It was an accomplishment muted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time, but Sonic the Hedgehog raced to first place as the highest-grossing video game movie ever after its release in 2020. IGN said at the time that the film was “made first and foremost for Sonic fans,” and now, based on the Sonic 2 trailer that just dropped, it looks like returning director Jeff Fowler’s approach to the sequel will please those who cannot resist the urge to travel at a great rate of speed.
With flying foxes, sexy echidnas, and Jim Carrey upping the ante as Dr. Robotnik (not to mention returning for a sequel in the first place!), the movie will continue the beloved game character’s big-screen antics. Fowler sat down with IGN after Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s trailer reveal at The Game Awards to assure fans they’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to beloved aspects of Sonic’s considerable mythology making their way to the movie series.
Sonic’s first movie - and the breathless energy brought to the character by Ben Schwartz - channeled the propulsive spirit of the games, with frequent nods to minutiae from them. But Fowler says the first movie was purposefully designed to be a sparse introduction to Sonic’s larger world.
“Honestly, it was hard in the planning stages of the first Sonic film to not bring in Tails or Knuckles, because believe me, the temptation was there,” Fowler says, “But it was great to make a film that introduced Sonic on his own, established him as a character, established the pre-Eggman version of Robotnik. Now we're just getting to open the world up [and] tell a much bigger story.”
If the trailer’s any indication, it looks like that “much bigger story” may hinge on the massive green gemstone that Robotnik identifies as “the source of ultimate power.” Some on social media identified it as one of the Chaos Emeralds, six artifacts with unique magical abilities that yield untold power when assembled (consider the purple elephant in the room addressed). But Fowler is quick to clarify that the Emerald that Robotnik’s got his hands on is actually the Master Emerald, which in the games can overpower and control the other Emeralds.
“We're telling a Knuckles story,” says Fowler. “The Master Emerald is kind of a package deal. I will not go any further than that into what other potential magic items might be the story, but yeah, that’s the Master Emerald!”
Yes, another element of Sonic’s mythology that’s being expanded on in the sequel is the rivalry hinted at in the opening of Sonic the Hedgehog, as a young Sonic and his mentor Longclaw are ambushed by a tribe of echidnas seeking Sonic’s power. Sonic narrowly escaped that encounter and wound up on Earth, but now that he’s older, Sonic’s going to have to face down the baddest echidna of them all: Knuckles.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is voiced by none other than Idris Elba himself. The Wire and The Suicide Squad actor joins the cast alongside Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who plays Miles "Tails" Prower.
“From the earliest introduction of Knuckles, he was an adversary to Sonic,” Fowler says. “He's got his own unique powers - the strength to Sonic’s speed - and he allows us to stage some cool action. There's versions of Robotnik vs. Sonic that are really great, but Knuckles gives us a different toolset when it comes to staging the action and the fight choreography. In terms of giving your hero an uphill battle, I love the idea of bringing Knuckles into the storyline and making him a real challenge for Sonic.”
With double the bosses in play, Green Hills, Montana - where much of the first movie takes place - may not be able to contain the mayhem. The visual design of the Sonic games’ levels is a constant point of pride for Sega, and that eclectic palette provided the filmmakers with a constant source of inspiration for situations the Blue Blur could wind up having to speed his way out of.
“The thing that excites me the most about the potential when it comes to Sonic games, because they really are this great mash-up of genres, is that the levels in the worlds could not be more different from one to the next,” Fowler says. “You have action, you have adventure, you have fantasy, you have sci-fi, and you can pull from all of it and it works. That is really how we approached the scripting of this one.”
That “swing for the fences” attitude Fowler’s encouraging manifests itself in Jim Carrey’s anarchic performance as Doctor Robotnik, Sonic’s recently-defeated nemesis and the source of many of the first movie’s biggest laughs. Carrey’s return to the role marks just the third time he’s done a sequel (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Dumb and Dumber To are the others), and Fowler credits that decision to the freedom the deranged Robotnik gives him to craft a fun performance.
"He just loves the character,” says the director. “And when we shot that last scene at the end of the first movie, when he's got the bald cap and the giant mustache, he just had the biggest smile on his face when he walked on set. He's an actor; he loves transforming himself as a character and really getting into the role. You could already tell that he was almost playing a different character from what we saw in the first film, in terms of the grounded version of Robotnik working for the government. But now that he's marooned on the far side of the universe and clearly losing a little bit of his handle on his sanity, that just takes the character into a whole new territory. And Jim just had a blast with that, just loves the character, and brings so many ideas to the set everyday. He really just crushed it.”
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be released in theaters on April 8, 2022.
Continue reading...
With flying foxes, sexy echidnas, and Jim Carrey upping the ante as Dr. Robotnik (not to mention returning for a sequel in the first place!), the movie will continue the beloved game character’s big-screen antics. Fowler sat down with IGN after Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s trailer reveal at The Game Awards to assure fans they’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to beloved aspects of Sonic’s considerable mythology making their way to the movie series.
The Master Emerald in Sonic 2
Sonic’s first movie - and the breathless energy brought to the character by Ben Schwartz - channeled the propulsive spirit of the games, with frequent nods to minutiae from them. But Fowler says the first movie was purposefully designed to be a sparse introduction to Sonic’s larger world.
“Honestly, it was hard in the planning stages of the first Sonic film to not bring in Tails or Knuckles, because believe me, the temptation was there,” Fowler says, “But it was great to make a film that introduced Sonic on his own, established him as a character, established the pre-Eggman version of Robotnik. Now we're just getting to open the world up [and] tell a much bigger story.”
If the trailer’s any indication, it looks like that “much bigger story” may hinge on the massive green gemstone that Robotnik identifies as “the source of ultimate power.” Some on social media identified it as one of the Chaos Emeralds, six artifacts with unique magical abilities that yield untold power when assembled (consider the purple elephant in the room addressed). But Fowler is quick to clarify that the Emerald that Robotnik’s got his hands on is actually the Master Emerald, which in the games can overpower and control the other Emeralds.
“We're telling a Knuckles story,” says Fowler. “The Master Emerald is kind of a package deal. I will not go any further than that into what other potential magic items might be the story, but yeah, that’s the Master Emerald!”
Is Knuckles a Bad Guy in Sonic the Hedgehog 2?
Yes, another element of Sonic’s mythology that’s being expanded on in the sequel is the rivalry hinted at in the opening of Sonic the Hedgehog, as a young Sonic and his mentor Longclaw are ambushed by a tribe of echidnas seeking Sonic’s power. Sonic narrowly escaped that encounter and wound up on Earth, but now that he’s older, Sonic’s going to have to face down the baddest echidna of them all: Knuckles.
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is voiced by none other than Idris Elba himself. The Wire and The Suicide Squad actor joins the cast alongside Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who plays Miles "Tails" Prower.
“From the earliest introduction of Knuckles, he was an adversary to Sonic,” Fowler says. “He's got his own unique powers - the strength to Sonic’s speed - and he allows us to stage some cool action. There's versions of Robotnik vs. Sonic that are really great, but Knuckles gives us a different toolset when it comes to staging the action and the fight choreography. In terms of giving your hero an uphill battle, I love the idea of bringing Knuckles into the storyline and making him a real challenge for Sonic.”
Sega Visuals and Robotnik’s Return
With double the bosses in play, Green Hills, Montana - where much of the first movie takes place - may not be able to contain the mayhem. The visual design of the Sonic games’ levels is a constant point of pride for Sega, and that eclectic palette provided the filmmakers with a constant source of inspiration for situations the Blue Blur could wind up having to speed his way out of.
“The thing that excites me the most about the potential when it comes to Sonic games, because they really are this great mash-up of genres, is that the levels in the worlds could not be more different from one to the next,” Fowler says. “You have action, you have adventure, you have fantasy, you have sci-fi, and you can pull from all of it and it works. That is really how we approached the scripting of this one.”
That “swing for the fences” attitude Fowler’s encouraging manifests itself in Jim Carrey’s anarchic performance as Doctor Robotnik, Sonic’s recently-defeated nemesis and the source of many of the first movie’s biggest laughs. Carrey’s return to the role marks just the third time he’s done a sequel (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Dumb and Dumber To are the others), and Fowler credits that decision to the freedom the deranged Robotnik gives him to craft a fun performance.
"He just loves the character,” says the director. “And when we shot that last scene at the end of the first movie, when he's got the bald cap and the giant mustache, he just had the biggest smile on his face when he walked on set. He's an actor; he loves transforming himself as a character and really getting into the role. You could already tell that he was almost playing a different character from what we saw in the first film, in terms of the grounded version of Robotnik working for the government. But now that he's marooned on the far side of the universe and clearly losing a little bit of his handle on his sanity, that just takes the character into a whole new territory. And Jim just had a blast with that, just loves the character, and brings so many ideas to the set everyday. He really just crushed it.”
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be released in theaters on April 8, 2022.
Continue reading...