Review | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie review: Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, Ben Schwartz in utterly unimaginative, overlong sequel
- Idris Elba joins the cast as the voice of Knuckles, who teams up with Dr Robotnik to find the Master Emerald, which promises absolute power
- The sequel stumbles in pruning back Sonic’s relationship with his human friend Tom and there’s sadly less of Jim Carrey’s mustachioed villain to enjoy
2/5 stars
A live-action/CG hybrid take on Sega’s video game icon, the film grossed a healthy US$319 million at the box office, even overcoming initial bumps in the road when director Jeff Fowler and his team were forced to scrap early designs of Sonic and re-work the animation.
Two years on, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 arrives with the industry in a very different state, with exhibitors struggling to entice audiences back into the movie houses.
This hardly feels like the film to change things. From its unimaginative title onwards, this is anything but the super-Sonic sequel fans would hope for. There’s more of everything – more humans, more CG characters – but nothing that really elevates this follow-up into anything compelling.
When the film begins, evil schemer Dr Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) is still stranded on the mushroom-infested planet where the first film left him. But the arrival of Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) gives him the chance to leave this “piece of shiitake planet”, as he jokes.
