‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2’ Is A Bigger, Longer And Often Better Sequel

_{Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) rated PG 122 minutes}

_{directed by Jeff Fowler, written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington}

_{cinematography courtesy of Brandon Trost and edited by Jim May}

_{starring Ben Shwartz, Idris Elba, James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O’Shaughnessey and Lee Majdoub}

Sonic the Hedgehog 2, technically opening in domestic theaters tomorrow night but with some Wednesday previews this evening, is very much “more of the same.” The Jeff Fowler-directed Sega video game adaptation surprised us two years ago (just before Covid upended everything) by being an enjoyable, unassuming kid-friendly adventure that was more concerned with being a good movie than a slavishly faithful adaptation. Two years later, this bigger ($110 million versus $85 million) and longer (122 minutes versus 99 minutes) follow-up is perhaps a little too much of a good thing, with a film that feels like a conventional 100-minute flick with an extra reel’s worth of action climax chaos. That said, it mostly keeps its ambitions in check, with some unassumingly terrific special effects that oddly feel more like a “real movie” than any number of recent mega-budget biggies.

Paramount’s follow-up assumes that you’ve seen the first picture, opening with Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) stranded on a mushroom planet (a sporting jab at Super Mario Bros.?). Salvation arrives in the form of Knuckles (Idris Elba), an angry and determined red echidna who seeks “the Master Emerald.” Robotnik teams with Knuckles to get back to Earth which just happens to be the location of the hidden “source of ultimate power.” Meanwhile, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) is adjusted to being part of a human family, with Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) trying to balance being his friend with being parental figures. Sonic wants to be a superhero, although he’s quite bad at it (with shades of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Homecoming screw-ups) and is resisting the urge to “just be a kid.” While Tom and Maddie are at a destination wedding, Robotnik strikes back with a vengeance.

With the obvious disclaimer that this is a PG-rated movie aimed at children, the first assault on the Wachowski house is quite brutal and intense, as Sonic quickly realizes that Knuckles is punching above Sonic’s weight. Sonic only survives due to intervention from Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), a double-tailed fox who grew up admiring the famous hedgehog. It’s a mostly two-against-two battle as Sonic and Tails race Robotnik and Knuckles to the McGuffin. Meanwhile, our two heroes bond over their mutual isolation and Knuckles realizes that he and the mad scientist may not share the same ideals. Yes, their pursuit eventually interlocks with the wedding of Maddie’s sister Rachel (Natasha Rothwell), which supplies some variety (and humanity) amid the cartoon chaos. I know folks don’t go to a Sonic the Hedgehog movie for the humans, but I liked the humans last time out.

James Marsden was frankly the reason the first movie worked as well as it did, as he offered up a sympathetic and charming human protagonist whose life was improved by Sonic’s first introductory adventure. Marsden has been called “underrated” for so long and by so many pundits that I don’t think it’s true anymore. However, there’s something to be said about his skill in supplying a human anchor to cartoon protagonists in Sonic or Hop or being a “live-action cartoon” in Enchanted. I don’t know if he can “do everything,” but not everyone can do this stuff as well as he does. Sumpter mostly stands around reacting to the chaos, but she does get a fun second-act interlude where she and her scene-stealing sister are called into service. Carrey does Carrey to the max, probably overdoing it while often monologuing to himself.

There’s a lot more action and spectacle, most of which feels in spirit with the video game source material. I’m no Sonic expert, but there seems to be more in-game mythology thrown about, and the action sequences feel more specifically suited to a little blue hedgehog who can run fast and turn into a literal wrecking ball. There’s at least one third act beat which feels like a literal level of the video game. The entire final third is one evolving action climax, which does lead to relative indifference especially as most of the character relationships and arcs have been set up well before the final set-piece. Still, Elba is often very funny as Knuckles, playing the guy as a cross between Starfire in Teen Titans Go! “What if the Winter Soldier was an idiot?” My son adored him.

Speaking of “love,” there was a surprising amount of, in an offhand way, homoerotic content. Lee Majdoub’s Stone is clearly and explicitly in love/lust with Robotnik, and the film laughs more with him than at him. The budding relationship between Sonic and Tails is unapologetically affectionate in a way that, at the very least, may slightly destigmatize bromance intimacy for the younger set. It’s not going to win a GLAAD award, but even my ten-year-old noticed the “more than friends” dynamic and it is worth noting all the same. Anyway, beyond that curiosity, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a fine example of building upon an earned success without undercutting what worked the first time around. It knows that the humans must be (almost) as entertaining as the cartoon characters while expanding the scope and scale to align with the more fantastical source material more closely.

Sonic the Hedgehog stays refreshingly content with being a decent family franchise that happens to be based on a video game. Like Bumblebee, Monster Trucks and Clifford, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 shows Paramount finding a niche with big(ger)-budgeted live-action kids flicks that are more concerned with kids than nostalgic adults. If Sonic, Scream and The Lost City suggest a path forward, the Viacom-owned studio may just find a way back from the abyss, offering solid, reasonably budgeted kids flicks and adult programmers alongside periodic big-budget franchise flicks starring Tom Cruise or Optimus Prime. The studio suffered the worst over the last six years from the bottom falling out on the theatrical studio programmer, right as they saw their biggest IP (the MCU, DreamWorks, Star Trek, Transformers) defect or flame out. If they can find their way back, well, there’s hope for everyone.