Sonic: The Hedgehog 2 Movie Review: A vacuous speed junkie

A still from Sonic: The Hedgehog 2

Film: Sonic: The Hedgehog 2

Cast: Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, Colleen O' Shaughnessey, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore

Director: Jeff Fowler

Rating: 2.5/5

Runtime: 122 min.

The successful Sonic the Hedgehog video game series from Sega has now generated a second film about the super-speedy alien. Sonic the Hedgehog became the all-time highest-grossing video game movie, so the sequel was a given. Looking back on the first cinema incarnation you might remember that Sonic is all about speed and determination. In this version Sonic, who has some portal-opening rings given to him by his late guardian and teacher, the owl-like Longclaw, is all set to overcome several obstacles to beat evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to the special power emeralds with the assistance of his best pal Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), a two-tailed fox who is a gadget whiz.

Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) now lives with a human couple, Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), who are both friend and parent to him. Dr. Robotnik, who was exiled to a mushroom planet at the end of the first film is brought back to earth by Knuckles (Idris Elba), who is also looking for Sonic. The live action animation antics are full of misses, speed antics, messes and physical comedy that rarely thrill or bring on the laughs. Despite the many human characters, overflowing dialogue and add-on plots, this still doesn't feel like much of a movie.

The creatives are unimpressive. The speed with which this sequel made it to the cinemas is in itself telling. The runtime is way too extended and the apocalyptic threat feels too generic to offer any comfort. Frequent references to other films are mere winks. The three storyline merge feels overdone and several subplots fail to register because of overcrowding. The gleeful mayhem envisaged here seems a tad over the top even with wildly expressive, contortionist Carrey in his element. The dance-off, potty humor, marriage hijinks, draw up some amusement but it's never near enough to make it to the all-out entertainer grade.