Ok, so April has a stacked month with Morbius, Fantastic Beasts and Sonic 2. The sequel to 2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog is an absolutely brilliant movie and though I haven’t seen Fantastic Beasts yet it’s gonna be difficult to match just how fun this is.
Throughout this video, we’re gonna be breaking it all down but because of this, there will be heavy spoilers. If you enjoy it then please smash the thumbs up button and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel where we get sonic till we vomit.
Terrible pun, one of the worst, but I appreciate you bearing with me. Now let’s get into Sonic 2!
Now Sonic 2 continues on from the first film with Dr Robotnik still stuck on the mushroom plane that first appeared in Sonic and Knuckles. Mushroom Hill Zone hasn’t made him Mushroom Chill though and he’s desperate to get back to Earth.
In a funny sequence which Carrey eats up, he uses his genius to create traps for the people coming to save him and he even has a Wilson reference as he makes an Agent Stone figure out of rock. See I knew he cared for him deep down.
Now it’s not long before Knuckle’s crew turns up and they’re taken out by Robotnik leaving just the red Echidna behind. He’s the last of his kind, the Echidnas, who had the Master Emerald and used it to fight wars before it was stolen by Longclaw’s tribe.
They believed it was too powerful for anyone to bear and there’s actually a lot of lore surrounding it.
The Master Emerald
In the games, the Master Emerald was located on Angel Island and the Knuckles Crew went on to harness it for themselves, before declining in power to the point their numbers dwindled. They’ve spent their remaining years protecting the Master Emerald from anyone who wished to steal it. We may see the pure Chaos and further backstory of the Master Emerald from the games as we push into Sonic Adventure storylines but that’s for later down the line.
Now the movie adapted the games well as Sonic 3 saw a defeated Robotnik trick Knuckles into the idea that Sonic and Tails were going to steal the emerald but in reality, he wanted it for himself to power his Death Egg once more.
The film does a superb job of condensing Sonic 2, 3 and even Sonic & Knuckles a classic that saw the blue streak continue his run of great games before it all kinda went to crap around the time Mario 64 dropped.
It really shows why it’s important to pay attention to the games that paved the way and it’s the complete opposite of Halo, which had the tv show creators dropping in interviews that they completely ignored the games. That show has gone down worse than the Sega VR and Sonic 2 is a great example of how to do it right.
Now the story changes the mythos of the chaos emeralds quite heavily but it works very well and fits in nicely with the story they’re telling.
On the opposite side of the Robotnik and Knuckles storyline, we have Sonic who has really taken to his life of being a hero. He stops robbers from taking a bank truck in a chaotic fashion, always hits the thumbs up button and has clearly watched more movies than I have.
He says he’s the hero they need and deserve which of course riffs on The Dark Knight and the persona and charm of Sonic is hammered home expertly. Sonic was always supposed to be the cool anti-Mario and it works here really well, providing us with lots of references to other films.
Unfortunately for him, his double life is discovered by Tom and Maddie and this happens in a hilarious scene that reminded me a lot of a scheme from Home Alone. He creates a decoy that looks like Sanic, the legendary MS paint drawing of the hero and it’s the part that had me laughing the hardest. Yes, at fart jokes. Schwartz delivered it well.
His adoptive parents head off for Rachel’s wedding and we see Sonic take part in a hilarious sequence of living it up home alone with references to Risky Business complete with shirt and glasses. There’s also something I certainly did not expect with a nod to voice actor Ben Schwartz’s role of Jean Ralphio on Parks and Recreation who elaborately says it’s the wooooorst.
It’s not long before we get to see Robotnik and Knuckles arrive with Tails on the way.
Sonic Vs Knuckles
The rivalry really adds some dynamics to the film and we get some great shots of Knuckles and Sonic fighting, showing just how better the former is. He was always the cool character and casting Idris Elba was such an inspired choice as he’s also one of the suavest dudes in Hollywood right now.
He demands to know exactly where the Master Emerald is, which of course Sonic Is completely oblivious over. Teaming up with Tails we also get the voice of Colleen O’Shaughnessey who has been playing the character for several years. Unlike the Mario Movie, Sonic’s producers took a chance on using a true voice actor and it worked expertly well making me wish that more studios did this.
We get a hint of the wider galaxy as Tails explains that he has been watching him ever since the energy blast from the last movie.
During the escape we see Knuckles smash through a Splash Hills truck, which was a level in Sonic 4. Sonic became a hero of Tails and once Knuckles was after him, Tails decided it was time to act. It turns out that the Master Emerald is not a myth like Sonic thought and we learn that he actually was wanted by Longclaw to become its next guardian. This is told to us in a hologram that gave me major Jor-El vibes.
Later in the movie, we see how it was kept in a secret temple and this is a change-up from the games. In those, it was kept on Angel Island and this briefly appeared on earth during the Sonic X anime and comic series. However, this could simply be the movie’s version of that island which was protected by Knuckles. Interestingly, Tom could also be a stand-in for Christopher Thorndyke of that series.
Elsewhere Knuckles and Robotnik reach an accord and Agent Stone is called into action once more. In a neat touch, the coffee shop is named the Mean Bean of course a reference to the game, namely Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. The Doc also receives his Egg Mobile which debuted in the original Mega Drive game. Yes, Mega Drive, or Genesis if you’re in America.
Inside the mean bean is also the trademark Eggman logo. Later in the lab also are some different costumes Stone was pondering for his employer including a creepy maid outfit and also a take on Nega Eggman’s outfit from Sonic Rush.
Tails and Sonic track down the first clue to Siberia and after a dance-off bro, they head back out to the temple which features a compass to the Master Emerald. However, they are attacked by Robotnik and Knuckles along with the doctor’s machines which include bee-like creatures from the first game. However, while they aren’t kidnapped animals inside, Robotnik hints at a desire to enslave people when he says he wants to control all of humanity using the emerald.
Sonic escapes with Tails who flies off and Sonic uses a piece of metal to snowboard which was akin to the Sonic Adventure 2 opening level which featured the greatest game song of all time except Snake Eater. It’s here we learn how Knuckles and Sonic both became the last of their respective tribes and that they are not so different…you and I.
Both are of course orphans of an ancient feud and the pair just want to keep the Master Emerald safe. However despite Knuckles almost siding with him, Sonic and Tails are on the back foot again and they end up in Hawaii.
Rachels Wedding
It’s here the movie does derail quite a bit. The subplot of Rachel’s wedding is weak, especially as the rest of the movie did a bang-up job of adapting the albeit convoluted Sonic history and the fact Tom’s ringtone is the Green Hill Zone theme is great. With Sonic and Tails arriving it’s quickly revealed that everyone at the wedding is GUN agents aka Guardians Units of Nations.
Tails and Sonic are captured and sent to a chopper which is a reference to Sonic Adventure 2’s opening. They are taken by the GUN commander in the games who looks just like the olive garden enthusiast in control here.
While the pair are freed and Rachel gets revenge on her catfish, Knuckles and Robotnik find the temple and make their way through to the main chamber. Sonic is forced to overcome his fear of water as during the fishing scene he says he can’t swim and he has to speed over the water. It reminded me of Elsa trying to cross the Sea in Frozen 2. However, in the games, he cannot swim underwater forever and has to use oxygen bubbles to keep going just as he did before being saved by Knuckles.
Robotnik reveals his true motivations to steal the emerald for himself and hilariously taunts Knuckles as the place falls apart leaving Knuckles and Sonic having to team up and take him down. I think the relationship between the pair works very well. Tails arrives in his trademark biplane which appeared in Sonic 2 and again looks cute with his goggles.
The Death Egg
Back in Green Hills Robotnik creates a gigantic mecha Robotnik with a head that looks like the Death Egg which was in the games instead and he fights the heroes. Stone pulls out a manual that looks just like a Mega Drive/Genesis booklet and I was pleased at just how easter egg heavy this movie was.
However, this is actually a reference to the Great Eggman Robo from Sonic & Knuckles as the rockets and flame thrower are similar. The trio team up in a scene akin to Sonic Heroes where you could use a group attack using a number of characters. Seriously how good was Sonic Heroes?
Sonic manages to retrieve the emerald but it shatters revealing the chaos emeralds which in the games were at times used as collectables and becomes supersonic. Sonic turned into this state in the games after the player reached certain milestones of collecting. It’s a super cool scene as Sonic seems to have ascended but he uses his power to create a chilli dog, his iconic favourite food. Robotnik is defeated but later is nowhere to be found potentially teasing his return in a sequel.
However, Jim Carrey has stated that he wants to take a break from acting for a while so potentially they could bring in a different villain and if he decides to come back, get him in a future movie.
Knuckles ends up joining Sonic and Tails which is the formation of Team Sonic which is featured in Sonic Heroes. They swear to protect the Master Emerald from all who would abuse it. We get a post-credit which is incredibly intriguing as the GUN agents learn of Project Shadow.
Project Shadow
In the games, Project Shadow or Shadow the Hedgehog was created by the grandfather of Robotnik, Gerald Robotnik. Gerald intended to save his granddaughter Maria from an illness and he created the mysterious Hedgehog or Edgehog as I call him. Look how bloody edgy he is. However, this edginess was deemed dangerous and after Shadow was seen as a potential threat he was put on ice.
In Sonic Adventure 2 Robotnik learns of this and wants to use him to stop Sonic and take over the world. Now I do think that with Carrey stepping back that they might reframe stuff slightly and potentially we could just get Shadow as the main antagonist. Hopefully, they back up the money truck and give Carrey more golden rings than Sonic has after your boy Kevin Spoilers plays the game…on easy mode and I’d of course love to have him back.
Sonic 2 was a blast from beginning to end and despite the weird catfish revenge of Rachel, it delved deep into the lore of Sonic and handled two additional characters expertly while retaining the magic of the first. I hope they can carry on the home run into three and I truly think this was better than the first one due to the game’s story adaptation and fewer humans. As I mentioned they could potentially go there with Shadow and I think that the studio and creative team are probably realising more and more that these characters can stand on their own two feet without the need for the humans.
Either way, great second movie and we’re giving it an…
8/10
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