The first Sonic movie was surprisingly competent. This one is even better, incorporating additional elements from the games and sticking to more of an action-adventure plot. It's a kid's movie through and through (way more toilet humor this go-around), but a fun one that never takes itself too seriously. Everyone in my theater was having a great time with it.

As with the original, Jim Carrey steals the show as Eggman. This man is 60 years old and yet he has more verve than I do! He's so energetic he sometimes resembles a cartoon more than Sonic, Knuckles, or Tails! While I respect his desire to retire, I do hope he holds on and does the third movie-- there would be such a void without him there.

Following Dr Robotnik's exile, Sonic has settled down in rural Montana with adoptive parents Sheriff Tom and wife Maddie. What follows includes Robotnik's escape, the arrival of additional alien oddities Miles "Tails" Prower, the twin-tailed fox and Knuckles, the aggressive echidna, a marriage in Hawaii, a dance-off in Siberia, mushroom machinery, a Master Emerald, some annoying military intervention, and a giant robot.

That sounds like a lot, but it's pretty straightforward stuff in a plot which aims directly at a 3-part audience - kids, tolerant parents, and mature gamers with fond memories of the original games. And I think it succeeds. It's brash, colourful, fast, eventful, funny, likeable, and has some pretty good visuals.

It's not Shakespeare, it's dumb, but it's great fun.

Many sequels go bigger but end up being worse than the original. They lose the essence of what made the original good. That's definitely not the case here. It's much bigger but feels just like the first movie. It's on par with the original in every way, just bigger.

I said this in my review of the first movie, every moment Jim Carrey is on the screen is pure gold. I wanted him to be in every scene. His facial expressions are hilarious. Whoever cast him as Robotnik is a genius. It's so perfect. I can't imagine it being anyone else.

My only downsides are a few parts that don't really make sense. I chalked it up to being a kids movie but that's not really an excuse. And was I the only one who thought Idris Elba was doing something weird with Knuckles' accent? It sounded like it was switching between an English accent and a heavy New York accent, and sometimes a combination of both. I couldn't stop hearing it.

I had a great time with this movie. Two out of two in the videogame genre??? That's unheard of. Keep up the good work. Maybe this is the tide turning on video game movies like it did with superhero movies in the early 2000's. I can only hope. (1 viewing, opening night 4/8/2022)