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APRIL 20�27, 2022
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’ is better than the original
By John Wenzel
The Denver Post
t fi rst glance, “Sonic the Hedgehog
2” looks like a cash grab from the
same people who made 2020’s shockingly
successful “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
I use “shockingly” because the fi rst
movie, which had its modest charms amid
the loose ends and bald spots, seemed
destined for the scrap heap of video game
adaptations — a genre that has repeatedly
tanked over the years because studios
have no idea how to translate interactive
digital characters to real-life settings.
Instead, “Sonic” made more than $300
million in the U.S. and went on to become
the highest-grossing superhero movie of
the year (yes, even beating Marvel’s wid-
gets). Go fi gure.
A
Paramount Pictures and Sega of America
From left, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter and
Sonic (Ben Schwartz) in “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
That fi rst “Sonic” — about a blue, ex-
traterrestrial hedgehog who runs so fast
he makes The Flash look sleepy — smart-
ly embraced its kid-friendly contours,
depicting its cartoonish protagonist as
a fully CG creation that lives in the real
world (in this case, the blandly fi ctional
hamlet of Green Hills, Montana). It could
have been a jarring contrast, but it worked
because everyone seemed to know ex-
actly what kind of movie they were in.
The cast fully returns here for “Sonic
the Hedgehog 2,” and to better eff ect
than the original.
Sonic is still voiced by Ben Schwartz
(“Parks and Recreation”), who leans into
our hedgehog’s more childlike qualities
as he entertains his superhero aspira-
tions. Sonic’s human sidekick, Green
Hills police offi cer Tom Wachowski (a
chipper James Marsden) is leaving
Sonic home alone to attend a wedding
in Hawaii with his wife/Sonic’s mother
fi gure Maddie (Tika Sumpter). Maddie’s
sister and the bride-to-be, Rachel (Nata-
sha Rothwell), nearly steals the show in
scenes that feel barely tethered to the
main plot, as if a sitcom was plopped into
the middle of a Thanksgiving Day parade.
Surprisingly, it works.
Meanwhile, Sonic’s pun-happy nem-
esis, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), escaped
from his galactic exile at the end of the
last movie. Knuckles, a red, brawnier ver-
sion of Sonic (voiced by Idris Elba), struts
through a portal and tells Robotnik about
his quest to fi nd an ancient stone known
as the Master Emerald. Robotnik, who in-
creasingly resembles his ridiculous video
game silhouette, is freed.
Another new-old character is Miles
“Tails” Prower (voiced by Colleen
O’Shaughnessey), Sonic’s sidekick who
similarly debuted in the 1992 game “Son-
ic the Hedgehog 2.” Tails has made his
way to Earth for the same reasons — to
fi nd Sonic and secure the Master Emer-
ald — although he’s more like Sonic than
Knuckles, an innocent presence whose
sweet voice belies his apparent space
travels and unexplained powers.
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