Ben Schwartz in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’. Picture: Paramount Pictures and Sega of America, Inc.
Picking up where we left Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) in the first movie, our favourite hedgehog is driven to be a hero but Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) has other plans for him.
Rating: 2.5/5
“Sonic The Hedgehog 2” had a lot of potential after the first go-round that was pushed back after the internet bullied the VFX team to fix the look of Sonic since it was such a far departure from the source material. Remember the creepy human teeth he had in the first trailer?
However, while they had a lot to build on after the positive reception of the first film, that was one of the first successful adaptations of a video game property, the scriptwriting just isn’t as tight as the previous film.
Sonic is still the best thing about the movie and his lines are hilarious throughout, with most of his zingers clearly aimed at adults.
It became very clear from the screening I attended which saw the kids in attendance staying quiet while I was cackling.
Jim Carrey also turns up the volume as Dr. Ivo Robotnik when it comes to the campiness of the character, but I’m not sure if it’s his recent comments about the Will Smith saga that’s rubbing me the wrong way, but it felt too over the top and his performance felt a bit out of place.
What was really interesting though was that in the first film homoerotic hints were being made between Robotnik and his henchman Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub) and this time around they turn up the volume even more.
And while this is surprising, given the film is a family affair, I personally would have preferred that they just made them an open queer couple or romance instead of yet again through bones to the LGBQTI+ community with subtle hints and winks.
It’s 2022, queer kids exist. It’s not that hard to have age-appropriate queer characters in your film.
The storyline is your run-of-the-mill quest finding mission with Sonic and co having to find X item to retrieve the much sort after gem of great power.
And while this is a try and tested formula, it really does feel a bit lazy compared to the very character-focused romp of the first film.
Don’t get me wrong, it is still fun watching Sonic, Tails (voice by Collen O'Shanussy) and Knuckles travel the world on this quest and the CGI is good, but it does feel like they didn’t know how to take the concept for the first movie further while still staying true to the source material.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is a fun ride but there was an opportunity for it to reach heights that no other video game adaptation has been able to do but they chose the lazy route.
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