Sonic the Hedgehog 2

If you were a fan of the original movie, then odds are you’ll like this one just fine. If you weren’t, well, there’s always Detective Pikachu to satisfy your video game adaptation itch.

Set months after the events of the first film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sees our titular hero, Sonic (Ben Schwartz), as he finally feels like he belongs in a world that’s still so foreign to him. Accompanied by his new adoptive parents, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and Maddie Wachowski (Tika Sumpter), Sonic is soon beset by the return of his arch-enemy, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), and his secret weapon, Knuckles (Idris Elba), who are both hell-bent on taking this Blue Blur down for more than a handful of misguided reasons. Tracked down by fan-favorite character, Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), Sonic is joined by an ally that’s just as determined as he is in the fight against foes that might prove too powerful even for them to overcome.

A solid inaugural step into the world of Hollywood, the original Sonic the Hedgehog film was much better than it had any right to be when it was released a few years back. And now with the sequel following in those fun but safe footsteps, Sonic’s return is mostly a good thing yet still comes across as something that feels like it should have been better.

Enjoyable and entertaining in bursts but overly kiddy and thinly scripted everywhere else, the best parts of this film happen when Sonic and his pals are on-screen mucking things up, successfully giving a sense of momentum to a movie that’s supposed to be all about speed. This becomes doubly annoying when the film grinds to a halt midway through with some super unnecessary human subplots that might have worked perfectly fine in a movie that doesn’t have Sonic in the title (they straight up did Natasha Rothwell’s character dirty in this one and James Marsden’s father figure seems like a bit of an afterthought at times) but since it does, we’re left with a movie that means well but is too unfocused at times to do any real good for anyone other than its computer-generated heroes.

All that being said, after the messier parts of the movie play themselves out, I had an absolute blast watching the more video game-y aspects of the movie take over. Knuckles acting like a fish out of water but still being as badass as ever, Tails and Sonic slowly becoming besties, Robotnik and his more Robotnik-y tendencies, the entire third act (which is basically a video game unto itself), and, hell, even the post-credit teaser, are all perfect in the way they represent Sonic as a character and franchise and is something that I ended up appreciating far more than expected. Sure, the clunkiness of the script gets in the way, but when it comes down to seeing Sonic and his pals in action, it’s truly something that can’t be beaten, especially from the perspective of a gaming nerd like myself.

So although I truly enjoyed most of this one, some of the human subplots and filler content are out of place enough that they keep this film on the same average footing as the original. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a fun film, and while it might be geared a little more towards kids than I originally expected, I’ll take the planned third entry in this successful franchise as soon as possible.