DIRECTOR: Jeff Fowler
PRODUCERS: Neal H. Moritz & Toby Ascher & Toru Nakahara & Hitoshi Okuno
WRITERS: Pat Casey & Josh Miller (story/screenplay) & John Whittington (screenplay by)
PERFORMERS: James Marsden Tika Sumpter Natasha Rothwell Shemar Moore Adam Pally
Lee Madjoub and Jim Carrey (voices) Ben Schwartz with Idris Elba Colleen O'Shaughnessy
There was a time when Sonic the Hedgehog was the hottest thing around, especially in the video game market. 2020 was when Sonic first raced into theaters, like every other fan, was super excited to see it. Then the COVID crisis happened, theaters were shut down and that was the last film I saw in theaters for the next several months until Tenet came out months later. The recent flow of live action video game adaptations was not flowing well with me, and Detective Pikachu was no exception. But when Sonic came around, that's when things changed.
This follow-up abandons the traditional sequel formula that causes the film to fall flat on it's face. Everything about this film was nothing but enjoyable to watch and the pacing of the story and the character arcs was more put into thought and well constructed this time. Sonic 2 introduces two new characters: the first one is Tails (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessy). Despite an actress voicing a male character, he wasn't as annoying or pestering as all sidekicks are presumed to be. Tails was just one of those guys you could count on and depend upon whenever the occasion called for it. He's no Egon Spengler, but one heck of a supporting fox who's just there to tend to your needs and will give his life if he has to (JOHN 15:13 NIV).
Then there's fan-favorite Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba, there could not have been a better picture of him than the way he looks in this film! This may be about Sonic's emergence from a child to a man (even though he's a hedgehog who doesn't age), Knuckles is the one who goes through the most radical change. He's the new guy (not kid) who doesn't have any knowledge of Earth and just there to do one thing. But he learns what true friendship is ends up making some of them. Once again, Jim Carrey steals the show as Dr. Robotnik. Even at his present age here, he proves that you can be a baddie and make it look fun. He's so over the top, not too wacky and certainly not boring. Having played people who either look green or dress in green, Carrey adds another green portrayal here and you're immediately taken back to those guys there when his character's dark colors are shown.
Then there's the human side of the story, the humans themselves. Even though the humans may cause the film to be a bit cheesy on the side, it wouldn't be wise to sweep them under the rug either. You have a Blue Hedgehog, a two-tailed fox and an echidna with a different agenda. But then there's also a human couple who are like parents to our hero and everyone needs that. Their story however, feels far fetched sometimes, the wedding part of the film also kind of takes away the thrill of it especially with the undercover agent on the scene. I really saw no need for that aspect to be included in the film, but they got to have something right? Plus their involvement is the build-up to the endgame.
The first film was quite enjoyable for what it was but this one knocks it right out of the park. Once the film was over it felt like coming right out of a real live video game. The nostalgic aspect was right there, you thought you were living a game and seeing these anthropomorphic characters on screen looked so realistic, it just didn't make any sense. Just absolutely awesome and especially Knuckles who you just couldn't take your eyes off of every time he was on screen. Without question, this film nailed it's targets right on the head. Even with a bit of 'Great power, great responsibility' echo added, the film makes up for what the first film was missing. All in all, worth a look and time and the effort behind it. Who knows what about to go down next? Given the post-credits scene we got. And if this is Carrey's last outing before he retires (since he says he's ready to do that). I at least want to see him return for the third entry coming soon before he does.
Highly Recommended!!!
MY RATING: 5 out of 5