Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• a review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 8 April 2022.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Marooned on a distant, fungi filled planet, Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey) has been biding his time while he hatches plans for revenge on Sonic (voice of Ben Schwartz). Finally able to free himself, he heads back to Earth with a new partner, named Knuckles (voice of Idris Elba), who has spent his life looking for a lost emerald that he believes Sonic holds the key to finding. Meanwhile, Sonic is living it up in Green Hills, Montana with the town’s sheriff Tom (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), while simultaneously trying to make it as a self-named super hero called Blue Justice. Sonic’s plans of being a hero repeatedly backfire, often ending with unhappy, albeit safe, people and lots of property damage. When Tom and Maddie head to Hawaii for their friend Rachel’s (Natasha Rothwell) wedding, Sonic promises to look after the place and stay out of trouble. As Dr Robotnik and Knuckles make their appearance, Sonic is assisted by a furry friend from afar, named Tails (voice of Colleen O’Shaughnessey). Together they learn of the lost emerald, the power it holds and how to find it. They set off on a mission to keep it safe, with Dr Robotnik and Knuckles hot on their trail. When Sonic desperately crashes Rachel and Randall’s (Shemar Moore) wedding, he and Tails are captured and it looks like Knuckles and the evil Dr will win, until Sonic teams up to become the hero he has always hoped to be.

Revenge; Greed; Good versus evil; Deceit; Betrayal.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A small creature is impaled and crushed while Dr Robotnik makes a mushroom-based drink.
• Dr Robotnik is blasted backwards in an explosion.
• Aggressive looking soldiers are flung into outer space and one is knocked out with a large flying stone.
• Two thieves throw explosives at police cars during a high speed chase. There are numerous crashes as they careen through the city.
• Sonic throws the thieves out of the speeding van; and bombs into a garbage truck.
• Sonic dismantles the van moments before it was about to hit a child holding an ice-cream.
• Sonic accidentally explodes a water pipe under the city, resulting in numerous fountains blasting through the manholes.
• Rachel threatens Tom, telling him that if he screws up her wedding she will ‘end him’.
• Sonic is blasted through the walls of his house. He is later blasted into the ground and onto a tree.
• Knuckles is hit by a speeding car and blasted into a shed.
• Knuckles threatens to kill Sonic.
• Knuckles blasts trough a truck and crashes a car over the side of a rail.
• A severed fish head tells Tails to run.
• Sonic and Tails are grabbed and nearly thrown in the fire.
• Sonic grabs a missile and throws it back towards Dr Robotnik while lasers shoot at them down the mountain.
• Tails is blasted unconscious and Sonic saves her from an avalanche at the last minute.
• Tom punches Randall in the face.
• Tazers are shot at people in the aftermath of the wedding.
• A man is blasted into the air after he threatens Maddie and Rachel.
• Guns are aimed at Maddie, and Rachel accidentally kicks them all out with a blast of light.
• A man crashes down from the sky and Rachel threatens to kill Randall for deceiving her. She shoots a cake to prove that her gun works.
• A booby-trapped temple tries to impale, burn, shoot and crush anyone who enters it.
• Sonic and Knuckles fight each other, hitting and blasting each other with power punches.
• Sonic is about to be killed by Knuckles when the temple begins to crumble around them. Knuckles is crushed and drowning but Sonic comes to his rescue. Knuckles then saves Sonic who is also about to drown.
• Vehicles and all kinds of metal are drawn up to the sky as Dr Robotnik puts his evil plan into action, creating a huge destructive metal giant.
• Lots of missiles are fired at Sonic and Tails.
• A snot rocket knocks Sonic off a bridge where he falls to the ground.
• Sonic is nearly crushed by a giant metal monster. He later decapitates the giant robot.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• A band of alien soldiers come out of an intergalactic portal. They are clad from head to foot in dark, menacing attire with brutal looking helmets and swords. Dr Robotnik launches a counter attack and outsmarts them but their appearance may disturb some young viewers.
• There is a creepy, sinister, shadow on the chimney when Sonic is home alone. He looks a little frightened as he tries to work out who is there. Dr Robotnik and Knuckles launch a brutal attack, blasting him through the walls of his own home and it looks like Sonic is outnumbered and unable win. Some children may be distressed while watching Sonic get beaten down. Tails comes to his rescue.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Tails is injured during one of Dr Robotnik's attacks. She is lying unconscious throughout a number of scenes and Sonic is clearly very worried about her survival.
• As Dr Robotnik launches his final attack, Sonic, Tom and Maddie huddle beside a burned out car. Their death seems imminent and they say they love each other as a giant metal foot comes crashing down upon them all. For a moment it looks as though they have all been crushed and even though they come out unscathed some children may find the scene distressing.

• Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• The Four Seasons Resort in Oahu is mentioned by name, a wedding is held there and parts of the film appear to be shot on its grounds.
• Oreo cookies are shown on the shop shelf.

Sexual references

• None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Randall and his groomsmen play volleyball shirtless.
• Randall and Rachel kiss.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Randal and his volleyball buddies spray champagne at the end of their game.
• Characters encourage each other to go and get Mai-Tais.
• Characters are seen drinking in a pub.
• Rachel drinks straight out of a wine bottle before chucking it away.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Shit-atke planet.
• Holy crap!
• Screwed
• Hell
• There is also some crude, butt, humour.

In a nutshell

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a sequel to the movie based on the Sega video games. There are numerous special effects and while the plot is fast paced it is also very predictable. This is a film for families with slightly older children that will be especially appreciated by Sonic fans.

The main messages from this movie are that anyone can be a hero but that we do not choose the moment – the moment chooses us.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Loyalty
• Compassion
• Teamwork
• Courage
• Friendship.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Being driven by revenge.
• Lying to others.
• Betraying those who trust you.
• Using violence as a means to solve conflict.