Thursday, April 7, 2022

Movie Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

 



Michael's Movie Grade: B

A highly entertaining sequel.

As I have said in my review of the first movie, I have always been a fan of the Sonic games. However I had low expectations for that film, only to have my inner child completely satisfied. With this in mind, I went into this sequel with high expectations and luckily for me, this film fully met those expectations.  While this movie has its flaws, it kept me entertained throughout the whole film and isn't that just what you would want from a movie like this. The picture does a very good job of taking the very basic storyline of the third main sonic game and making it work as a movie. It makes the idea of Robotnik tricking Knuckles into going after Sonic, while he is the real one Knuckles should look out for completely believable. Meanwhile there is some great world building that goes beyond, the first film's more Earth-based story. Knuckles and Tails' backstories are very well done and the way the filmmakers tie Knuckles backstory to Sonic's backstory from the first movie works very well. It adds a bit more of an emotional stake in the story and lets Knuckles be essentially what Sonic could have been. The introduction of the Master Emerald is also well done. Sure it is a bit of a McGuffin, but it does the job of a McGuffin very well, setting the adventure in place without feeling too forced. Meanwhile Tails and Knuckles are excellently realized bringing out just what Sonic fans have loved about this characters for decades. Both of them are often used for humor but this is never done in a way that is an expense on their best personality traits. Meanwhile Sonic and his human friends from the first film are just as likable in the previous movie. 

The humor can be hit and miss but when it hits it really hits. The wedding scene and the aftermath are downright hilarious and the dance off put a smile on my face. Jim Carey's Robotnik is of course very over the top. This is a very type of humor to do, and this movie perfectly shows both why it can work and why it can fail. At times Robotnik is very funny, especially in his scenes with both his assistant and Knuckles. However, there are also plenty of times he goes too far and the humor falls flat. This is especially evident with his early scenes on the mushroom planet as well as many of his scenes in the film's climax.  

Alas no one really excepts any story surprises from a film like this and the movie doesn't offer any. If you have seen enough movies or even played enough video games, then you know how this picture is going to end and what is going to happen next at most times. However if a movie is this much fun that is not too much of a fault. 

If you see this film in a movie theater than you will see that this is a real audience pleaser and it certainly pleased the auidnce I saw it with.  



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