Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

User Review

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  d_riptide

  7 / 10

  The first Sonic The Hedgehog movie finally gave us the movie needed to break the dreaded video game movie curse. “Sonic The Hedgehog 2” doesn’t just double down on everything that made its predecessor work so well, it still provides about the same amount of entertainment value one might expect from a follow-up.
  
  Similar to its predecessor, cast members are all having a blast with the material. Ben Schwartz and Jim Carey continue to chew up the scenery whenever possible but Idris Elba and series regular Colleen O’Shaughnessy come dangerously close many times. The other humans are solid too but they aren’t the main focus; thank god their characters don’t get the short end of the stick entirely along with everyone else.
  
  
  From a visual standpoint, this film has a nice balance between level-headed and steadfast cinematography, only saving the praiseworthy animation for the most important scenes although the editing can be a little too quick to jump to the next moment more than once. There’s a healthy blend between the tone’s cheesy, on-the-nose exterior and the more earnest serious undertones, Special effects in general come off more polished and fluid compared to the first film despite a few moments where they stick out like a sore thumb, production design is used both sparingly and accordingly without overstaying their welcome, it has a steady stream of jokes and gags that actually work with a semi-decent mired pace that’s slower and shakier this time around and while the film hits many of the same beats as the first film and only just avoids getting VERY rehash-y, Jeff Fowlers’ directing leverages out the lengthy script to make sure every character is used effectively and to the best of their ability which is such a relief……especially with this sequel being appropriately less safe than its predecessor.
  
  
  Again, the predictable story, some unfunny gags, dated jokes, pop culture references and some tropes and cliches they don’t really try to hide make a return from the first film. Some people say the human characters outside of Eggman sort of hold the film back this time around but honestly, I don’t see that. Yes, some scenes could’ve been cut and human characters outside of Eggman curtailing the story’s momentum is pretty much a tried-and-true Sonic trope by this point but similar to Sonic and the gang, they too are given an arc and end differently than where they began.
  
  
  
  A decent continuation that’s sure to entertain both fans of the game and the previous film, all this proves is this franchise is still finding its footing but it is at least going in the right direction. And given how other video game movie franchises ended up, we should be grateful they’re being patient with this story and taking their time.

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