While in exile on the mushroom planet, the evil Dr. Robotnik manages to create a laser beam which causes a creature from another dimension to appear, Knuckles, a red-colored anthropomorphous hedgehog and enemy of Sonic the hedgehog. They join forces and attack Sonic in his American home in Green Hills, but he is rescued by Tails, a fox that observed him. Knuckles want to obtain an emerald with great powers, and thus Sonic and Tails try to find it first. Sonic and Tails go to Hawaii for help from Sonic's friend Tom, who attends the wedding of Maddie's older sister Rachel. When the emerald is found in the middle of a town revealed by the retreat of part of the ocean, Robotnik takes its powers and uses it to create and giant robot in order to take over the world. Knuckles realizes he was deceived, so he teams up with Sonic and Tails to stop Robotnik.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" is one of the best video game film adaptations: unexpectedly hilarious, full of creative outbursts in a whole array of jokes, likeable characters, all in a rare sequel better than the original. Writers for hire for sequels are a dime a dozen, but this represents a rare example where the writers (Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington) were on such an insane level of comedy spree that they almost reached the levels of Monty Pythons and the Marx Brothers at times, having a blast with the playful story. Likewise, Jim Carrey as the villain Dr. Robotnik is still able to extract enough comic tricks in the film. In the opening, for instance, Sonic appears as some sort of pseudo-Batman figure who descends from the top of a building in tune to the song "It's Tricky" by Run Dmc to pursue the van of bank robbers, and since the breaks don't work, Sonic simply uses a power tool and his super-speed to dismantle the entire vehicle, until only an empty platform with the criminal on top slowly grinds to a halt in front of an ice cream store, which is a pretty clever idea.
In another joke, when Dr. Robotnik returns back to Earth from exile, his henchman, who has been working an unsatisfying job at a cafe (he makes high art of detail-painted face of Dr. Robotnik on the foam of a cappuccino, but a customer just ignores it and uses his spoon to stir the cup before drinking it), closes the store, and just to make sure nobody will show up, changes the sign of the sanitary inspection notice from "A" to "F-", while Robotnik gets back in shape by using his two miniature drones to clean his nose with a laser. One insane gag has Sonic and Tails show up at a tavern that is so full of shaddy characters that a seemingly normal looking grandma knits a sweater with a skull on it, while a fisherman hacks the head of a fish which falls in front of the two protagonists, and randomly says: "Run" (!). The highlight: the spectacular way Sonic and Tails interrupt the Hawaii wedding of Maddie's sister Rachel in the middle of the film—but then another plot twist appears on top of this sequence, which gives it an extra dimension of humor as a cherry on top, in a moment that is both stunning and unexpected. The flaw is the convoluted story in search for some emerald that gives its owner super powers, which feels rather chaotic and unfocused, as well as the overlong running time of 120 minutes, whereas the finale lost its inspiration and settled only for a routine, standard action fight against Robotnik's giant robot. Nontheless, "Sonic 2" is a fresh, energetic, smooth and good-natured comedy film full of positive energy, and the viewers enjoy in its ride.
Grade:+++
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