Jim Carrey after the Will Smith slap – “I was sickened, I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless, on mass. And it just, it really felt like, this is a really clear indication that, eh, we’re not the cool club anymore”. Well, I doubt you’ll ever be out of the cool club, Jim, not in my book. And if this is to be your last movie role because you are ‘enough’, then who am I to miss it.
Sonic is back, and he still sounds like Spider-Ham to me 😄 This time, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) has escaped the mushroom planet and brought back with him Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba); a last surviving member of the echidna tribe, out for revenge against Sonic the Hedgehog, as everything went to hell after he left the homelands. The Flying Squirrel Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessy) has also made it to Earth, to warn Sonic about his enemies and the impending danger. Sonic now lives with Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie Wachowski (Tika Sumpter), and while they’re away for Maddie’s sister’s wedding, Sonic is enjoying the house to himself, before he is thrust into the action and must prove himself a responsible hero.
I might’ve taken my grumpy pills when I viewed Sonic the Hedgehog back in 2020, because it’s not that bad. I stand by everything I said, as I reread my review, but considering it’s supposed to be a fun movie for children, I suppose the smaller hang-ups I had are insignificant – I definitely robbed it of half a star. But with that said, far be it for me to be watching Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and experiencing the same issues of waning interest again 🤯 I just don’t know who was asking for a Sonic and Tails dance-off to Bruno Mars in Siberia, but, well kids, you got it! But I’ll try to be more positive this time around, so I won’t even mention how the power rings are limited, and this movie throws them around willy-nilly, so Tom and Maddie can skip the airport to Hawaii. And I also won’t mention how Stone (Lee Majdoub) opened his ‘Mean Bean’ café in the same town that Deputy Wade Whippie (Adam Pally) patrols on his police scooter – of all the coffee shops, in all the world, that seems… improbable?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is just not for me. It wasn’t made for me – I’m not a child and I’m not a classic gamer – so I don’t have to be thrilled either way that it exists. It does include the best way to ruin a wedding I’ve ever seen though, entailing a portal of avalanching snow, and an FBI raid in the same minute – when undercover groom Randall Handel (Shemar Moore) pulled out his badge, I got Criminal Minds vibes, and hot-diggity-dog, that was good enough for me. With a bigger runtime, Dr. Robotnik has less to do ironically, but when he does get his hands on the coveted Master Emerald, the final act presents a pretty excitable challenge; a giant robot Robotnik, powered by Robotnik’s electric robotic thoughts… It’s just a pity that the last act takes an hour and a half to kick in. What’s more funny is that the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie has the most powerful opening act, and this one has the best finale, so at least these Sonic movies bookend themselves with some fun for me 😇 As the action-packed dangers surround Tom, Maddie, and Sonic, they talk about family, and it reminded me of the infamously shoddy scenes in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which is never a good sign. But the real finale has Sonic playing baseball with his new buddies, and his surrogate mother Maddie remarking on how great it is that Sonic now has friends, which is lifted straight from Macauley Culkin’s Richie Rich for mine, and I don’t mind pointing that out. Actually, the baseball field, where Sonic caused a power surge out of anger and loneliness in the first movie, and now where he plays cheerfully among his peers; that’s the true sweet bookend to this duology ❤
The movie makes a big deal out of framing Sonic as a kid, but I don’t think that’s where the first movie was going – Sonic had been on Earth for 10 years, and I thought his characterization was just as an uber-positive energetic motormouth. Oh well. Truthfully, Knuckles didn’t really work for me either, as he’s going for the super serious warrior type like Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, but it feels derivative. But I do like Stone – I like Stone a lot. He’s a worthy number 2, just like… Number Two, of Austin Powers fame! I’m also wondering if some of the action in this is in reference to the Sonic games, like the snowboarding, and the hidden temple – I assume it is, and if so, I think it’s pretty cool that the movie incorporates the source material in like that. I’m sure the Golden Sonic moment was awesome for someone too.
Man, I don’t want to make the same mistake again, robbing this movie of half a star, but my heart is telling me to do what I got to do (even if my heart is Grinch-ish, and three sizes too small, but how would I know?). Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is only a little bit more useful than a backstage pass to Limp Bizkit. But I mustn’t overlook my main purpose of being here, and that is watching Jim Carrey walk off into the sunset – in case we don’t see ya again, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight! It definitely feels like more work went into creating Robotnik for the first movie, as he had more to do, but as time passes, I won’t discount ever watching Sonic the Hedgehog 2 again. And I’ll reflect on this time, and perhaps find something nostalgic.
2.5
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