Since we've reached the 2nd month of 2025, today's edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post brings us to the 2nd Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
Called Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Try to keep up.
Eight months after banishing Dr. Ivo Robotnik to the mushroom planet, Sonic spends his days living with with Tom and Maddie Wachowski in idyllic Green Hills.
And he spends his nights as a self proclaimed big city super hero ("BLUE JUSTICE!!") but his exuberence and recklessness cause way too much collateral damage.
Tom urges Sonic to pull back and wait for the moment when his powers will truly be needed.
Then using one of Sonic's portal rings, Tom and Maddie head off to Hawaii to attend Maddie's sister's wedding.
(We met Rachel in the last movie. She did not like Tom before Sonic came in their lives and that has not changed.)
Then Robotnik arrives at the Wachowski house! He's escaped the mushroom planet.
(Robotnik did not like the mushroom planet because he's not a.... wait for it! .... "fun guy". No, I'm not sorry.)
Robotnik is not alone. He is joined by Knuckles, an echidna warrior (like the ones that came after Sonic at the start of the first movie.)
Robotnik wants revenge!
Knuckles wants the Master Emerald, a source of ULTIMATE POWER!!!!
Wait, did he say ultimate power?
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Robotnik wants ULTIMATE POWER!! And revenge too.
Sonic is in some serious trouble here but gets a helping hand from Miles "Tails" Prower, a young two-tailed flying fox! Tails is a big fan of Sonic and really wants to help save him from Knuckles.
It's an around the world chase but Sonic and Tails wind up in danger. Having lost his portal rings, Sonic calls Tom for him to use his ring to teleport them to Hawaii.
The arrival of Tails and Sonic leads to a major revelation:
Rachel's fiancé Randall and his wedding guests reveal themselves as undercover agents of the Guardian Units of Nations (GUN), having set the wedding up to capture Sonic!
And they take Tails too!
And arrest Tom as well.
Wait! What?
No, it does not make any sense but Rachel is royally pissed off. Angry enough to even help Tom and Sonic.
Meanwhile Robotnik and Knuckles had tracked the Master Emerald to an undersea lair and it's beginning to occur to Knuckles that Robotnik may not be on his side.
Spoiler: he's not!
There's a heapin' helpin' of shenanigans along with a variety of stuff 'n' junk as Robotnik gets hold of the Master Emerald and gains ULTIMATE POWER like unto a GOD blah blah blah.
Knuckles realizes he has more in common with Sonic than he cared to admit as events spiral to a battle royale in Green Hills (again?)
Robotnik whammies up a giant robot armor suit that resembles the Robotnik design from the games and comics.
Sonic gets an upgrade from the Emerald and becomes... SUPER SONIC!!!!
Robotnik loses the giant robot armor and his powers but eludes capture at the end.
Knuckles makes a pact with Sonic and Tails to protect the Master Emerald from evil together instead of alone and they start an idyllic life with the Wachowskis.
And THAT is the end....
Except....
Meanwhile...
The search for Robotnik leads GUN to information about a secret research facility known as Project Shadow.
And we've set up the sequel.
All in all, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 lives across from the first film, not worse but not better. While some critics at the time (2022) praised Jim Carrey for his commitment to the outrageous persona of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, it seemed to me some sense of sameness, some boredom might already be slipping in to Carrey's performance.
(On the recently released Sonic 3, Carrey was asked about why he returned to play Robotnik again and he replied, "I bought a lot of stuff I need to pay for.")
Expanding the Sonic universe by bringing in Tails and Knuckles is cool and opens up the franchise but I do miss Sonic bonding with Tom like we got in the previous film.
Idris Elba has a delightfully droll delivery as Knuckles who takes everything literally.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 does what it's supposed to do, deliver action packed dumb fun.
Sometimes that's all anyone might need from a movie.
Speaking of "dumb" but not so much "fun", we're tackling Star Trek Section 31 tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment