Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Review

Synopsis

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. From the filmmakers behind The Fast and the Furious and Deadpool, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 stars James Marsden, Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Lee Majdoub and Jim Carrey returning, alongside new additions Shemar Moore, with Idris Elba as the voice of Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as the voice of Tails.

Rewind

I really recommend watching the first Sonic The Hedgehog movie in order to fully grasp Sonic 2, but I will catch you up to speed on a little summary of Sonic The Hedgehog.

On a distant planet, a young Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed, is chased by a tribe of echidnas for his power. His guardian, Longclaw the Owl, gives him a bag of rings that open portals to other planets. She uses one to send him to Earth while she stays behind to hold off the echidnas.

Ten years later, Sonic enjoys a secret life near the town of Green Hills, Montana, but longs to make friends. He idolizes the local sheriff, Tom Wachowski, calling him “Donut Lord” because he enjoys eating donuts, and his veterinarian wife, Maddie, calling her “Pretzel Lady” because of her flexibility, unaware the pair are planning to relocate to San Francisco as Tom, bored with the lack of action in Green Hills, plans to accept a position he has just been offered with the San Francisco Police department.

One night, Sonic becomes upset over his loneliness while playing baseball by himself and starts running the bases at high speeds, accidentally triggering an electromagnetic pulse which causes a large-scale power outage across Green Hills.

Enter Robotnik having recovered one of Sonic’s quills, Robotnik analyzes it and discovers it holds an almost limitless amount of electrical energy. He decides to capture Sonic and use him to power his machines.

Robotnik pursues Sonic across the world through San Francisco, France, China, and Egypt – inadvertently completing several of Sonic’s bucket list entries in the process – ultimately returning to Green Hills. In Green Hills is where Sonic discovers more of his powers and defeats Robtonik, sending him to the Mushroom planet.

Sonic 2 Non Spoilers

Character Breakdown

If you aren’t familiar with the games this breakdown will help you in anticipation of the movie.

Knuckles

He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic’s former foil and recurring ally. He is determined and serious, but sometimes gullible. He has the ability to glide and climb up walls, and is a powerful fighter with spiked hands. He serves as the guardian of the Master Emerald, a huge gemstone that controls the series’ integral Chaos Emeralds, and is the last living member of his tribe, the Knuckles Clan.

Knuckles debuted as an antagonist in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) after Doctor Eggman tricks him into opposing Sonic and Tails. He first became a playable protagonist in Sonic & Knuckles later that year; after initially opposing Sonic once again, he forms an alliance with him after learning of Doctor Eggman’s trickery.

Tails

Tails also appeared in his own spin-off series, comic books, cartoons, and films. He is the second character to consistently appear by Sonic’s side. The name “Miles Prower” is a pun on “miles per hour”, a reference to the famed speed of Sonic the Hedgehog. He is a two-tailed fox, hence the nickname.

A mechanical genius and skilled pilot,he can fly by spinning his tails like a helicopter rotor and can be seen flying in multiple games and TV shows created by Sega. He debuted in November 1992 with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Easter Eggs

Sonic’s Racing Bed

I promised no spoilers but I need to talk about a couple of Easter Eggs that I saw while screening the film. You all will need to tell me if you catch them, when you see the film April 8th, and maybe let me know if you found some others that I probably missed.

This is one of a handful of Sonic Easter eggs returning from the original movie. Sonic’s race car bed in Tom’s attic looks similar to his ride in the Sonic Racing series.

Master Emerald

Robotnik, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails are on the hunt for the Master Emerald in Sonic 2. In the games, The Master Emerald is an object that houses the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, making it a very powerful artifact indeed. In the movie sequel, its function is similar to the games – though it’s found on Earth instead of on Knuckles’ world. As we’ll soon come to discover, however, the two locations share some interesting similarities.

The Chaos Emeralds

The Chaos Emeralds have been tied to Sonic’s history since the 1991 Sega Genesis original, though there were only six in that game.

In most of the classic 2D Sonic games, you can collect the seven Chaos Emeralds – objects of tremendous power that can transform Sonic into Super Sonic – by beating various Special Stages dotted around each level. Doing so will usually gift the player a hidden final level and the ‘true’ ending of each game.

Tails mentions the history of the seven Chaos Emeralds in the movie when on the hunt for the compass to the Master Emerald. They are then seen again when the Master Emerald cracks in the movie’s third act.

Egg Mobile

Robotnik doesn’t usually walk around. He has robots and machines to do that for him. The Egg Mobile, his own rotund personal carrier, has been a trademark of the video game villain’s arsenal since the first Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s also seen various times in the movie, with Robotnik using it to get from point A to point B in lightning-fast time.

Sonic Water References

Sonic mentions several times throughout the movie how much he hates water. If you played the games you will know why, with Sonic’s underwater exploits often being accompanied by a nerve-jangling countdown until his oxygen expires. In the movie – like in the games – Sonic wards off drowning by inhaling a bubble underwater.

It’s a golden Sonic!

Super Sonic makes his debut in Sonic 2. The supercharged version of Sonic, blessed with invulnerability and super strength, is usually a reward for players who collect all seven Chaos Emeralds.

I took both my six year old and my ten year old to see the film with me, and they were just as pumped as when the first movie came out in 2020! They loved the film from start to finish and even helped with pointing out some of the easter eggs as we play Sonic at home.

It is truly amazing that a game that I grew up with in the 90’s is still bringing families together in the year 2022. Sonic 2 is truly a family film that the whole family can enjoy. I took my 85 year old mother in law, and she even got a kick out of its comic relief.

So make sure you head to the theater on April 8th to see this one, and make sure you stay for the end credits. Trust me you will want to stay especially if you know anything about “Project Shadow”.