‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’: The Fun Outpaces the Fluff | Jim Carrey's Final Movie?

Table of Contents

The Hollywood Insider Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Review

Photo: ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’–A Sequel’s Sequel

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ is projected to race past its predecessor in box office numbers, having secured a clear first place against its competitors this weekend. The high-octane family flick kicks off when Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) returns to Earth with Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) to hunt down the supremely powerful Master Emerald.

Whereas ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ served fans of the Sonic franchise, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ served fans of the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie. Did you like Jim Carrey’s dance sequence in the first movie? I know I did. Well, in the second movie there are two dance scenes, one of them an all-out dance battle. Did you like the added human characters? They get a whole subplot in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2.’ How about the pop culture references? Double ‘em.

The resulting movie feels overfull with flat comedic bits that weigh down a well-devised plot. The whole cast, as with the first movie, put on wonderfully entertaining performances. The scene ideas are zany and fun, cool references to Sonic games/shows abound (SPOILER ALERT for the linked article), and the core ideas of the script track pretty clearly throughout the movie: Sonic wants to be a hero, but hasn’t matured enough to do so responsibly, and he learns this by finally finding friends to have a meaningful childhood with. The majority of the movie works. What doesn’t work are the dozens of little moments that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ – Full Premiere & Reactions

Gotta Go Fast

The first installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise, running only 99 minutes, kept its story concise, energized, and packed with heart. Befitting its titular, supersonic character, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ did not waste any time and, in this reviewer’s opinion, managed to inject some new life into the formulaic blockbuster scene. With the average Marvel movie running just over 2 hours, something less presumptuous and more fun was a breath of fresh air despite being cliché.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2,’ while still a crowd-pleaser with some good laughs, chases, and clever scene setups, has some notable pacing issues. For instance, I have no complaints about seeing more of Natasha Rothwell as Rachel, the sister/sister-in-law of Sonic’s foster-parent figures Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) Wachowski. She is delightful in the role, and fully embodies even the most ridiculous dialogue. The scenes that feature her, however, seem to slow down the movie significantly, the reason being that even the main plot has one too many moments in each of its scenes.

Full Commentary on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’

If the first Sonic movie is a clean run on a Formula 1 track, its sequel is an offroad adventure on a dirt bike. The soundtrack stops and starts like that one guy who, given the aux cord, shows you an entire playlist on the 5-minute drive to Walmart. Every fight has a beat where things really get started. It feels like hitting a series of speed bumps. Dr. Robotnik’s lines took the hardest hit from the change in pace. Carrey pulled off a genuinely startling performance in the first film with the support of dialogue that was corny, but eccentric and unexpected. The end credits scene of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ features Robotnik getting a kick out of throwing a rock from mushroom to mushroom, performing “rock-conaissance.” Any Robotnik lines of the same quality in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ keep company with uninspired pop culture references.

How to Pace a Franchise

Marvel and DC, take notes. SEGA and Paramount are nailing this. In contrast to the pacing problems of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2,’ the franchise as a whole has paced its reveals brilliantly. The fanbase is familiar with the core cast of Sonic characters, and those characters have persisted throughout game franchise history, so when one of them is revealed in the movies it feels like a welcome addition.

Superhero movie end credits scenes have become tedious. They often hint at onboarding a character who would open up a whole new corner of the comic universe, meaning anywhere from two to ten more movies in the saturated superhero market. Unless you’re a fan of each unveiled hero, it feels more like something added to a to-do list at this point than a payoff waiting to happen. In the case of Sonic, fans in the audience are slowly getting more of what they, specifically, are fans of. Maybe Sonic will wear thin after another movie or two, but so far, filling out the roster of fan favorites one by one is working wonders.

First came Sonic himself, reconfigured after fans recoiled at his original animation. Then, at the end of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog,’ the Tails reveal. Then ads for ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ generated excitement with the appearance of Knuckles the Echidna. And now, in the end credits of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’…well, I won’t spoil it.

Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here.

Voice Actor Shoutouts

As mentioned before, the entire cast committed fully to this one. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter were just as lovely and grounded as in the first movie, making the human-to-CGI interactions way less disconnected than those often are. Jim Carrey makes it work despite the less-than-stellar dialogue. Lee Majdoub, Natasha Rothwell, and Adam Pally all reprised their supporting roles wonderfully. And Shemar Moore? Yes, please.

But this movie would simply not work if the voice we hear the most were not so animated and wildly entertaining. Ben Schwartz plays a wonderful Sonic, sincere but smart-alecky, childlike but cool. Enough cannot be said about his performance, and the actors joining him to voice the Sonic crew knocked it out of the park. Idris Elba’s voice as Knuckles instantly adds gravity to the movie, raising the stakes whenever Knuckles is on screen.

Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider

Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.

Colleen O’Shaughnessey, meanwhile, has been a favorite of Sonic fans since 2014, when she began voicing Tails. Her rendition of Tails was just as endearing on the big screen as in the games and cartoons where she has voiced him before. In fact, the Sonic fanbase fought for her name to be on the movie’s posters. Though she has had a prolific career as a voice actor, producers considered not listing O’Shaughnessey next to household names like Jim Carrey. When fans saw the first posters without O’Shaughnessey’s name on them, they caused enough of a stir to get the posters replaced with her name on them, a win for the fans, O’Shaughnessy, and the voice acting community as a whole.

Paramount has already confirmed a third Sonic movie, planned for release next February, and if the franchise can continue its hot streak it’ll be one to look forward to. Second movies frequently underwhelm and for a second movie, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ is pretty good. I recommend it if you’re up for family fun or if you’re a Sonic fan at all, at the very least for the joy of hearing a chorus of kids having the time of their lives.

Cast: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell

Director: Jeff Fowler | Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington

Cinematography: Brandon Trost | Editing: Jim May

Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Haruki Satomi, Hitoshi Okuno, Toru Nakahara

By Kevin Hauger

Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.

I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV. media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”

More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider

– Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

– A Tribute to Martin Scorsese: A Complete Analysis of the Life and Career of the Man Who Lives and Breathes Cinema

– Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece

– A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond

– In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More

sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 2

Author

Kevin Hauger

Kevin Hauger is a writer and actor joyfully afflicted with cinephilia. Kevin has spent thousands of hours discussing movies, theatre, music, games, anime, and the role of storytelling and entertainment in everyday life. Kevin has a habit of giving everything from Oscar nominees to holiday fillers equal consideration, and finding meaning in the seemingly mundane. Kevin was drawn to The Hollywood Insider mission to support substantive, meaningful journalism, as he believes discussion of art can affect us as profoundly as the art itself. He writes reviews and features that entertain and provoke, and that hopefully provide more questions than answers.

View all posts

Kevin Hauger

Kevin Hauger is a writer and actor joyfully afflicted with cinephilia. Kevin has spent thousands of hours discussing movies, theatre, music, games, anime, and the role of storytelling and entertainment in everyday life. Kevin has a habit of giving everything from Oscar nominees to holiday fillers equal consideration, and finding meaning in the seemingly mundane. Kevin was drawn to The Hollywood Insider mission to support substantive, meaningful journalism, as he believes discussion of art can affect us as profoundly as the art itself. He writes reviews and features that entertain and provoke, and that hopefully provide more questions than answers.