As a quick history, my experience with the first film didn't start off strong with the first trailer showing a hideous character design, combined with the fact that I didn't get a vibe that anybody was particularly asking for the movie. However, after the character redesign and people leaving good impressions after having seen it, I rented it from Redbox and too was pleased with the result. It wasn't mindblowing, but it was light and charming, and most of all scaled back for people who don't need to have played the game to enjoy it. I found that there is a bind that must be made with video game movies to be able to engage audiences without having to just be for gamers. Even when someone like Robotnik is on screen, the attraction comes more from Jim Carrey than it does the character whom we've battled against over the years and his gadgetry. That doesn't make a movie like this "in name only," but it knows how to tell a decent story with decent characters from a cinematic perspective. Tomb Raider also recently did this very well, and too many other movies adapted from video games fail with this.
Does the sequel hold the right cards as well? For the most part, yes. However, as the movie progresses, it absolutely begins to cater more toward the video game crowd. I guess if the first film brings you into the world and the second film starts you off with familiar territory, they can say: "Okay, did we reel you gently? Now see what the gamers were pining for!" It was a smooth evolution into this though so I suppose you can stay on board, but it started to open my eyes to a few things. The first one is that I didn't realize how much of the lore that others know and I don't. My experience with these games were the side scrollers on SEGA Genesis, plus Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Sonic Spinball. That's it. I didn't play the 3D platformers or even do speed runs. I haven't played Sonic games where he spoke, and never even knew of his affinity for chili dogs. The second one is that I didn't realize how much others knew the lore. When I stopped playing on Genesis, my subconscious decided that Sonic was no longer a part of the greater gamesphere, when it honestly could have kicked up in a big bad way. Basically, on top of the moderate success of the 2020 film, this was very likely in high demand even from gamers who probably went back to play as the hedgehog following that.
So once again, the question that I ask myself when watching this movie remains: "Could I enjoy this movie even if I am not heavily tapped into the video game franchise?" That gets a little trickier, because it depends on your age bracket. It really plays into its PG nature, so you either need to be younger in reality or at heart, have a youngin for yourself, or grab hold of something nostalgic such as the games of a previous lifetime. The movie begins in a very entertaining way that kept me smiling and chuckling, especially because of how much it played off its predecessor and brought me back into that same world with those same characters. But eventually we get introduced to Tails, Knuckles, and a fully-fledged Dr. Robotnik, and although the tone stays the same the orientation really does teeter toward the gamers. For example, if I didn't love Tails in the games I would say that he was just aight in this film-cute but not also not playing the most prominent of parts. Knuckles had a good share of time in this movie though and also had a character arc that worked for me, although heavily telegraphed. He was hard to buy into with the Idris Elba casting choice to begin with, but with his fish-out-of-water experiences the more that I likened him to Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy the more that I enjoyed the role he served. I don't know how much I care for a Knuckles spin-off Netflix show, but whatever. If I wear my non-gamer hat I don't know if Dr. Robotnik worked for me as much here (outside of his introduction scene), though with Carrey possibly stepping away from acting I'll applaud everything he brought into these last two films and say that he left an imposing mark on whoever has to follow him and his character.
Never minding the video game elements, there were a few things that didn't work here and they mostly are regarding the PG-isms. With Robotnik hamming it up more you kind of have to appreciate Jim Carrey or the video game to make this one work even a smidge, and since I can tolerate both it was okay but definitely worked better the first time around for me. Officer Wade is back, and every line of his has cringeworthy delivery and is a waste of runtime. I think I laughed at one of them after they cut away for a few seconds to process how ridiculous his inclusion is, but that's about it. Agent Stone also makes a return with similar results to that of Wade. Maddie's sister Rachel is back and has an okay moment or two, but isn't nearly as funny as last time. She has a B-story part to play that I suppose was resolved but also almost seems to forget to be visited again by the end. There is also a scene here with a lot of human interaction that is a far cry from the bar scene in the first film but you can tell they tried to recapture that. And although I never got emotional in the last movie, there was an emotional arc that lingered with Sonic the entire time I happened to enjoy; they seemed to go back to the well with it again here in a forced kind of way, and it was hit-and-miss, leaving some of the emotion even drier than before. The character is still great, but I'm here for more than the video game Easter eggs to get me going.
The only other nagging thing I have also existed in the first film, though I do believe both times they didn't impact the story at all which is good (or the required narrative wouldn't happen without it, which needs to be an accepted fact). Basically, there are times when Sonic could use his abilities to accomplish something and just doesn't. Examples in the first movie are when Tom first sees Sonic in his shed, who could've easily dashed away undetected or avoided getting hit by the tranquilizer dart the same way he enters bullet-time later in the movie (but without this we don't have their introduction together), or when driving down the freeway Sonic is easily the one who should be battling every one of Robotnik's drones when instead there is one where Tom says: "I got this one! Take the wheel!" Again, these are quibbles, but they are present. These things happen in this movie as well, while there isn't a narrative reason for his abilities to be subverted in the moment it thankfully also doesn't make for something to go wrong either. My least favorite example of this happening in movies is when a driver is looking away from the road to have a conversation only to cause an accident; that is not what this movie is doing when these instances occur, so I'm definitely not upset over the moments.
This was mostly a pretty impressive visual movie, by the way. The opening shot was really creative and showed that they just threw more money at the effects and CGI this time around. Sonic himself looks much better, too. In the first movie he just looked like he was built from a computer. It's not like he looks like a realistic creature this time or anything, but he has a three-dimensional fabrication that has this tangible believability to it, like if James Marsden is talking to him you can forget for a second that he maybe isn't talking to a tennis ball. It's the way that the lighting and the fur work, etc. When he's on screen with Tails and Knuckles it does come off a little more animation-like, but there are scenes with Sonic next to Tom's dog and your brain integrates him in the same environment very seamlessly. I was happy with what they delivered there, because again if you go back and watch the first trailer of the 2020 flick that entire design and rendering/composition that was happening can immediately be a turnoff for those on the fence about this kind of movie.
I think this one is actually going to be very successful in theaters. Kiddos will eat this up one way or the other, whether they are actually in demand for it because of the games or whether it is a movie for their age group. There is that other animation film The Bad Guys coming out so I don't know which one they'll go to see first, but this one has a well-known IP behind it and a proven first film that gives this one the edge in my opinion. There is room for yet another sequel to be made, and you can bet that I will go see that when it comes out. If you like the first movie and like the video game series, it will be a no-brainer to check this movie out.
Does the sequel hold the right cards as well? For the most part, yes. However, as the movie progresses, it absolutely begins to cater more toward the video game crowd. I guess if the first film brings you into the world and the second film starts you off with familiar territory, they can say: "Okay, did we reel you gently? Now see what the gamers were pining for!" It was a smooth evolution into this though so I suppose you can stay on board, but it started to open my eyes to a few things. The first one is that I didn't realize how much of the lore that others know and I don't. My experience with these games were the side scrollers on SEGA Genesis, plus Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Sonic Spinball. That's it. I didn't play the 3D platformers or even do speed runs. I haven't played Sonic games where he spoke, and never even knew of his affinity for chili dogs. The second one is that I didn't realize how much others knew the lore. When I stopped playing on Genesis, my subconscious decided that Sonic was no longer a part of the greater gamesphere, when it honestly could have kicked up in a big bad way. Basically, on top of the moderate success of the 2020 film, this was very likely in high demand even from gamers who probably went back to play as the hedgehog following that.
So once again, the question that I ask myself when watching this movie remains: "Could I enjoy this movie even if I am not heavily tapped into the video game franchise?" That gets a little trickier, because it depends on your age bracket. It really plays into its PG nature, so you either need to be younger in reality or at heart, have a youngin for yourself, or grab hold of something nostalgic such as the games of a previous lifetime. The movie begins in a very entertaining way that kept me smiling and chuckling, especially because of how much it played off its predecessor and brought me back into that same world with those same characters. But eventually we get introduced to Tails, Knuckles, and a fully-fledged Dr. Robotnik, and although the tone stays the same the orientation really does teeter toward the gamers. For example, if I didn't love Tails in the games I would say that he was just aight in this film-cute but not also not playing the most prominent of parts. Knuckles had a good share of time in this movie though and also had a character arc that worked for me, although heavily telegraphed. He was hard to buy into with the Idris Elba casting choice to begin with, but with his fish-out-of-water experiences the more that I likened him to Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy the more that I enjoyed the role he served. I don't know how much I care for a Knuckles spin-off Netflix show, but whatever. If I wear my non-gamer hat I don't know if Dr. Robotnik worked for me as much here (outside of his introduction scene), though with Carrey possibly stepping away from acting I'll applaud everything he brought into these last two films and say that he left an imposing mark on whoever has to follow him and his character.
Never minding the video game elements, there were a few things that didn't work here and they mostly are regarding the PG-isms. With Robotnik hamming it up more you kind of have to appreciate Jim Carrey or the video game to make this one work even a smidge, and since I can tolerate both it was okay but definitely worked better the first time around for me. Officer Wade is back, and every line of his has cringeworthy delivery and is a waste of runtime. I think I laughed at one of them after they cut away for a few seconds to process how ridiculous his inclusion is, but that's about it. Agent Stone also makes a return with similar results to that of Wade. Maddie's sister Rachel is back and has an okay moment or two, but isn't nearly as funny as last time. She has a B-story part to play that I suppose was resolved but also almost seems to forget to be visited again by the end. There is also a scene here with a lot of human interaction that is a far cry from the bar scene in the first film but you can tell they tried to recapture that. And although I never got emotional in the last movie, there was an emotional arc that lingered with Sonic the entire time I happened to enjoy; they seemed to go back to the well with it again here in a forced kind of way, and it was hit-and-miss, leaving some of the emotion even drier than before. The character is still great, but I'm here for more than the video game Easter eggs to get me going.
The only other nagging thing I have also existed in the first film, though I do believe both times they didn't impact the story at all which is good (or the required narrative wouldn't happen without it, which needs to be an accepted fact). Basically, there are times when Sonic could use his abilities to accomplish something and just doesn't. Examples in the first movie are when Tom first sees Sonic in his shed, who could've easily dashed away undetected or avoided getting hit by the tranquilizer dart the same way he enters bullet-time later in the movie (but without this we don't have their introduction together), or when driving down the freeway Sonic is easily the one who should be battling every one of Robotnik's drones when instead there is one where Tom says: "I got this one! Take the wheel!" Again, these are quibbles, but they are present. These things happen in this movie as well, while there isn't a narrative reason for his abilities to be subverted in the moment it thankfully also doesn't make for something to go wrong either. My least favorite example of this happening in movies is when a driver is looking away from the road to have a conversation only to cause an accident; that is not what this movie is doing when these instances occur, so I'm definitely not upset over the moments.
This was mostly a pretty impressive visual movie, by the way. The opening shot was really creative and showed that they just threw more money at the effects and CGI this time around. Sonic himself looks much better, too. In the first movie he just looked like he was built from a computer. It's not like he looks like a realistic creature this time or anything, but he has a three-dimensional fabrication that has this tangible believability to it, like if James Marsden is talking to him you can forget for a second that he maybe isn't talking to a tennis ball. It's the way that the lighting and the fur work, etc. When he's on screen with Tails and Knuckles it does come off a little more animation-like, but there are scenes with Sonic next to Tom's dog and your brain integrates him in the same environment very seamlessly. I was happy with what they delivered there, because again if you go back and watch the first trailer of the 2020 flick that entire design and rendering/composition that was happening can immediately be a turnoff for those on the fence about this kind of movie.
I think this one is actually going to be very successful in theaters. Kiddos will eat this up one way or the other, whether they are actually in demand for it because of the games or whether it is a movie for their age group. There is that other animation film The Bad Guys coming out so I don't know which one they'll go to see first, but this one has a well-known IP behind it and a proven first film that gives this one the edge in my opinion. There is room for yet another sequel to be made, and you can bet that I will go see that when it comes out. If you like the first movie and like the video game series, it will be a no-brainer to check this movie out.