While not as enjoyable as its predecessor, Sony’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 fulfills what audiences are looking for with this speedster-sequel. We follow our signature alien speedster as he meets two of the other famous faces in this well-known SEGA video game franchise.
The first is his friendly sidekick from the games, aptly named Tails (voiced by original voice actress Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and the second is a red-colored Hedgehog named Knuckles (Idris Elba).
To no surprise if you’ve witnessed the trailer, Knuckles is working with Jim Carrey’s Doctor Robotnik to find a hidden gem of ultimate power. The plot does the bare minimum to set up some big screen adventure-seeking, and everything is kept at a very low-stakes realm of entertainment, breezy and quippy dialogue.
Oftentimes, the Sonic sequel catches glimpses of the magic that made its predecessor so enjoyable. Many of those moments are guided by Carrey’s fascinating work onscreen. Another nice surprise is that Elba’s Knuckles character, who is very literal-minded like Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
The length of the movie is a bit padded at over two hours, which amounts to twenty additional minutes compared to the 2020 original film. The film’s attempts at heartfelt moments come off as strictly boilerplate and perfunctory.
The subplot about a destination wedding in Hawaii feels included just to give the humans something to do away from the action. If you were a fan of the first Sonic movie, it’s a safe bet you’ll enjoy this film on the big screen.
Letter Grade: C+
