You’re Two Slow! A Review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Ok I may not be a supporters of puns themselves BUT how can I resist such an easy title like that?!

Hey Everyone! I’m back with what I think may the first case of me reviewing a new-release movie when it came out and now I’m covering the sequel also as a new release!? …ok that was confusing but it doesn’t matter because Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is in theaters (still… I think… yeah this was meant to come out MUCH sooner) and there is NO WAY I am not talking about this movie! Per the usual, I ain’t gonna tell you what happens, you gotta do that part yourself what do you think the writer has to do ALL the work here?! Yeah… no thanks, here’s the IMDb link though: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12412888/

So yeah, holy actual crap Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is actually in theaters (wow, dating myself again… we love massive delays! My shock isn’t from this movie having had a troubled production history or anything like that far from it! As I mentioned earlier, I reviewed the first Sonic Movie not directly when it came out in theaters (fun fact, this blog didn’t exist then), but right as it came out on Blu-Ray a couple months later. Not only did the first movie turn out to be ‘decently-enjoyable’ an absolute shock given how the first trailers with the infamous design made it look Sonic Movie 1 (as I like to call it) ended up being like, one of the last blockbusters to come out before the world went to complete crap in March of 2020. Now, two years later and they somehow managed to efficiently crank out a sequel that came out faster (no pun intended, I swear ;)) than most of the movies delayed from 2020… I’m looking at you Top Gun: Maverick.

Oh, and did I mention how I am a MASSIVE Sonic fan?! So, as you can imagine, with all of that combined, **on top of everything leading up to the movie* giving me the impression that we would be delving more into Sonic lore here**, this movie somehow became one of my most anticipated movies of the year… and what is most surprising about all of this is how this movie delivered and then some! Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is by far an improvement from the first movie in my eyes and is shockingly a very good movie in its own right!

…WHAT!? Medic, give me 50 cc of something wholesome to recover from this mind-blowing info STAT!

Now with the random How to Train Your Dragon reference out of the way, let’s start talking about the movie itself and honestly, that’s pretty easy since this was a very competently made film! (I know that might not seem like an impressive feat, but I’m coming off of Morbius from last weekend so gimme a break) Jeff Fowler is returning to direct this time around and as before, you can tell that him and everyone else on the team had an absolute blast making this movie! Its important to have an energetic vision with a film like this and Fowler’s direction exudes that energy in just about every type of scene. Small scenes of a heart-to-heart or a big set piece with crazy action work in tandem with Fowler’s interesting blend of an adventure romp and screwball comedy with a sprinkling of family film from the predecessor.

As bizarre as it is that Fowler that bizarre meshing of genres work, those vibes are literally what I have wanted a Sonic story on the big screen to be. On a similar note (Holy transitions Batman! …god it’s been too long since I’ve used that line :)), the story itself is so much of what I would imagine a good Sonic story to be in any medium and oh yeah, it’s sold on its own too! All of the trailers keep giving me hints that the writers took inspiration from actual Sonic lore in the games (and other things) and surprisingly, most of it felt very natural. It felt like plot points or world-building moments were done to help emphasize the adventure (count how many times I say adventure in this review… go ahead, I’ll wait ;)) or the heart, rather than strictly trying to appease sweaty Sonic fans even though that certainly came as a nice touch!

Somehow, none of it felt cheap. If I was just a casual movie-goer, this movie’s story gives you a world that’s fun and interesting, while never losing track of the energy, snark, and earnestness of the characters. Did I say character?! Yes I did good job writer Alex (I might give writer Alex an “Alex snack” if he can actually finish this review… so basically a slim jim;)). Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked, but I guess that’s just the influence the Blue Blur has had on me. This flipping hedgehog has been of my second favorite character (underneath the webhead of course) for as long as I can remember and as the first movie started strong with, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 makes Sonic himself absolutely lovable! With the wits and cocky confidence that annoys his opponent, the kindness and dedication that he gives to friends and (get ready Vin) family, and a childish love of fun (MOOD), how couldn’t you love him?!

…ok besides this and PLENTY of other cursed Sonic material (for the love of Keanu please don’t look it up… it’s for your mental health protection), Sonic’s character is poring off his non-existent sleeve and at the core of it is Ben Schwartz. His delivery with every line feels right for the character and is just quality voice acting that can go really underappreciated at points he seriously should be billed first dammit. Ben Schwarz has by some miracle made Sonic the movie star I’ve always want him to be!

Thankfully, Sonic ain’t selfish as he shares the spotlight with his co-stars quite nicely. To start with the most important character, TAILS! It was a welcoming choice to bring her back from the games as the best sidekick (Fight me!) and she made Tails as endearing as he always is. Now unlike Sonic and Tails, Idris Elba as Knuckles don’t chuckle: he makes *you* chuckle (see what I did there Sonic fans?!… all two of you…hehe). Elba somehow made both the tough guy “I’m a badass who punches things” and the naivete of not knowing his left from right (canon, for the record) qualities of this echidna work well together in a performance that makes me excited to see the eventual spin-off series, while dreading the possibility of having to pay for Paramount +… college…

Um… back to the cast, Jim Carrey is returning as Eggman (I refuse to call him Robotnik 😉) and is having just as much, if not even more fun this time around! If you’re a fan of classic Jim Carrey zaniness, then get ready for a full-course meal with boatloads of the silliness that I’ve grown to love over the years the fact that he wasn’t my favorite part of the movie is honestly a testament to how well they nailed Sonic in this movie. As for the other human characters… they’re nice. I like James Marsden and Tika Sumptner, they’re still surprisingly sweet. Lee Majdoub gives Agent Stone a nice unrequited love arc in what is essentially the gay and male equivalent of Harley Quinn to his Eggman (and if you don’t know, now ya know).

Yeah, there are certainly other human characters here… alright, time to get into the negatives because unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is not perfect. Like, the fact that I’ve been giving it so much praise up until this point still blows my mind! Nevertheless, I had a weird time addressing the human characters because let’s face it, most of them are just kinda’ here and they take away time from the Sonic-centric storylines going on. I was always surprised with how much I liked the human characters in the first movie, but when you introduce new characters that help grow Sonic and the lore surrounding him more, the other stuff simply pales in comparison. Maybe I’m biased, but it’s easy to remove those nostalgia-tinted glasses when everything not focused on him, Tails, and Knuckles which is more than I bargained for is just filler in the grand scheme of things.

Outside of that, which is probably the biggest thing that keep this movie from reaching levels that would give a happiness-based heart attack, the other issues aren’t as glaring, but they’re still worth noting. While the effects are 85% great (particularly in some of the action scenes), the other 15% could have used some work. Namely, it was either moments where the CG characters interacting with real people looking off or just some moments that I think could have used some touching up in areas as simple as rendering. Thankfully, the ladder is something you have to be looking for and most families won’t notice it.

And last but… well the whole point of doing the negatives is talking about the leasts of the movie so there goes that cliché! 😂 Anyways, as someone who is usually a fan of Junkie XL, his score was merely fine here, but it rarely added much to the movie in moments where it could have. Like, I have no issues with a standard orchestral score, but when I can’t hum any of it after the fact which is especially disappointing given how much I LOVE the music from the games (the rock, chiptune, “Knuckles raps”, and so much more) I’d call that a sad mark against the movie.

Although, at the end of the day, this movie somehow did things ala Spider-Man: No Way Home (and if you know me, that’s special) as a lifelong Sonic fan that I never thought I would actually saw on the big screen… but they happened… and to hear applause at those moments on opening day is insane to me! Albeit, it’s nowhere near as crazy as the inherent fact that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a movie that legitimately worked in so many regards. It might not be an amazing movie technically, but saying Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was very good will never cease to amaze me!

Rating: 8/10, it gave me and all Sonic fans things I have wanted to see since I was a kid, and by some sheer miracle, I… LOVED IT!!!

PHEW, glad I can finally say that review is done! Not because the actual writing process far from it actually. It’s more that it took me much, much, much, MUCH longer to get this out than I had hoped it would. Let’s put it this way, I saw the movie and started writing this review on opening day. Then, everything changed when my anxiety and the end-of-semester crunch attacked. And I am unfortunately not the Avatar, so that slowed me down to getting this out a month-and-a-half later. Sometimes I can’t tell if it’s my love for the movie, my stubbornness, or both, but I did it… yay!?

Anywhoosers, thanks to everyone who read this all the way through! A special shoutout to the friends who made seeing this movie twice in theaters special (you know who you are👀)! I’ll definitely be sure to get some sort of review out for Sonic Movie 3 when that eventually drops and in the meantime, if people are still interested in seeing a spoilers discussion on this movie (even with it being so far out from its initial release), please reach out to me and let me know.

With all that said, what did everyone else think of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and to my Sonic fans out there, what do you want to see in the third one (and do you wanna see play *HIM*)?! Feel free to tell me all about it in either the comments below or on my social media, Twitter or whichever one of my Instagram accounts ;). And as always, you should all know who I am at this point…

I’m Alex, Your Friendly Neighborhood Film Nerd!