When the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie came out, I wasn’t really feeling it and I didn’t actually like it much at all. But that’s all in the past. Now Here is my Sonic the Hedgehog 2 review. Should this second Sonic movie be on your watchlist?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Movie Review
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 2022 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game franchise published by Sega. It is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020).
When the manic Dr. Robotnik returns to Earth with a new ally, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic, and his new friend Tails are all that stand in their way.
This stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik, James Marsden as Tom, and my favorite Idris Elba as a new addition Knuckles.
Now, at the end of the first Sonic, we learned that Dr. Robotnik was marooned on this mushroom planet, and that’s where we pick up his story.
He figures out a way to send this pulse out into space. And then somebody answers that call in the form of a red Hedgehog looking creature with massive spiky hands and a deep British accent.
Knuckles is on a search for hidden power and is on sort of a revenge quest, and Dr. Robotnik is most certainly on a revenge quest, but also just wants to take over the universe in the process.
The family story that was established in the first movie carries over here with Sonic trying to find his place in the world with guidance from his adoptive human parents, played by James Marsden and Tika Sumpter. They’re cute for what they add to the story, but their parts are fairly minor in the overall scheme.
At the end of the first movie, we were also teased with an image of a dual-tailed Fox and Tales is a great addition to the cast.
Now this story is really about a treasure Hunt where all parties are racing to get to the prize first, and of course along the way there will be all sorts of mishaps and shenanigans.
I was surprised by the humor in this. There are some jokes that are clearly designed for adults. They’re subtle but pretty funny, and the majority of kids and especially the younger ones, they’re not even going to bat an eye on them.
I appreciated that this was trying to give some enjoyment to the parents and those joints aren’t the only ones that will make adults laugh. There are some sight gags and also just some antics by a couple of characters that absolutely kill it.
So the animation is really great for the majority of this. And there are a few times where the CGI goes a bit wonky, but it’s not something that’s overwhelmingly blatant.
Sonic continues to look like we expect, and both in Tails and Knuckles look awesome as well, retaining the same type of contours and texturing that Sonic has.
There are also great sound effects that come from the games that are placed about as sort of Easter eggs within the film. And the soundtrack is one that I really enjoyed, taking a ton of songs from the late 80s and early 90s, so those of us in Gen X we can rock out.
I really enjoyed some of the globe-hopping that occurs as part of the treasure Hunt. At one point Sonic travels to this snowy place and there is a very unexpected sequence that happened to just put a smile on my face and then made me laugh a bit because it was so ridiculous and the scene subverted my expectations, which I thought was outstanding.
Jim Carrey is absolutely stellar in this. He’s just about as over the top as he can get, especially in a PG setting, and he plays the character right to the limits, his signature stretchy face, contorts and all sorts of expressions.
And while so much of his delivery is cheesy and overdone, it’s exactly what the role calls for, and anything less I think would be a disappointment.
Idris Elba as Knuckles is so good and he’s dryly funny. I think Knuckles shares some similarities with Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy.Â
There are moments where he’s entirely too literal and that becomes really funny. And then, as crazy as it sounds, Elba’s natural voice fits perfectly with Knuckles’s aesthetics. The look matches the voice, even though Elba is much taller and certainly much Laris Harry and Red.
The biggest negative I think this movie has is its runtime, It’s 2 hours and two minutes. I felt a bunch of that time, which means that all of the little ones are certainly going to be squirming in their seats as this goes along.
And one sequence is pretty much unnecessary, but it does provide characters to be in a certain spot, which then adds convenience to future scenes.
There’s a sequence in Hawaii and from an adult perspective, I absolutely loved it. Natasha Rothwell who plays Tika Sumpter’s sister in this and you’re going to recognize her from The White Lotus. She is a riot.
She gets a scene where she gets to go all out and she eats it up. But as much as I enjoyed her and what she brought, the whole sequence is probably close to 15 or maybe 20 minutes and could have just been removed entirely for time and efficiency.
There’s also a point that feels like the film is ending and then it begins again to have a second ending and that helped to contribute to the longer feeling also.
But throughout the movie there are portions that really become unnecessary because they’re just not overly funny and they certainly don’t add anything to the narrative that is so needed that cutting it would be a detriment.
As an example, there are a couple of scenes with Dr. Robotnik’s Assistant and then the town deputy. Those sequences are ultimately more cringey than they are good.
I like the overall themes of family, friendship, loyalty, and trust that are within this that we see addressed in several ways. They’re not preachy, but they are present and effectively addressed.
A couple of announcements were made before this movie came out, one being that Jim Carrey is retiring from acting, so I’m not certain that we’re going to see any more of him in this role or any role for that matter. But he did leave a caveat in there, so I guess it is kind of a possibility.
The other bit of news is that a Knuckles spin-off is in the works with Idris Elba Voicing Knuckles. So if you see this and you become a fan, you want to be on the lookout for that in the future.
So overall, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 put a smile on my face and make me chuckle more than a handful of times. The animation is wonderful to look at and the messages of family and friendship are strong and they’re purposefully addressed.
The acting is very enjoyable with Jim Carrey stealing so many of his scenes by going all out with his frenzied character. Idris Elba also helps to bring a lot of dry humor that will both connect with adults and kids.
And as fun as this story is and as engaging as the treasure Hunt becomes, the overall runtime is the biggest enemy of the movie. I think it’s going to be hard to keep the Littles in their seats without trying to run about despite there being a ton of visual fun on the screen.
There’s no sex nudity or profanity but there is some violence.
So I am going to give Sonic the Hedgehog Two 3.5/5.
So have you been looking forward to this? Did you enjoy the first movie? Let me know in the comments below what other characters that you would like to see in the upcoming third Sonic movie.
Guys thank you so much as always for reading the review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. See you next time.
