Released in theaters on April 8, 2022, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” follows the speedy Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Ben Schwartz) as he adapts to life with his adopted family in small-town America. Sonic is forced to stop eating chili dogs, and take action when Dr. Robotnik (played by Jim Carey) comes back from a mushroom planet for revenge. This time around, Sonic is not the only CGI animal for kids to cheer for—Knuckles, a headstrong muscle beast (voiced by Idris Elba), as well as Tails, a fox that likes to invent things (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey), join Sonic in making jokes and fighting bad guys.

A movie such as “Sonic the Hedgehog” is best approached with the mindset of a small child. This is true for most movies, but videogame movies in particular beg for tempered expectations. With this in mind, the film is a roaring success, giving all of the jokes and action scenes a kid could hope for. That is not to say the film was completely forgettable; The film boasts a cartoony logic fitting of the odd premise. This is certainly an improvement over the blandness of the original film.

Although this unashamed silliness allows the film to keep the usual kids’ movie cynicism at bay, there is still a barrage of kid movie cliches such as dead parents, dance scenes, etc. It will make the adults in the theater groan. However, it has already been established that the opinions of adults are irrelevant when it comes to “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” so I have backed myself into a corner here.

Watch this movie if you recently had your sixth birthday party.

Rated: 6/10