Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik returns, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a globe-trotting journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.

Review:

Dr. Robotnik/Eggman (Jim Carrey) is still trapped on The Mushroom Planet, only to be rescued by a mysterious stranger. Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) is a red coloured echidna, who has travelled from his own planet with a mission of his own. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is continuing to live his life with Tom (James Marsden) and his partner Maddie (Tika Sumpter), only to find himself, along with his partner Tails the Fox (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnrssey) thwarting the plans of Robotnik and Knuckles, before they get hold of the ‘Chaos Emerald’ that grants supreme power.

It is quite incredible how Sonic, a video game character from two decades ago, has managed to enchant two generations of kids with his wild adventures (or maybe just a reflection of kids creators failing to come up with anything new.) Coming from a time when members of the animal kingdom were shown to mysteriously have walking and talking abilities usually attributed to humans (such as Teenage Turtles and Biker Mice from Mars!), at least it’s a franchise that stays grounded in its roots for kids, without any pretensions of higher art, like Batman or other franchises, and this fairly inevitable sequel (given the first film was the highest grossing video game adaptation of all time) certainly ramps up the fun-for-kids factor right up to factor ten, with super Sonic speeding around, not taking a second’s breath (even dancing off to Bruno Mars’s Uptown Funk at one point.)

Like the video game franchise, more success means introducing new characters, to keep things appealing for the younger demographic it’s aimed at. And so, while the first film aimed to showcase exclusively Sonic, establishing him as the main character kids will flock to, here Tails needs to be fleshed out a bit, and Knuckles has to make his presence felt, which he does, thanks to Elba’s strong, commanding voice. Despite this, it’s still Carrey as the villain commanding centre stage, deliriously manic and unhinged, and managing some worthy lines (“you’re about as much use as a backstage pass at a Limp Bizkit concert!”), as well as some more adult oriented jokes that older viewers will pick up on.

The result of all this is a film that is pretty much the same as the first one, just one that ends up running at a troublesomely lengthy two hour running time. Kids may be having loads of fun and not noticing this, but the more mature might start to get a bit restless.