Summary: When the manic Dr Robotnik returns to Earth with a new ally, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic and his new friend Tails is all that stands in their way.
Mild spoilers but I believe, it won’t be surprising?
Review for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Super, Super, Overdue Review lol
Pros:
Cast and Characters.
- Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog. An anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds. He wants to use his powers to be a hero “Blue Justice!” However, he’s too immature and reckless for it to be effective. But, he gets his chance to be a hero when he has to face off against Dr. Robotnik again. He has to protect the world and the Master Emerald from Dr. Eggman by teaming up with a new friend. Sonic is the same as he was in the first, playful, energetic and wants to do good. He’s a kid so it’s natural for him to be as playful as he is but he also has to learn that when his time comes, he’ll be able to rise to the occasion. Sonic is great and so much fun to watch in this movie. He does grow into his own and learns that he can protect those he loves, and that love is important when it comes to defeating evil. I haven’t played a Sonic game or watched anything Sonic related in a while but Ben Schwartz does a great job and I think captures the youth and energy of Sonic. His comedic timing and delivery is also great.
- Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Miles “Tails” Prower. An anthropomorphic yellow-orange fox who can fly with his two tails and quickly becomes Sonic’s best friend. We learn that he is shunned on his planet for having two tails and was left alone most of the time. But he found safety and enjoyment in his technology and learning how to create cool gadgets. Tails noticed Sonic after his solo baseball game in the first movie and once he realized there was danger, he came to warn Sonic. Scared at first to join Sonic on his mission, he finds his courage to be his partner. Tails and Sonic work really well together, Tails is clearly younger but he really tries to be so helpful. He and Sonic quickly become best friends to the point where they to do whatever they can for the other. I love Tails. Colleen O’Shaughnessey has voiced Tails in the past and I’m glad she got to have her due in a theatrically released big budget film! Good for her! I think she does a great job with Tails’ voice, he sounds young and innocent but energetic which an 8-year-old should.
- Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna. An anthropomorphic red echidna warrior with superhuman strength who ends up teaming up with Doctor Robotnik to find the Master Emerald (as he always wants too lol) and defeat Sonic. He is the only survivor of his tribe after they were wiped out by the owl tribe, during the same time Sonic was sent away by Longclaw. Knuckles is naïve to Earth’s customs, he almost takes things too literal or he says off the wall things because stuff may not make sense to him or that’s just how he grew up with his tribe and then on his own. Honor and being a warrior is extremely important to him. I loved Knuckles, I’ve always considered him “to be black” and I think it was great to have Idris Elba voice him. At first, I wondered how he would do and he seemed to affect his own accent a little. I was a little taken aback but it quickly grew on me and I think he did a great job. In a lot of ways, Knuckles reminded me of Drax from the first GOTG movie in how literal he was. I saw someone say that they thought Knuckles was a “meat-head” and a “dumb-dumb” and I didn’t get that at all. Sure, he was naïve and literal but that’s not him being a meat head. It’s not like he was punching stuff at random or randomly doing exercises. What a weird criticism lol. Loved Knuckles and Idris was great.
Live-Action Cast. Shout out to: Natasha Rothwell as Rachel, Adam Pally as Wade Whipple, Shemar Moore as Randall and Lee Majdoub as Stone. They all do a good job and are funny in their own rights.
- Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik / Dr. Eggman. a mad scientist and Sonic’s archenemy. After escaping from the mushroom planet, Robotnik teams up with Knuckles to get his revenge on Sonic and find the Master Emerald. Jim Carrey is Eggman at this point, I don’t know how many more movies he might appear in but he has such great chemistry with these CGI characters and he plays off of them so well. He’s so funny and a lot of the humor does come from him. He can be extremely over the top which I think works for his character, which is why having Knuckles and even Stone around him with different kinds of humor balances that out. But he’s so expressive in his face and with his body. He’s a joy to watch.
- James Marsden as Tom Wachowski. Tom is the sheriff of Green Hills, Montana and Sonic’s adoptive father. He goes away to Hawaii with his wife to celebrate Rachel’s marriage, leaving Sonic alone in his house. He doesn’t have as much to do in this film as he did in the first one but he’s still as important. He clearly cares for Sonic, he wants him to be a kid and have a great life and experience. He wants him to be careful and he gives him some great advice. James Marsden is extremely likable and you can tell he cares about Sonic, even if he’s talking to a doll most of the time. Love James.
- Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski. Tom’s wife and the local veterinarian of Green Hills who is also Sonic’s adoptive mother. She goes to Hawaii with Tom to celebrate her sister’s wedding. Her role with Tom is also reduced and I like her fine, I wish she reacted quicker to things though. During the wedding scene, something happens and she stands there for a minute and reacts like almost 10 seconds after she should have lol. But I loved how she just accepted Tails because her kid was worried about him. While the wedding scene was okay, I thought she had some really funny moments during it lol.
Sonic/Tails/Knuckles. Obviously Sonic is a huge pull but having Tails and Knuckles there too are huge draws because this trio is iconic. Most of the movie Sonic and Tails are together and we see chemistry and friendship build with them. We don’t get to see that as much with Knuckles because he’s the antagonist for a good portion of the film but Knuckles and Sonic have a moment on the icy mountain. Then of course stuff that happens in the climax of the film. I think whenever the third one comes out, these three will be even more amazing to see together. It was exciting to see an iconic shot during the climax and if you’ve seen the film, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s Funny! I think similarly to the first one it’s really funny. Jim Carrey of course is hilarious and he really is just having a good time as Dr. Eggman. He’s playing off of green screen and other physical props instead of other actors and it really looks like he is interacting with these beings. It’s hilarious. His assistant Stone is funny. Sonic is funny as a teenager would be. Knuckles is funny because of how he views things and his naivety makes for good humor.
Great Adventure. I think the adventure in the film reminds me of a lot of a video game or how a video game could play out. I think that’s a good thing being that is based on video game characters. I had a great time watching Sonic and Tails go on their adventure, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Eggman and Knuckles work together to find the Master Emerald. It’s a great time. Truly.
Cons: I don’t have super obvious cons but there are two things I think disrupt the flow of the movie and I feel could have been trimmed or cut out in general.
The Wedding Scene. A side plot in the film that also removes Tom and Maddie from Sonic’s immediate vicinity is this wedding subplot because Rachel (Rothwell) is getting married to Randall (Moore). I think this is the most glaring issue of the film because while I think having the humans in the movie helps balance out having the CGI characters, not to mention Tom and Maddie are effectively Sonic’s parents, this entire sequence halts the movie. There are parts of it I like and I think there are a ton of hilarious moments but if it was cut out, it would be much better.
SPOILERS. This scene sets up G.U.N which will be important for future films, not to mention the credit scene. END SPOILERS.
The Dancing Scene. There’s a scene in the snowy mountains that has a lot cute elements but I feel like the dancing bit went on too long. I think it disrupts the flow the movie in a way because if you remove it and just had them be fine in that little pub, we still would have gotten to where we needed to go. It’s not like any of those people in the pub show up again later. On my second watch, I was definitely not laughing and/or chuckling as I was the first time.
Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen Sonic The Hedgehog 2? Which Sonic character is your fave and who would you like to see in the next one?
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