Sometimes bad ideas really do pay off. I’m not a fan of translating video games to movies. I’m certainly not a fan of making sequels of them. Sometimes, however, a bad idea is better than no idea, and the Sonic people have done a decent job of making us care about their hyperactive, schizophrenic blue alien.
Sonic (voice of Ben Schwartz) is no longer a loner. He lives with a family of Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), and yet the three-foot-tall royal blue … I guess we’ll call it a “hedgehog” for lack of a more precise definition … still aspires. For fun, he sprints to the coast and becomes “Blue Justice,” a menace to crime and Seattle pavement alike.
Ah, but the 
evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) still holds a grudge for some reason. Apparently, he doesn’t appreciate alone time in alone dimensions, so he’s come back to Earth lookin’ for revenge … with a red thug in tow. Meet Knuckles the “echidna.” Imagine if Sonic were red and talked with the voice of Idris Elba and you’re 90% of the way there already. Luckily, at the very same time a red enemy shows up, a yellow ally arrives as well. Meet Tails the … (fox?) (Colleen O’Shaugnessey). Imagine yellow Sonic with two tails and a female voice and you’re 90% of the way there.
I mean, why shouldn’t the sequel simply follow the video sequels, right? Gee, I can’t wait to get to Sonic Spinball. Anyhoo, Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles see pounding Sonic as a means to an end, for Sonic may know the secret to capturing a magical emerald that controls the universe or gives you free lives or something. I honestly don’t know; I wasn’t paying attention at this point.
The important part is knowing that to get the emerald will involve a series of adventures including some sort of video game inspired labyrinth. So as long as somebody knows the cheat code, we’re
good.
The film’s most glaring weakness is not in the insistence of following a video game script, believe it or not. No, the weakness lies within its need to continue a story. Sonic the Hedgehog showed a valuable friendship between the alien hedgehog and his human friend, Tom. But now James Marsden is still in the cast and the sequel didn’t have anywhere to go with his character, so it fabricated a Hawaiian wedding for Maddie’s sister and some fabricated controversy with poi on the side.
I know, I know. “Jim, it’s a video game made into a screenplay … what ISN’T fabricated here?” All I can say is there are degrees. Giving somebody a personality tic or a hobby just so somebody can justify a paycheck is one thing, but sending the human cast to Hawaii feels like you’re just making this stuff up as you go.
I would have enjoyed Jim Carrey’s performance immensely had I not already seen it. Such is the life of a cartoon 
villain. Silver screen cartoon villainy is why Jim Carrey was put on this Earth … and I say that fully knowing Batman Returns exists. This continues to be a winning move for Carrey; I don’t see him ever sniffing Oscar again at this rate, but perhaps he no longer aspires to.
Even more so than the first iteration, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 reminded me of childhood … not of playing video games (although it could have), and not even of cartoon foolishness. Sonic 2 reminded me of being eight-years-old and going to the Elmwood Theater on College Avenue for Saturday matinees. I’m not sure the films were ever great; in fact I know that most of the time, they weren’t. That hardly mattered to eight-year-old me. I wanted to find gold, switch bodies, and both escape to and return from Witch Mountain. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 may not be a great film, but more importantly, it’s not a bad film, and maybe one day your OWN current eight-year-old will become an adult and compare it favorably to something else in their past. I won’t praise it any higher than that, but I don’t need to; odds are, your children will decide for themselves whether this film is part of their future.
There once was a critter called Sonic
A being entirely electronic
And yet, he’s pursued
Reviled and reviewed
All by humans, now isn’t that ironic?
Rated PG, 122 Minutes
Director: Jeff Fowler
Writer: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington
Genre: Twice thrown back, once thrown forward
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Eight-year-old me
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Those without a tolerance for kid films
