades later. Everyone involved should be proud of themselves and deserves all of the positive recognition that is sure to come their way.
To be more specific we must start with Jim Carrey as the evil Dr. Robotnik. It’s not too often to see an actor having so much fun fulfilling their role. This is some of the best casting ever whether the role was fiction or based on a true story. That may be saying a lot but it’s well deserved. Given the character of Robotnik on paper, it’s completely unrealistic, but director Jeff Fowler is able to craft it in a way to make it feel real with expert precision with a stretch of the imagination and a few lines of dialogue. He’s a rich genius inventor with tons of resources. After that’s easily established it makes all of the Robotnik’s technology appear as it really could take place in the real world. The cast is great across the board and quite hilarious at times, but Carrey steals the show without a doubt.
In addition to this, the elements from the video game run rampant from beginning to end with flying colors. Taking place on earth, any human would react in fright running into a walking talking blue hedgehog. These interactions create hilarious comedic moments as you’re saying to yourself you’d react the same given the situation. That was prominent in the first film and still continues in this sequel. The studio was also still able to pluck areas and territories right out of the game bringing it all to life as if I was playing the game as a kid again. To say this film is fun is an understatement. I felt like I was on an adventure with Sonic and his team to save the world and it felt great.
We’re introduced to two new characters in this film, Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba). They were both fun characters to get to know even though it was short-lived. What made Tails work was his exposition to explain the plot whether you’re a newcomer to the franchise or just to flesh out the story. It was a great combination of show and tell to make sure everyone was able to comprehend the plot. All of the characters were easy to fall in love with. Whether it was just their presence on screen, their dialogue, or their silly, goofy, and corny shenanigans. If you don’t like laughing then don’t see this film.
The film also is a few minutes over two hours, and that runtime is a tad bit long. It wasn’t necessary for the film. On the negative side, the film did spend a little too much time on the human characters instead of giving more screen time to the new additions of Tails and Knuckles. The humans were a fun part of the film, but given my particular taste, I would’ve rather had more Tails and Knuckles.
Even the action was right out of the game. From the colors to having our three heroes communicate with each other while they’re in the middle of battle was a highlight. The visual effects and strategy used to save the day were brilliant.
After the film ended I felt satisfied, but still couldn’t wait for more. I found myself smiling from ear to ear while simultaneously hearing my surrounding audience members scream out in joy. It felt like I was at a concert and nothing could go wrong. We just witnessed a great movie that’s been beloved for years. This is easily one of the best adaptations in Hollywood, and if other studios can follow suit it will be another great achievement in the world of film and television.
Video Review:
Official Trailer:
Final Trailer:
Image via Paramount Pictures
