Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Released in theaters on April 8, 2022
Streaming on Paramount +
Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
Rated PG
“Because being a hero isn't about taking care of yourself. It's about taking responsibility for other people.”
Sonic is back and ready to prove that he can be a true hero! This soon must be proven after the infamous Dr. Robotnik uses the quill he stole in the first movie to return to our planet. However, Dr. Robotnik is not alone this time. He has brought a powerful ally named Knuckles with him.
Themes:
Friendship, family, robotics, good vs. evil, heroism, real farts vs fake ones, recklessness, echidna, weddings, other worlds, backstory, super speed, inventions, love, betrayal, undercover work, protecting what you love, wingmen, power, responsibility, and Sonic who can really move and has attitude.
Language:
Religious Exclamations - 10
Crap - 1 Groin - 4 Heck - 2 Hell - 2 Screwed - 1
Name calling such as idiot, dumb, and fool.
Jokes/Play on words - “this piece of shiitake planet.” “holy sherbert!” “Get sunburnt somewhere embarrassing” “truculent space bumpkin!” “The woman who waxed my…at the spa.” “Hold on Major A Hole.”
“Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars is played in one scene, but the lines with the curse words are not played.
Stuff to be aware of: “Like the stay puft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters.”
Scariness - There are some space warriors that are fully covered and wear masks that look like birds. When Sonic’s house is attacked there are horror movie vibes complete with power outage, static on the tv, and lightning causing shadows.
Sexual Stuff - Dr. Robotnik’s (or Dr. Eggman) henchmen, Stone, makes pictures of the evil doctor in lattes. One latte has a a photo of Stone’s and Dr. Robotnik’s faces with little hearts around it. This is played for laughs, but could be interrupted as romantic attraction. Both characters are male. Dr. Robotnik, when in exile, has a rock with a face on it named Stone. There is a wedding that takes place between a male and female character. A couple of scenes have shirtless men. There is a reference to Channing Tatum and dancing (likely referencing Magic Mike). In one scene Sonic wakes up with an old grumpy looking woman snuggling him, this is played for laughs and not really sexual.
Violence - There is a lot of fighting, but nothing graphic. There is a police car chase with explosives, but nothing too intense. A guy chops off a fish’s head and it rolls near Sonic and the head says, “run.” Some men try to throw Sonic and Tales in a fire.
Other - Dr. Robotnik puts his tongue on a quill he has. This always shocks him. Some guys in the movie drink wine and spray each other after shaking up the bottles. Two characters drink champaign.
Overall:
I would describe this movie as quirky with a smorgasbord of pop culture references. Surprisingly, the story manages to build on Sonic’s origin in a very fluid way almost as if the writers/directors actually had the sequel in mind when they wrote the first one? You won’t find anything award winning here, but if you're looking for a humorous video game movie and you like Sonic you will enjoy it. In my opinion it’s better than the first one.
Some of the references (like the Magic Mike one) surprised me. I guess they were going for jokes "that adults will get this, but it will go over kids heads.