Sometimes a movie grows on you. Earlier this year I saw an advance screening of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 and didn’t care for it very much, though there were a few colourful moments in this very unnecessary sequel to an already unnecessary original. Still, both movies were a financial success and a sequel was inevitable.
Seeing it again, a lot of the jokes made me laugh this time around, including an opening shot of a machine featuring a mocked-up Sonic being destroyed, all to a reveal of Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) who has been exiled for far too long on The Mushroom Planet. And then Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) is revealed and much wackiness ensues when it cuts back to Sonic and his family getting ready for another big adventure.
Sure, SONIC 2 still has lots of problems and I could still do without the addition of Tails and the pretty lousy voice work, but watching it again I found myself laughing a tiny bit more and caring a bit more about what is going on. There’s also a wedding sequence halfway through that I thought was so strange in context to the rest of the picture that I couldn’t help but laugh at it. VERY far from perfect but it was great to check this sequel out again.
About the 4k Blu Ray:
Even though SONIC 2 is streaming on Paramount+ and can easily be watched on the streaming service, physical media is still a vastly superior format and Paramount still really loves and cares about the disc format and putting on the best presentation possible. And even for something like SONIC 2, they really take care of this movie.
On the visual front, I was impressed right away with the opening logo, which replaces the famous Paramount stars with rings and then cuts to The Mushroom Planet with amazing color and detail. When it cuts to the next sequence in Seattle (but really filmed in Vancouver) I was really impressed with the solid blacks and blues in a chase sequence featuring Sonic. In a closeup later in this sequence, I saw an amazing amount of detail in Sonic’s look, even pointing out individual strands of hair. This definitely looks superior to the already good theatrical presentation I saw earlier this year. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is also very strong, with some good surrounds and bass in the opening scene, music filling the surrounds and some good audio placement. Dialogue also sounded quite natural in some scenes and not dubbed.
There are also nearly an hour of bonus features here and my favourite was a short called SONIC DRONE HOME featuring Sonic, Tails & Knuckles. In addition to this, there are the usual standard bloopers and production featurettes that only add slightly to the behind the scenes production. A Digital Copy is also included that redeems to the same 4k/HDR transfer on Apple TV. Like with THE LOST CITY, there is no additional Blu Ray included as that now seems to be a case by case basis.
Overall SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 is a solid disc presentation, though I wish there was a 4k set that also included the first movie (one was released on Blu Ray recently, however) Hopefully another 4k release is coming down the road!
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 is now available on 4k Blu Ray disc. As always, thanks to Paramount for sending along a copy for review.