Sonic the Hedgehog was an instant box office success with its first instalment back in 2020. It opened a historical record of a video-game inspired film, swiftly colonizing Canada and the United States while eventually grossing a whopping $319million globally. It was not only the fact that the movie became the sixth-highest-grossing 2020 film that wowed the world movie market but also its impact on the entire North America where it earned the enviable honour of being the all-time highest grossing video game movie. Only two movies made it past $100 million that year and Sonic the Hedgehog was one of them. It was a feat because it happened right when the world was crumbling under the weight of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is on almost a predictable track of beating the record of its earlier instalment, as it already scooped $71 million in its opening weekend. This is the kind of movie every member of the family can get busy with and be sure of loads of fun.
In the new phase, Sonic earnestly seeks validation regarding his heroic status. Everything he does always comes out wrong and he is beginning to look more like a villain, a perfect opposite to his utmost desire. The litmus test moment presents itself when Dr. Robotnik returns from a mushroom planet with a powerful ally in Knuckles as they gun for the acquisition of a mysterious emerald. Whoever is in possession of the emerald is imbued with the powers capable of blotting out the world. Will Sonic ever be able to prove himself by making sure that he prevents Dr. Robotnik from laying hands on the emerald?
How Sonic the Hedgehog 2 artfully blends adventure and humour is worthy of applause. Sonic and his sidekick, Tails, face a lot of trials on their way to the emerald. The trials would make you laugh so much you’d forget they are on a quest. You get a huge dose of delight, smiles, and laughter at the scene where they have to practically dance their way to having their map back. Without the map, there is no hope of reaching their destination. They have to win a dance battle to scale the hurdle. Sonic and Tails never believe they have the capacity to dance to save their lives until they really have to do it.
The wedding involving Maddie’s sister, Rachel (Natasha Rothwell), and fiancé, Randall (Shemar Moore), proves to be both adventurous and humour-packed, as Dr. Robotnik’s eventual invasion of the wedding arena digs up hidden identities of the people at the party, leaving them reaching for traits they never hitherto knew existed in them. The bride goes into war mode screaming, “Hell hadth no fury like a bride scorned!” During one of Dr. Robotnik’s cynical pursuits of his prize, an axe suddenly swings past him, ejecting from him the funny and foolish statement, “I’m glad it didn’t cut off my moustache.”
The bond between cartoon and human characters is simply amazing. It’s easy to get enraptured in the story, the laughter-inspiring dialogues, the seamlessly enmeshed setting, and forgetting the technicality that brings humans and animals to real life human environment. We first encounter Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles in the mushroom planet just before they embark on their journey to power and control. The way the scenes switch between cartoon locale to actual human world with great graphics as transitioning effect is breathtaking. It’s a brilliant handling of setting that contributes immensely to how this movie reaches a great effect on the audience. The camera switches perspectives in fun ways, making the audience know when the cartoon characters are viewing the world and when humans are relating with cartoons. There are also cosmic angles that show master views of all that the scene aims to absorb on a particular occasion. It’s heart-touching that Sonic finds a human family that treats him or rather adopts him as their own. The peak of the bond between the two sets of characters is the point Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the human family team up to find ways to overpower the all-powerful Dr. Robotnik. Sega’s Marza Animation Planet, Blur Studio, and Original Film teamed up to serve us wonderful animation and audiovisual effects.
The movie is dotted with power punchlines that’d get you nodding in agreement. The meat of the movie seems to be summed up in Sonic’s claim that, “Being a hero isn’t about taking care of yourself; it’s about taking care of other people.”
Ben Schwartz reprises his role as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. Other brilliant voice actors involved in this project are Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Lee Majdoub, and Jim Carrey, who probably would depart the franchise as he’s made known his intention of putting a stop to acting.
Movie goers, young and old, can’t hold back their impressions of the movie.
Oluwadamilola Sanni endorses it for kids and adults alike, “It teaches them confidence, allows them to believe in themselves. Even as an adult I learnt confidence. It makes me believe I can be anything I want to be.”
Nine-year-old Oluwatise Ojuolape speaks about what she likes about the movie, “I just watched Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and I like the movie because it’s interesting. I like the graphics. I also like the characters.”
Eight-year-old Aseoluwa picks her favourite character and tells us why, “I like Knuckles because he is very strong.”
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is a validation of Paramount’s dream of having MCU’s kind of reality for their subsequent movies. We can now have an Avengers-like movie wherein all Sonic characters gather to defeat an enemy greater than Dr. Robotnik.
Paramount Pictures are the global distributors of the movie while Silverbird Film Distribution is in charge of its West African distribution. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is playing in cinemas near you.
