The Sonic the Hedgehog movies know for sure what kind of movies they are and what direction this series should take. It does its best to please the rabid fans of the video games. For those who saw the first one with little to no expectations and liked it, this film provides more of the same.
The little blue speedster returns (voiced once again by Ben Schwartz) and now he’s been adopted by his friend Tom (James Marsden). Sonic spends most of his time using his unique abilities to fight crime as a vigilante with the moniker Blue Justice.
Tom says he appreciates Sonic for using his powers to stop bad guys, but despite his efforts, the public is still a little wary of him. Tom gives him Spider-Man-like advice and tells him to be patient and when the time is right, his powers will be needed. I give the movie credit for slowing down for some good scenes of character development.
In the meantime, Sonic’s old foe, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) is back having escaped the Mushroom Planet and wants his revenge. He partners up with a new creature named Knuckles (Idris Elba) who also wants revenge after Sonic’s family supposedly wiped out his kind.
However, Sonic is not alone in this battle as he has help in the form of Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) – a fox with two tails – and together he and Sonic partner up to stop the threat. There’s also nice chemistry between these two.
The rest of the movie centers on a subplot that involves Robotnik trying to find an object known as the Master Emerald which will give them all the power in the universe. It basically serves as this movie’s MacGuffin.
Like the first movie, this sequel is heavy on special effects that do occasionally get carried away, especially in the climax which runs far too long. Then again, this is a movie based on a video game, so why should I expect anything different?
What sets the Sonic series apart from most video game adaptations is its willingness to at least tell a story in between instead of hammering the audience with mindless action in order to compensate and masquerade for the fact that the filmmakers had no plot at all.
At times, the movie does drag with its action and every once in a while, the humor does fall a little flat, but it redeems itself with some good performances from its cast. At age 60, Carrey proves he’s still a human special effect. It was certainly good to see him return to his comic roots in these movies. If his supposed upcoming retirement is true, at least he goes out giving audiences what they want and expect from him.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 isn’t a great movie, but I don’t think that’s its intention. If anything, it just wants to be a colorful, silly romp for two hours, and on that level, it mostly succeeds…and it’s fun! Now what we need for Sonic 3 is a video game screenwriter.
Grade: B
(Rated PG for action, some violence, rude humor, and mild language.)
