An 11-year-old superfan — and his mom — review 'Sonic The Hedgehog 2'

• Fifth-grade "Sonic" superfan Bobby (and Bobby's mom, Insider correspondent Jane Ridley) reviewed "Sonic The Hedgehog 2."
• Jim Carrey revives his role as evil genius Doctor Robotnik in the sequel.

Unlike my 11-year-old son, Bobby, I've never been a fan of video games like Minecraft, Mario, or Pokémon.

And in February 2020, I felt like a bad mother when I asked his caregiver to take him to see the new "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie instead of me.

He talked about it for weeks and was so excited when I finally sat down with him last month to watch the big-screen adaptation of the mega-hit gaming series by Sega, over two years after it premiered in theaters.

I did so begrudgingly, since I reckoned there were better ways to spend an hour and a half or so of my time. But I'd promised to accompany Bobby to the long-anticipated "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," and I wanted to know what I was getting myself into.

"It's awesome because of the funny scenes," he told me about the first movie. And, to my surprise, he was right.

Sequels don't always live up to the original, but 'Sonic 2' does thanks to its dramatic action scenes and fun performances

We asked ourselves whether the follow-up would be as good as the original. Sequels are often disappointing, but Bobby was excited to accept his mission to compare the two films for Insider.

As soon as we arrived at the cinema to see an early screening of the new sequel, he ran up the escalator and shouted Sonic's catchphrase: "Gotta go fast!" Sure enough, my fifth-grader was the only kid in the theater wearing a $20 blue hoodie from Target and a $24 spiky hat from Amazon that we'd ordered for the occasion.

The first film — a combination of live action and animation — introduces Sonic as the heroic hedgehog from another planet, who dashes around at a lighting pace. Voiced by Ben Schwartz in the 2020 film and its 2022 sequel, Sonic lands on Earth and battles the demonic Doctor Robotnik, an evil genius scientist who wants to rule the world played by Jim Carrey. Carrey reprises his role in the sequel.

When we watched the first movie at home, Bobby said that Robotnik "has a silly moustache, but he isn't scary at all." In my opinion, Robotnik's rubber face and wild eyebrows deserve Oscars of their own.

Sonic appears to vanquish his enemy at the end of the first film after some epic fights. Bobby said the 2020 film "got my attention because Sonic is really cute, and Doctor Robotnik is really evil."

But you can't keep a good villain down. In the sequel, Robotnik returns to search for a precious emerald that has the power to destroy civilization. Only Sonic can save the day.

In the first movie, Carrey stole every scene he was in. But in the second, he takes his outrageous character to another level. The comedian's over the top performance is matched only by his walrus-like moustache, which actually seems, somehow, even bushier than it was last time.

Each adaptation is big into gadgets. The 2022 Robotnik drives outlandish cars and spaceships just like he did two years ago. Last time, Sonic used his signature gold rings to teleport to exotic locations like Paris, France, and the pyramids in Egypt. In the later film, the blue blur flits between Green Hills, Russia, and Hawaii.

Our 11-year-old superfan also particularly loved the hedgehog's magical ability to "stop time" during the first "Sonic" movie. Whenever he uses this power, everybody else in the frame "freezes" as he whizzes around causing havoc.

Much to my son's joy, Sonic deploys the same technique in the second movie. At one point, he brings a tense dance fight to a screeching halt at an unfriendly Siberian bar. The action starts again, and he out-boogies his rival to the beat of "Uptown Funk." It took a lot of effort to persuade Bobby not to spring from his seat to join in. We decided that it was one of the very best scenes in the sequel.

A couple of fan favorites from the video game are also introduced in the sequel

In the first film, Sonic finds friendship with Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), the kind-hearted sheriff of Green Hills, a sleepy small town in rural Montana. But, to Bobby's delight, the sequel sees the protagonist acquiring his sidekick (a key character in the video game series) in the form of a wide-eyed fox called Tails (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey).

"He's cute, too," my popcorn-munching child observed.

Knuckles the Echidna also appears, voiced by Idris Elba. We won't spoil the plot by elaborating further, but Elba employs a gruff tone for the character to great effect, making him seem a little intimidating despite his cute looks.

Die-hard gamers will understand the more specific references, but there are still plenty of great jokes for non-gamers and adults

According to Bobby, Robotnik's greatest weapons include a bunch of air-powered robots which zap targets with red lasers. "They look like eggs," he informed me. "And that's because Doctor Robotnik's other name is Eggman."

Who knew? Die-hard gamers will understand such things. But a lot of the references and terminology were lost on me. It didn't matter. I was still tickled by the jokes and puns in both movies. For example, in the original, Robotnik delivers a hedgehog-themed gag about "losing the quill to live." In the second, he calls the bleak "Mushroom Planet" inhabited by alien fungi a "piece of shiitake."

These one-liners probably went over the heads of kids like Bobby. But the adults in the audience (including me) laughed out loud.

I'll never be a gamer, but I'm now a convert to the Sonic movie franchise

The sequel is more than 20 minutes longer than the first movie, and I felt that it dragged on a bit. But Bobby didn't want it to end. He's usually impatient and bolts for the exit as soon as the credits roll. Not this time. It was just as well because a fascinating teaser at the very end previews "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," the next film coming in the franchise.

On the way home, we got down to business and compared notes. It took less than a minute for me to agree with Bobby's verdict. "'Sonic 1' and 'Sonic 2' have exactly the same score," he declared. "They both get 100 stars out of five."