Anthony McDonough
Writer & Streamer.
If you are like me, you remember the excitement of getting your first Sega console, and jumping into the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, and then immediately after, playing the sequel. It was bigger and better, including a companion named Tails. What was cool is you could have a second player controlling Tails so if you had a friend or sibling who wanted to play with you. they could. The movie adaption of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 replicates that feeling of excitement. The movie poster even does a faithful tribute to the original box art of the second game, so you can tell they were putting a lot of thought into making this one of the best video game movies yet.
They did speed up the timeline of the games a bit in this one, bringing in Knuckles for example when he did not appear until the third game. The plot sees Sonic having to defend against the returning Dr Robotnik who allies with Knuckles in the search for the mysterious Master Emerald. With new friend Tails, will Sonic be able to beat the combined force of Robotnik and Knuckles before they get the emerald? You will have to watch the movie to find out.
This film is lots of fun with plenty of pop culture references and easter eggs related to the Sonic game franchise. Once again, Jim Carrey carries the film as a more faithful rendition of Dr. Robotnik, down to the crazy mustache. Knuckles presents himself as powerful threat, just like he did from the game, and Tails makes for the brainy one of the bunch. They even fly the airplane from the second video game. I think my only complaint is the fact we got a side plot that diverted from the film with the inclusion of the human companions from the first movie. I kind of felt it really was not needed since the main plot was meaty enough that it could have done enough without having to have the human characters around. With the exception of Mr. Stone of course, who made a humorous foil to Dr Robotnik.
Other than that, the movie was exciting from start to finish, which speaking of the finish, you will definitely want to stick around for a mid credit scene that sets up the eventual third entry of the Sonic film franchise. Sad to say, this may be the last time we see Carrey reprise his role as Robotnik as he talked of retiring from acting after this film was made. If that ends up being the case, and since the film makers said they will not recast the role, then if you are wondering who Sonic will battle next, well you will get your answers during the mid credits scene.
Was this the greatest video game adaptation yet? It would be hard to argue that as this film had a huge opening, and it did do a lot with its source material. All I can say if you were a young kid who played the early Sonic games, then you absolutely need to see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 if you have not already done so.