SPEEDY SONIC TAKES IT SLOW
Video game sequel is inspired and a tad long, but full of goofy fun for all
Quick version: Robotnik is back on Earth and he's after a magic emerald.
We need to get it back or Earth is doomed.
That's not my own synopsis; it's an actual line of dialogue from the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog, which was released in February 2020, or about 10 years ago in pandemic time.
That one was a decent time-waster — I gave it a barely passing grade of 2.5 stars — featuring Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, James Marsden as his human father figure, and Jim Carrey living it up as the villain, Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
Sonic 2 gives us more of everything, but mostly computer-generated video game characters, since this time, the cobalt blue speed demon is joined by two primary colour companions, the good-natured Tails (voiced by actress Colleen O'shaughnessey), and the evil Knuckles (Idris Elba).
Though from the start it seems as though Knuckles might be merely misunderstood.
Carrey remains the definitive villain, beginning the movie marooned on the Mushroom Planet with only a stone head for company. (And what I wouldn't give for an entire film of him stranded there, Cast Away style. Alas, 'twas not to be.)
Back on Earth, he and Knuckles team up to find an all-powerful emerald. Sonic, who's been trying and mostly failing to operate as a Spider-man style superhero, recognizes a redemption arc when he sees one, and decides to foil Robotnik's plan and prove his worth in the process.
This leaves the non-overacting human characters (Marsden and Tika Sumpter as his wife) with little to do. Returning director Jeff Fowler quickly shuffles them off on a Hawaiian vacation/wedding, which I thought was merely a ploy to sideline them, but turned out to have some significance to the larger plot.
This is in part why the movie runs an excruciating (for kids) two hours and two minutes.
Sonic 2 is full of video game Easter eggs and the usual run of pop-culture references, including an odd, jokey repetition of a presidential remark first uttered after the 2017 Charlottetown rally that seemed in poor taste.
But for the most part, the mood is goofy fun that never gets too dark or frightening for either the under-10s or the film's other target demo, nostalgic millennials.
Even with its long runtime, it struck me as a step up from the original.
Viewers should sit tight as the end credits roll, as there's a single mid-credit scene that left audience members of all ages at a recent preview screening hooting and hollering.
Without giving too much away (and recalling that the director is also attached to a new live action/cgi Pink Panther movie), let's just say that Fowler is going to be adding yet another colour to his cinematic palette soon.