‘Sonic’ Boom
The spiny blue shrew game character returns for a sequel to one of the best video game adaptations ever. Which isn’t saying much.
Sonic the hedgehog 2
Director: Jeff Fowler • Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington
Starring [English]: James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Lee Majdoub, Tom Butler
USA/Japan • 2hrs 3mins
Opens Hong Kong July 21 • I
Grade: C+
The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie from 2020 was notable for two things: It underwent significant CGI tweaking after the first trailer was dubbed nightmare fuel thanks to Sonic’s creepy teeth. And it was the only hit from 2020, being among the last films to be released to theatres before the world went tits up thanks to the ’Rona. It managed to squeeze enough coins out of everyone (over US$300 million) to earn a sequel – not really surprising given that film’s stingers – as well as not entirely scathing reviews. Considering the general crappiness of most video game movies, Sonic was… okay. Sonic himself (voiced by Ben Schwartz) was a bit of a dick, but hey. That’s his charm? And now Sega Sammy Group is following in the footsteps of Marvel and PlayStation and building a “movie studio” founded on its considerable IP, and creating its own universe (let’s can it with the universes, please?). Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is more of the same – much more at over two exhausting hours – and like so many MCU films, it’s less a contained story than a vehicle for laying the groundwork for Sega and Paramount’s long-term shareholder-approved plans. Sonic 3 is in the works, and so is a Knuckles series for Paramount’s (currently) Star Trek-dominated streaming service. There will be more. Is any of this any good? Sonic takes aim squarely at kids, who seemed to appreciate the goofy humour and manic action at the preview. Everyone else will wonder what happened to the dog, and how much The Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina™ paid for its product placement.
Carrey going Full Depp
Sonic the Hedgehog, for all its silliness, clocked in at a tolerable 99 minutes. It made its point, cracked its jokes, and went home. Returning (entirely unnecessary) director Jeff Fowler’s Sonic 2 does what most sequels do and doubles down on what producers think enchanted us all the first time around. It’s bloated with filler; a Mushroom Planet prologue, a wedding subplot featuring “sassy” Rachel (Natasha Rothwell) and her soon-to-be husband Randall (Shemar Moore), a house party for one, and a Russian dance-off could all have been excised with zero story impact. Plus, the film juices Jim Carrey’s Dr Robotnik considerably, in what can safely be called the Jack Sparrow Phenomenon: more is not better. It’s just more. This too is a double-edged sword. If you like Carrey’s antic performances you’ll be thrilled. I dislike Carrey with the passion of 1,000 fiery suns. I was unhappy.
Sonic 2 picks up with Sonic feeling restless in Green Hills with his “parents,” Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), sneaking off to places like Seattle for some on the side heroism. Of course he makes a mess of things, prompting Tom to give him a time-out, promising Sonic his time will come. Sure enough it does, when Dr Robotnik comes back to Earth with help from angry Echidna Knuckles (Idris Elba), who’s looking for a magical emerald that’s the source of all power or some such. Sonic teams with another otherworldly creature, Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), who’s come to warn him of imminent danger. Rachel still hates Tom, and of course he puts her dream wedding at The Four Season Oahu (in case you missed that) in peril, but not as much as her fiancé does. There’s a giant robot. Whatever.
Oh yeah, they’re in this too
Admittedly, griping about a movie that accomplishes precisely what it set out to do is just stupid. However, it is not stupid to gripe about shoddy story construction and that most egregious of “children’s entertainment” bad habits: the almost-swearing euphemism. “Time to get off this piece of shiitake planet,” Robotnik declares before his escape. Hardy har har. There’s more of those. It’s grating. It’s insulting. And it needs to stop. It took three writers to come up with those, none of whom could be bothered to explain why Tom and Maddie had no comment about Robotnik and Knuckles destroying their house, what happened to the dog during said destructive sequence, what happened to Rachel and Randall after the busted wedding, why that wedding has to be trashed instead of just asking to swap rings (oh, wait, story stops if people behave like normal people), how everyone travelled around so fast after Sonic lost his rings, or why Sonic is still such a dick. And why is half his dialogue comprised of “Woo hoo!”?
But it’s not all bad, at least for the kids. Marsden and Sumpter make the most of their awkward roles, trying hard to act natural around Sonic & Co, but the film doesn’t demonstrate any massive tech leaps since the days of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? There’s an entirely harmless message about family, teamwork, and learning how to learn that will go down as effortlessly as any Disney smoothie, and somehow, some way, Elba manages more than a handful of genuinely funny line readings for his ultra-serious, ultra-intense Knuckles; he’s especially amusing when he’s surprised. Rumour has it Elba has agreed to reprise Knuckles for the streaming series. Sure. Have at it, Idris. After two long hours Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is exactly what you expect it to be. The age of your viewing partner will determine if that’s good or bad. — DEK