A surprisingly spiky sequel
THE BIG RELEASE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 PG ★★★✩✩
‘THE world’s favourite blue hedgehog is back!’ isn’t much of a sell – I mean, how many favourite blue hedgehogs do you know? Yet for Sega and Paramount, the studios behind this video game spinoff, the mere fact that Sonic is back and this sequel exists is a triumph against the odds.
It certainly wasn’t on the cards back in 2019 when nightmarish images of Sonic (the movie star) were leaked online. Horrified fans were particularly spooked by Sonic’s disturbingly human teeth. A multimilliondollar redesign followed, as critics rubbed their paws in anticipation of a turkey (with disturbingly human teeth), only for the impossible to occur: the Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) movie not only broke US records as the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time but it wasn’t that bad. Nor is this sequel.
The plot sees Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) left home alone by his human parents (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter). Meanwhile, an evil Doctor Robotnik (a moustachetwirling Jim Carrey) returns with another plan for world domination, this time aided by ‘the most dangerous warrior in the galaxy’, a red echidna called Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba).
The CGI creatures’ eyeballs look alarmingly wet and a touch grisly blown up on a cinema screen, and Marsden looks like he’s talking to thin air (rather than his blue ‘son’), but the animation is rather good, with Sonic’s new little buddy Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey) upping the adorable factor. It’s expensive-looking too – a spectacular snowboardingthrough-laser-drones set piece wouldn’t look out of place in Mission: Impossible 8.
‘I don’t want to die like this – it’s so derivative!’ Jim Carrey’s baddie exclaims, running away from a rolling Indiana Jones-style boulder – a nod from the script that there’s nothing about this movie we haven’t seen before, including Carrey’s comedic gurning. However, since these are the only films he does these days, it’s a joy to experience that Carrey comedy magic.
Sure, it could have been shorter, but the action stays light on its feet. Parents could sit through far worse for Easter holiday entertainment.