Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O' Shaughnessey, Shemar Moore, Adam Pally, Lee Majdoub

Director: Jeff Fowler

Sonic (Schwartz) has been passing his time on Earth trying to stop crime as "Blue Justice". Unfortunately Tom (Marsden) finds out and makes Sonic promise he will stop being so reckless and behave himself. When Tom and Maddie (Sumpter) go out of town for a wedding, Sonic finds himself unable to keep that promise as Dr. Robotnik (Carrey) returns after escaping the Mushroom Planet with the help of Knuckles (Elba). Knuckles has a personal vendetta against Sonic, as he believes that Sonic knows the location of the Master Emerald. Sonic finds himself on the run and with the help of Tails (O' Shaughnessey) tries to track down the Master Emerald before Robotnik and Knuckles can.

While there are plenty of video game adaptations out there, they tend to vary in quality. In fact, I think I can count the number of good video game movies on one hand. However, much like the first film, I was impressed. When Sonic the Hedgehog came out in 2020, I was surprised how much fun it was. Helped by a truly insane performance by Jim Carrey, audiences were treated to a movie that shouldn’t have worked as well as it did. A sequel was put into production very quickly and only two years later we have a follow up.

There are lots of fun action sequences in the movie, from the opening introduction of "Blue Justice" to the standout scene towards the end in the temple where the Master Emerald is being kept. Even the battle between the iconic Giant Eggman provides some solid entertainment and is a good instance of fan service that works.

Carrey once again feels like he's on a completely different planet than everyone else and this works in the film’s favor. Robotnik is a unique villain and Carrey leans into the wild aspects of the character. The heart of the film however is Sonic and Ben Schwartz is the perfect voice for the character. He not only gives Sonic a believable character arc but gives Sonic such an infectious personality that it’s hard not to love the little blue guy. Bringing back Colleen O’Shaughnessey as the voice of Tails (who has voiced the character in the video games) is also the right kind of fan service. Tails and Sonic have such a fun relationship and Sonic's reactions to Tails’ earnestness is sold by the two voice actors.

Where the movie fell flat for me was when we cut away from Sonic’s adventures to catch up with Tom and Maddie at the wedding. A lot of the humor here felt forced and features a twist that seemed unnecessary and only there to connect the plot.

The creative team behind these movies seem to have really figured out what works when it comes to bringing video game movies to the big screen. There was a really fun tease of what’s to come in the world of Sonic and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Grade: B