Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Movie Review: A cute but middling addition to a fun franchise

The success of any kid-friendly film is its ability to not just appeal to the children in the audience but satiate the expectations of the adults in the audience. That is where the underlying message of such films comes in handy. It was such a message in Sonic the Hedgehog that ensured the film spoke to audiences cutting across age barriers. Themes of loneliness, outsiders being given a rather hostile treatment, and the inner beauty helped the 2020 film to become a rather acceptable introduction to the franchise. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the second instalment to this franchise, sticks largely to a tried-and-tested formula to deliver a harmless film that doesn't aim for the skies and is content staying a few inches above the ground.

Cast: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba

Director: Jeff Fowler 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 continues right from where the first part left off. Dr Robotnik (a terrific Jim Carrey) is marooned on Mushroom Island trying to find his way back to Earth. We have Sonic (Ben Schwartz), who is now a self-appointed guardian of his community, almost like a Blue Batman of sorts. Director Jeff Fowler wastes no time in bridging the two films and establishes the world of the second instalment very early in the film. Remember Longclaw from the first film? Here, the legend is reiterated to introduce us to Knuckles (Idris Elba), the last echidna. In fact, it is fair to say that the sequel, written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, is almost like the Sonic multiverse. It is through one of these other worlds that we get Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), a two-tailed fox, and surely the cutest addition to the Sonic franchise. Multiple words collide, and with the usual trope of world domination taking centre stage, we have a mix of cute and not-so-cute detours that make up the rest of the film. 

On the point of cute detours, one can't help but get doe-eyed in the presence of a supremely optimistic Sonic, who strongly believes in the power of positivity. Facing even the adverse of adversities, Sonic's infectious hopefulness pervades throughout. The film follows a lot of tropes often seen in action-adventure series. There are a couple of Indiana Jones-esque escape sequences, and of course, has a few superhero film tropes that are done-to-death but have a semblance of freshness owing to the furry blue creature at the centre of it all. The engagement with the film gets bogged down due to this lack of novelty, especially in the portions not involving either Dr Robotnik or Sonic and Co. It isn't that these portions are boring, but just that barring a hilarious post-wedding sequence featuring Natasha Rothwell, Tika Sumpter, and Shemar Moore, most of these sequences are, unfortunately, bland. 

Nevertheless, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ticks the required boxes for keeping up the appearances at a possible party for successful franchises. It has a much-liked character as the protagonist. It has even cuter supporting actors who can do no wrong. It has an almost invincible but caricaturish villain played by one of the legends of the business. It always leaves enough meat for another film to be added to the franchise. It has enough characters to keep us invested in successive films. With each of these boxes ticked with aplomb, the minor pitfalls with respect to certain writing choices or character arcs, or repetitive gags are overlooked. Why bother harping on the negatives when the fast and furry-ous Sonic zooms past us and plants a smile on our faces as he goes about saving the world from one catastrophe at a time.