Sonic the Hedgehog 2: A Review (Review #1910)

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

When last we saw our titular hero, his nemesis was stranded on a desert planet and a new creature had popped up. Unsurprisingly, Sonic the Hedgehog got a sequel. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a pale shadow of the first film, disorganized, bloated and rambling. While it does have some good things in it, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is something that should have worked but did not quite.

The evil Dr. Robotnick (Jim Carrey) has found a way out of his forced exile on the Mushroom Planet. He has also found an ally in Knuckles (Idris Elba), the last of the Enchidas who wants to go after Sonic (Ben Schwartz). Sonic, for his part, is thrilled to have the Green Hills, Montana home of his informal parents Tom "Donut Lord" Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie "Pretzel Lady" (Tika Sumpter) to himself. Tom and Maddie are off to Hawaii for the wedding of Maddie's sister Rachel (Natasha Rothwell) to Randall (Shemar Moore). 

Sonic is struggling with keeping his powers to himself, yearning to be a great hero but making a mess of things when he tries. Fortunately, he now has a distraction when Robotnick and Knuckles come storming onto Earth. Sonic, however, has a new ally in Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessy), a fox with two tails who is a massive Sonic fan. 

Now it becomes a quest to find the Master Emerald, a jewel of great power that Sonic's mentor, the owl Longclaw, has hidden on Earth. It's a race between Sonic & Tails vs. Robotnick & Knuckles to find the Emerald and unleash its powers. That race drags in Tom & Maddie, eventually, along with Rachel and Randall, the latter who was a secret agent who catfished Rachel as part of a plan to capture Sonic. Now the Wachowskis and their in-laws join to stop Robotnick and Knuckles. There are more betrayals before the final confrontation, but is there a Project Shadow to worry about?

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is close to a half hour longer than the first Sonic film and it shows. As I watched the film, a sense of disappointment started creeping in. I thought that the entire Siberian section, where Sonic and Tails have a dance-off with disreputable Russians, went on too long for no payoff. I was surprised at how Sonic the Hedgehog 2 pretty much forgot about characters and plots, unable to have a cohesive whole.

The entire Seattle sequence, where Sonic shows how his self-assuredness ended up making things worse, could have been shorter. So could the Siberian Pivonka sequence, where I sat not so much confused but wondering why we had to go through this.

For stretches of the film, I had forgotten about Rachel and Randall, and to be honest, about Tom and Maddie. When the film turned from Siberia to Hawaii, that story dominated Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Once we uncovered the truth about Operation Catfish and everyone moved on, I do not think we saw or heard from Rachel and Randall again. 

That is not to say that there were not funny moments even in this part. Hearing military Commander Walters (Tom Butler) tell Rachel, "Party's over, Bridezilla" was funny. The dreadful name the secret military organization had: Guardian Units of Nations or GUN, was eye-rolling to where even Rachel thought it was daft. I figure that either that GUN is part of the Sonic videogames or screenwriters Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington were going for dumb laughs. I cannot explain, separate from that, anyone thought that was funny. 

As side notes, it strikes me as a bit cruel to have Rachel be a victim of catfishing, Randall's protestations of being sincere not believable. I also wondered why Marsden's Tom was held up as some kind of wimp compared to Randall or his groomsmen. There's a quick scene of Randall flexing his biceps which Tom reciprocates. I think the scene was meant to suggest that Tom was not in the same league as Randall or Randall's friends. To a point, I can believe that Shemar Moore would be more attractive than James Marsden. However, Marsden showed off an enviable set of guns that made it a very odd moment. Yet I digress.

One of Sonic the Hedgehog 2's greatest flaws is whenever Jim Carrey is not on the screen. His Dr. Robotnick is still delightfully crazed, able to rattle off quips and puns with a malevolent glee. Carrey's scenes with the ever-devoted Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub) were a highlight: the balance between Robotnick's crazed and over-the-top manner with Stone's oddball devotion. Majdoub and Adam Pally as the dimwitted Deputy Wade also worked well together. The idea of Stone hiding out in plain sight by running Green Hills' coffeeshop is amusing, as is his code for revealing to his master the secret technology that Stone has been hiding. At the words, "Latte with steamed Austrian goat milk", we see not only the massive network that has been waiting for the bad doctor. We see how devoted, even hero worshipful Stone is by naming the code after Robotnick's special coffee order.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to be fair had some good lines which Carrey, Majdoub, Pally and Schwartz's Sonic were able to deliver. Hearing Sonic call Robotnick "Professor X meets the Monopoly Man" when they face off or Sonic calling Knuckles "Clifford the Big Red Rage Monster" was funny. Credit should also go to Elba and O'Shaughnessy who got into the spirit of the vengeful, serious Knuckles and the more lighthearted Tails respectively. There was also some beautiful animation, such as when we see the Master Emerald for the first time.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will, I think, entertain those who do not ask much from the film. I wanted a little bit more, particularly a little more thought and a little more editing. It is fine, but not as good as it could have been or as good as the first adventure. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 did not quite measure up to speed.

DECISION: C-