Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has the difficult job of following a surprisingly entertaining first movie without simply repeating it. Fortunately, the sequel understands what worked the first time and doubles down on it. The result is a bigger, louder, more chaotic adventure that embraces the mythology of the video games while retaining the charm that made Sonic the Hedgehog such an unexpected pleasure.
Buy Sonic the Hedgehog 2Director Jeff Fowler returns, with Ben Schwartz again providing the voice of Sonic, who is now living happily with Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife, Maddie (Tika Sumpter). Sonic is eager to prove that he can be a hero, but his enthusiasm tends to exceed his judgment. That becomes a problem when the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) returns from his exile and teams up with Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Idris Elba) to find the Master Emerald.
Fortunately, Sonic gets some help of his own. Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey), the two-tailed fox familiar to anyone who has played the games, arrives on Earth and quickly becomes Sonic’s partner. Their friendship gives the movie an appealing emotional center, while Knuckles provides a wonderful comic contrast. The supposedly fearsome warrior is intensely serious about everything, which makes his inability to understand ordinary human behavior increasingly funny.
Jim Carrey remains the secret weapon. His Robotnik was already the most entertaining element of the first movie, and the sequel gives Carrey considerably more freedom to indulge himself. Robotnik is even more flamboyant, vain, and ridiculous, and Carrey attacks every scene with the manic physical energy that made his comedies of the 1990s so memorable. His performance occasionally threatens to overwhelm the movie, but Sonic the Hedgehog 2 understands that this is precisely why audiences showed up.
The expanded cast of characters also allows the movie to feel more like the games without becoming a collection of disconnected references. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles each have distinct personalities, and their eventual alliance gives the climactic action genuine momentum. The visual effects are impressive, the action sequences are energetic, and the movie moves quickly enough that its two-hour running time rarely becomes a burden.
The weakest material involves Tom and Maddie’s trip to Hawaii, where a wedding subplot provides an extended diversion from Sonic’s adventure. The sequence has some amusing moments, but it repeatedly pulls the movie away from its more interesting characters. The human supporting cast was useful in establishing the first film’s emotional foundation, but by the sequel, Sonic has enough personality and relationships of his own to carry the story.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 isn’t trying to be sophisticated. It is a colorful, energetic family adventure filled with video-game references, cartoonish villains, and enormous explosions. The filmmakers clearly want audiences to have fun, and that enthusiasm is difficult to resist.
The first Sonic the Hedgehog was a pleasant surprise. The sequel is less surprising but arguably more confident, giving Sonic a larger world to inhabit and Jim Carrey an even bigger playground. It may not reinvent the video-game movie, but it doesn’t need to. Sometimes a blue hedgehog, a two-tailed fox, a red echidna, and Jim Carrey are all the formula required.
