#plus they're sonic and tails colors so i can't hate

[comicbookddr]

#MBAVChallenge → Week 7/8 Favorite Scene

Die Pod! is one of my favorite episodes ever, this is such a fun scene that I'm very much in love with.

[amusedunderclock]

Backlog: Talking About Movies - Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)

Originally I posted this somewhere else Dec 2022, but I'm trying to consolidate right now.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I actually did hear some spoilers for this one. Plus, it's taking a plot point from the game Sonic 3 & Knuckles. So I knew that going in. Still I can't lie. While the kid movie aspect is still there, I think the movie is good in spite of that.

Simply I think what held Sonic 1 back was its 90 minute run time and lack of...idk character variety? I guess? It was really just Sonic bouncing off of like, 2 actors. One being a normal ass guy. Didn't hate him though.

While here, well we have Tails and Knuckles.

I said the first movie didn't want to get bogged down in explanations and that hurt it. In this one, they don't explain EVERYTHING, but do a decent amount. The Owl thing was probably planned since the first movie to be explained in 2. Doesn't exactly color the first movie in a new light. But the elaboration in this movie is an improvement.

The jokes are also improved. Did I outwardly laugh? No. Still thought they were funnier.

But I just skipped Sonic and Tails dancing. The bar is probably the one part of the movie I just didn't care about because

1) There was already a similar scene in Sonic 1.

2) Cringe. Sorry.

3) SONIC HAS SUPERSPEED.

But I think that's the key here. For the most part, I did care. They set up a goal for Sonic to achieve. It's not just a fuckin car drive to a building in a city for some rings that means nothing to the villains. It is for the Master Emerald and requires multiple steps.

There are multiple callbacks. Not only to official Sonic lore or just game references. But to the previous movie. And I know that sounds simple for a sequel, I'm just saying its a point over Sonic 1 as the elements come together better.

G.U.N. is a thing now.

I think a criticism for this movie was either that the Sonic characters were the focus, or that the human characters were there at all. Its been hard to tell. But I can say right now, I had little issue with either party here. It's better than chainsaw dude from Sonic 1.

Just speaking in 2024 for a sec, there was a push in the 2010s in the Sonic fandom to suggest any human character besides Eggman is terrible to have in the franchise. I could care less about it. Keep the humans, discard them, whatever. The character could be a Koala or a Doorknob, all that matters is that they're well written or have a strong reason to be in the story. Far as I'm concerned with at least G.U.N., it's a plus that they're there. Especially with what the Sonic 3 movie is working on.

Still, the kiddy element is still there. Humans act like it's a kids movie and that means their screentime could've been a little less. And Sonic is a kid. How old is up for debate. The movie seems to think he's anywhere from 7 to 15. That vague window.

That means Tails is younger, of course, aaaand Knuckles.

Knuckles is weird to me. Because like, Idris Elba is cool, but I think the implication is that Knuckles is around the age as Sonic with that deep a voice. Possible I guess, but It's still odd to me. But I like his voice better than main Knuckles in Sonic Prime. For all that's worth given that show's reputation upon ending.

People may argue the movie is still too simple. But at the end of the day, there's barely Sonic media really diving into how Sonic, Tails and Knuckles would really initially team up character-wise. Outside of comics. (I was only a couple episodes into Sonic Prime when writing this and once again, reputation.) In most games, they're already friends. Before that, the story of how they met was told through sprites and manuals. So I appreciate this interpretation. Still, I think Tails could've use a little more time. Going from someone who didn't see himself as a hero, to fighting Eggman could've been focused on more.

Eggman works. Probably not in the most optimal way, but he works. Although it's Jim Carrey being himself like always. Got more of an Eggman feel from the last movie at some points. Swear by the credits of Sonic 1, he was attempting some kind of Pollock impression and just didn't follow up on it in 2. Still, I understood Knuckles & Eggman teaming up.

That Emerald absorption was kinda interesting. It plays a part to foreshadow Super Sonic and for a moment when you first see Eggman at the coffee place I genuinely went "Damn. What the fuck is Eggman about to do here?" Idk, it helped Eggman look more like a villain despite the comedy. It works.

...What didn't work were the visuals when he first grabbed the Master Emerald. That was off.

Should probably say something more about G.U.N. here. I did not expect them to be everyone at the wedding. This feels like one of those things that people will call obvious. I guess with that one scene with the groom's boys working out and the groom being played by Criminal Minds. But whatever. I can't predict everything. If that was obvious, flew over my head. The main human character is a damn cop and didn't see that shit coming. Fuck you want from me? I was just focusing on the damn Master Emerald the whole time.

But that does make me wonder. For the record, the G.U.N. shit is smart and it probably improves Sonic 1 as the government isn't just siting idly by. But you'd have to assume they probably didn't expect Sonic to show up where they were. So what was their actual plan there?

I guess the options are

A) They DID expect Sonic to show up eventually because he's that dumb.

B) That was all just a ploy to arrest Tom and Maddie away from Sonic. Or in the long term, infiltrate their family and ease Sonic into a false sense of security down the line to ensure his peaceful surrender. Maybe even taking the ring tech.

I guess it would have to be the long term idea if only Tom got taken in when things went south.

Now that I think about it, ring production just goes unexplained in this movie franchise. Pretty sure Sonic just drops a bunch at least twice in this sequel. When the initial bag of rings was so important, it was THE PLOT of Sonic 1. Like, is he picking them back up? Making new ones? Ultimately, it doesn't matter since Knuckles clearly has his own and Tails could probably build a teleporter or something.

Technically, this movie has the same ending as the first. As in "Sonic fake dies, but the power of love makes him stronger than ever." Same time, this one works better only because like I said, Super Sonic. It ties into the lore, and it was foreshadowed by Eggman absorbing the Emerald. Kinda wish it led to a more interesting fight at the end, but the movie had a good amount of fighting otherwise I'd say.

And, of course, the teaser. THAT I knew about. I've even seen the concept art pointing towards a much darker Sonic 3. Don't think it's gonna reach that level, but this movie convinced me it will do more than just have Sonic characters flossing. Idk how it works tho.

At the time I wrote speculation for what they could do with the movie in terms of making the lore fit that movie universe and what would happen in the 70s. Since then, things have leaked. I don't really remember much of it tbh so it'll still be fresh when I eventually see Sonic 3. So I'll just leave it at what I said without the speculation.

I said Idk how the third movie would work. Not even the fact that the man said G.U.N. was established after Sonic 1 (Then again, it could've been a revived project after 50 years). No, it's just that I don't think the movies established well enough that Sonic showing up on Earth was shocking, but they literally made Shadow.

There's room for this to make sense. It's an abandoned project from the 70s in the movie universe. And hell, it'd add an extra layer to how Robotnik worked with the government. But 50 years of Shadow probably means they wouldn't NEED Robotnik to stop Sonic.

The game lore is a whole different thing. Since Sonic is 100% established as a good guy in that world full of fast animals already. He's fighting Eggman, who the government doesn't side with. But even THEY have deterrents because of Shadow. Come on, Sonic gets jailed twice.

Let's sum this up. Is this what people wanted out of a Sonic movie? It's not perfect, but this is definitely in the right direction.

Would I watch it again? I talked about it this much, so obviously. Could I see a better overall movie out of this? Yeah. But it's good for what it is.