Well would you look at that, another late review. Honestly, I’m not surprised at this point, I’m lucky that this movie is doing so well that it’s still big even three weeks later. But do you know who doesn’t have this issue, who is never late and gets things done in a flash? He’s no scarlet speedster, he’s the blue blur – Sonic the Hedgehog. And with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 becoming the biggest video game movie ever, I thought I’d let you in on how this blue fuzzball has been taking the world by storm.
NO SPOILERS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THIS REVIEW/IMPRESSIONS. THE FINAL SECTION WILL HAVE SPOILERS BUT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER WARNING
Even better the second time
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the sequel to one of the last major films released before the pandemic, Sonic the Hedgehog (which is hilarious when you think about it). Directed again by Jeff Fowler and with all the cast returning, this sequel is definitely an improvement. From a larger focus on the Sonic characters, to a story that pulls more from the games, most of the issues fans had with the first film are addressed. Even Dr Eggman looks more game accurate now, gone is the sleek black coat and in with the red one. And we even get new characters that have been a staple of the games for years.
Making friends
The post credits scene of the first film showed us that we would see Tails in the sequel. But what we didn’t know until much later is that Knuckles would also be involved. The yellow fox and red echidna are two reasons why this film feels even close to the games. They make Sonic seem less out of place because there are more little fur balls running around. Granted, Knuckles isn’t the biggest fan of Sonic (or anyone really), but it’s still a joy to see these 3 characters running around together. Returning characters such as Agent Stone are also extremely fun to watch, especially when they interact with the trio.
For fans of all ages
If you decide to go and see Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in cinemas, you’ll run into 2 scenarios. The first is the cinema is filled with people over the age of 20 who grew up with the series and love the universe. The second (and more likely option) is that the cinema will have an abundance of kids and their parents because they are one of the major target audiences. This shouldn’t come as a surprise though; I mean I wouldn’t consider Sonic to be only for adults. But that’s were the fun of this film shines through. Whether you’re an old fan who loves seeing their childhood favourites on the big screen, or a child who’s just there for a good time. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will leave everyone in a good mood.
Looking more like a video game
As I said before, this film leans way more into the video game side of things. For starters, the character designs look like they were taken straight out of the games. Their personalities and, voices, and movements all feel like their counterparts as well. The locations they visit and the story in general are both extremely reminiscent of the older Sonic games. This is definitely an upgrade (in my opinion at least) over the first film, which focused more on the fish out of water aspect. Pushing those plot threads to the side and focusing on incorporating more of the Sonic universe is something that many fans have been excited about for the past several weeks.
SPOILERS AHEAD: TURN BACK NOW
Easter eggs galore
Now, I won’t spoil anything major here, just a few really cool easter eggs that I have to share. Major ones include Sonic snowboarding down a mountain like Sonic Adventure and the Sonic and Knuckles fights of Sonic X. The best one though has to be Super Sonic at the end. Watching a golden hedgehog destroy a giant robot is something that brings my heart joy. My favourite though has to be the post credits scene where the reveal MC FREAKING SHADOW. I’m not lying when I say I started laughing loudly when they slowly revealed him, building up suspense and everything, I couldn’t help it.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is what every video game movie should strive to be. Incorporate key aspects from the source material without making any of it look stupid, but also not leaning to much in the opposite direction. It should be no surprise that this film is currently the number 1 video game movie in terms of revenue. Now we just gotta wait for the next one where Shadow shows up with a gun and shoots everyone.
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