Sonic the Hedgehog has been a beloved character with an almost terrifyingly devoted fanbase for thirty years. On top of dozens of hit games, along with some less than successful entries, the fastest thing alive recently took his rightful place in blockbuster cinema stardom, and his next outing is looking great so far.
Last year's Sonic the Hedgehog may have been the best video game movie ever made. Starring Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey, the film's massive success and clever approach to worldbuilding left the door open for a sprawling universe of future films.
The first Sonic the Hedgehog film centered on the titular extradimensional animal as he forged a friendship with an idealistic cop, learned to master his mysterious superpowers, and did battle with the villainous Dr. Robotnik. The film's canon establishes that Sonic hails from a mysterious far-off planet, where he was hunted for his power. Sonic travels between worlds with the series trademark golden rings, escaping his home planet and spending much of his young life hopping through portals to avoid capture. His travels leave him just outside of Green Hills, Montana, where he eventually befriends the local sheriff and his family. Sonic is pursued by Dr. Robotnik, and their battles take them across the world. Sonic becomes a hero through the belief of his friends and secures himself a new home with his new family. Defeated and driven mad, Robotnik escapes to outer space and swears revenge. This is where viewers are going into the brand new trailer.
Dropped during The Game Awards, the Sonic 2 trailer sees the speedy hero embrace his new life as a crime fighter. Sonic's attempts at vigilante justice results in disaster as he foils an armored car robbery, only to cause a massive sewer explosion and flood the area. Meanwhile, Robotnik makes his promised return, armed with an artifact of incredible power, the Master Emerald.
Using this massive green gem, Robotnik unleashes terrible vengeance upon the world, leading Sonic to fight back with his new friend Tails. The pair travel the world, at one point donning costumes to enter a bar, and do battle with Robotnik's robot army in a variety of fun locations. In its final moments, the trailer unveils Knuckles, who immediately proves himself Sonic's equal in a dynamic action moment. All and all, the trailer looks and sounds great, in some specific and fascinating ways.
The visuals of this trailer, on top of being generally beautiful, are packed to the gills with clear references to Sonic's past. Most prominently, tons of the locations and shot composition are very reminiscent of the Sonic Adventure games. Sonic shot from below on a moonlit rooftop, standing dynamically on the top of Tails' biplane, the Tornado, or snowboarding down a frozen mountain are all very distinct and memorable moments from the 1998 classic. It's a joy to see classic game environments with new glory, the Master Emerald's Altar, in particular, stands out. Eagle-eyed viewers can even catch Sonic using his own Sonic Adventure branded skateboard. Sonic and Tails have clearly undergone a visual upgrade, and along with Knuckles, they all look outstanding throughout.
Ben Schwartz's performance as Sonic is as fun as ever, but Jim Carrey's Robotnik has taken on a new dimension. On top of looking much more like his in-game counterpart, Dr. Eggman's more erratic personality in this iteration brings to mind recent portrayals of the character in series' like Sonic Boom. Idris Elba's performance as Knuckles was one of the most hotly anticipated elements of this film, and with its reveal, it's clear he's doing something a bit different than expected. Elba's take is not an impression of any previous Knuckles voice actor, instead it's an imposing growl that still fits the character very well. Tails sounds perfect for very different reasons; he is the only character to be voiced by his longtime in-game voice actor Colleen O'Shaughnessey. James Marsden, who portrayed Sheriff Tom in the previous film, appears only once, suggesting the main human character's role may have been pared down to make way for the anthropomorphic animals.
Though only a couple of minutes of the film has been released, some interesting details about the plot have emerged. This film seems to be taking heavy inspiration from 1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which is also the first appearance of Knuckles. In that game, Robotnik's ship crash lands on Knuckles' home of Angel Island, allowing him to steal the island's treasure, the Master Emerald. The mad scientist convinces Knuckles that Sonic intends to steal the emerald, manipulating him into attacking the blue blur. Based on Knuckles' introduction and Robotnik's role in it, this seems to be the direction this film is taking. Much like in the game, Sonic and Tails will have to work together to defeat Robotnik and Knuckles.
So far, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 looks as good as its predecessor, if not better. The visuals, performance, and clear dedication to the source should have fans waiting with bated breath.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is set to race into theatres worldwide on April 8, 2022.