I Watch Films: Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic’s back, he wants to be a superhero but that doesn’t always work out too well. But he is trusted enough that when his human friends/family leave him to go to Hawaii for their sister/in-law’s wedding he’s left in charge of the house and the dog. Cue some comedy as Sonic does weird things in the house.

Dr Robotnik, trapped on the mushroom planet at the end of Sonic The Hedgehog, sets off a beacon that draws the attention of Knuckles The Echidna. Knuckles is searching for the Master Emerald, hidden by Longclaw, Sonic’s previous mentor. It seems that all the echidnas were killed trying to fight Longclaw to get the Emerald. Robotnik’s using one of Sonic’s spines, and so Knuckles and Robotnik join forces.

A third element arrives, Tails The Fox. Tails is a gadgets guy who is has detected that Knuckles and Robotnik have arrived on earth and want to help him.

This is actually a recurring thing in the film, every time two people have a confrontation a third force comes along and disrupts the scene.

The film marries some amusing sitcom-type stuff to massive CGI battles and setpieces and for that it’s not bad. The wedding scenes seem to be a distraction (the sister/-in-law is marrying Shemar Moore who regular readers of the blog may remember from SWAT , in very jovial comedy mode, his slightly off-kilter casting becoming clear at the moment where he has to do some actual serious acting while doing stunts), comes to a magnificent comic finale, only to then entirely re-configure in an unexpected plot twist, with the film’s C-plot then just stopping.

I suppose the question is, is this video-game adaption addition to the generic superhero action genre any good? It’s briskly paced, and consistent light-tone is enjoyable, perhaps because it’s for actual kids rather than overgrown man-children like me. I don’t have a big history with Sonic, and I’m not sure it has much to say about his main attribute, speed. Both Sonic and Dr Robotnik have (slightly different) pop-culture references and touchstones, which gets a bit much.

Watch This: A blue hedgehog runs fast, is charming
Don’t Watch This: It’s another superhero film without even a scintilla of moral complexity