When the first Sonic The Hedgehog movie ran in theaters in February 2020, the movie debatably took the world by surprise. As a movie the public once dismissed as a dreadfully generic CGI character in a real setting type movie in tandem to being an unfaithful adaptation of the video games, through the fiasco of Sonic being redesigned, and haphazard marketing, all looked to doom the movie to be a guaranteed failure financially and critically. 

However, the movie became something critics, audiences and Sonic fans alike were pleasantly surprised by, being in how utterly charming, greatly entertaining and overall worthwhile the adaptation it is of the video game franchise.

In spite of it’s tenuous connections to the original source material, and hit or miss jokes, those breed of flaws feel secondary to what is a greatly enjoyable movie, elevated by a wholesome story that explores the importance of companionship, alongside great standouts, consisting of Dr. Robnonick brought to life by the impeccably manic performance of Jim Carrey, to that of Sonic himself, who plays a pivotal role in superbly extenuating the charm factor of the movie.

The movie also excelled in effectively establishing a world that gets me entranced to see how they expand upon it. 

But what are my own thoughts on the Sonic sequel?. Does the movie truly live up to hype, and moreover eclipses the first film in quality? 

After settling in Green Hills, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) is eager to prove that he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik (Carrey) returns with a new partner, Knuckles (Idris Elba), in search of a mystical emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations, Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and together they embark on a globe-trotting journey to find the emerald before it falls the wrong hands. 

Right of the bat, this movie strives for more high octane ambition in it’s storytelling than that of it’s predecessor, being greatly reflected by how it amplifies the scope for the means to accommodate this movie’s incentive in being a more faithful adaptation to the Sonic games, through ushering in staples of the Sonic franchise like Tails and Knuckles into the mix, to the wide array of exotic locations, to really romanticize this movie’s wide scope, all the way to the sheer insanity and goofiness of the prior Sonic movie, being amped to eleven in this one.

And in the long run this movie fulfilled what it set out to achieve quite well, to the innate benefit in being one of the core assets in springboarding this movie’s quality tentpole.

Whether it’s the whole relationship, between Sonic And Tails, and how we see their relationship naturally evolve throughout the movie. 

To how the action scenes all run the gambit in being thrilling, cunning, well-coordinated and eye catching in their own unique way, and furthermore elevated by their accompanying scene.

Carrey also reverts back to relaying the euphoric insanity of his Eggman character, by fully metaphorizing into a bombastic burst of insanity, that wound up skyrocketing a character susceptible in firmly standing tall as an indiscriminately hilarious and deliciously manic character, that steals the show in every scene he inhibits.

There is also putting into play the welcoming edition of fan favorite character, Knuckles, who channels in the character with such fenace and tenacity, for the well-being of ultimately elevating him into being one of the best written characters in the movie. 

Even with the shining positives endemic in the movie, they do not negate the fair share of noticeable issues that tend to boggle the quality of this movie down at certain intervals.

Whether it’s in how contrived and rushed certain elements present themselves, being in how the ways certain characters are introduced into the story, makes it seem like they were forced into the narrative, without any organic build up to precurse their arrival. Take Tails, for example, where they way he was tagged along the adventure with Sonic, out of the shallow purpose that he was watching Sonic on earth, wound up feeling hanfisted and jarringly forced. 

In spite of how endearing his companionship with Sonic is, Tails on his own though does have a lot to be desired. Which stems from how his character could have withheld better established motivations and moreover significantly better fleshed out character traits to better stand out as his own 3-Dimensional character.

In regards to another issue I have of the movie, which while in the grand scheme is innocuous, is regardless is something worth mentioning as it also reflects this movie’s pacing issues. That being in that of the sub plot that counteracts the main storyline of Sonic and Tails stopping Dr. Eggman and Knuckles from receiving the chaos emerald.

However, though around mid point of the movie, was when this sub plot’s adequate flow began from the main plotline started losing steam, and soon spiraled into an outright overhaul of the movie, where without giving too much away from this section of the movie, it essentially involved a small break up of Rachel and Randall, and the resolution of the minor subplot took a rather lengthy time to come into force, and coupled with that it’s presence was not touched on, nor from what I recall merely even mentioned for the rest of the movie amid it’s resolution. 

Those issues were all the only major gripes I got from the movie. Furthermore while those issues are irrefutable, they are few and far between, and by no means deflects what is still a tremendously charming time this movie was from beginning to end.

Bottom line, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 really lives up to all its hype and is moreover a worthy successor to its 2020 counterpart. Where it succeeds in expanding the scope of the story and moreover lean more to its original source material, while at the same time not losing sight in original strengths via still retaining the signature charm of the franchise.

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