Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: James Marsden. Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Lee Majdoub, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Melody Nosipho Niemann, Tom Butler, Brad Kalilmoku, Krista Alvarez, Donna Jay Fulks, Elizabeth Bowen.
You can’t keep a good hedgehog down, and even if it is only for nostalgia’s sake, the name of Sonic is one that, like the Duracell Bunny, seems to keep going, and going…until, well you get the picture.
It was always inevitable, that films and what was once called computer games, would merge, amalgamate into a unifying force, and buoyed by the plethora of games that have utilised technology to appear more than just a polygraphic representation of imagination and instead taken on the role of visual interactive talking book, it is no wonder that even the idea of games and characters from the classic days of home computing being transferable to the big screen has become, if not popular, then readily available for a new generation to love.
The loveable scamp that is Sonic The Hedgehog returns in the first, arguably of many, sequels, and if a formula can be repeated successfully, then why put obstacles in its way; all you have to do is add to the adventure, all that is required is to keep building layers, and the crowds will turn up and clamour for more.
Nothing is as powerful as nostalgia, and that is exactly what Sonic The Hedgehog 2 offers, not only in its storytelling, but in the memory of what it brings out in one of its stars, that of the undeniably comedic Jim Carrey, who, as he reprises his role of Dr. Robotnik, reminds audiences of what they found intriguing, even pleasing, in his initial break out cinematic performances.
The tale itself is a continuation of the debut encounter, a creature stuck on Earth builds a life for themselves that sees them grow and part of a family; it is an age old trope, one that arguably has no other place where to go to be ultimately defined as such as an alien in an alien world, and one that this particular film is more than willing to portray, not without hope or sympathy, but certainly with just that wonderful sense of irony that escapes many others in its own genre.
Whilst knee deep in nostalgia, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 offers the viewer to pass on the flame of cheer to those who seek to influence their young offspring, and this film certainly is unashamedly adept at creating a bond, one that may be thirty years in the making, but one that with entertaining performances for the aforementioned Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, and the voice of Sonic himself, Ben Scwartz, as well as a formidable Idris Elba supplying the necessary gruffness of spirit for the character of Knuckles the Echidna, is enough to keep a family entertained and cheering for the blue hedgehog for the foreseeable future.
As the Spencer Davis Group once sang, “Keep On Running”, for it is near impossible to cancel a franchise when you cannot catch its star.
Ian D. Hall