Thread by @Mike_Prinke

#SonicMovie2 is a BIZARRE ride. Like right when you think it’s going to become rational for a minute there’s all these left turns into chaos. This movie is surely made by goblins.

I do not know how to describe what I just watched. There is this insane clash of like three different kinds of movie happening. It’s all following the same, reasonably cohesive plot, but you just never know which style of movie it’s going to veer into on the way to the goal.

SPOILERS below.

Like you think it’s going to become rational when the human characters take focus for a minute.

Nope. They didn’t bother trying to write them like they live in the real world. They are Simpsons characters. Everyone on Earth is EXACTLY as weird as Sonic and Tails.

For a minute you get a look at something mundane and folksy like you’d expect from a typical “the cartoon character is in the real world” movie. But it never stays that way for very long. They are written like they live in Sonic’s world, not the other way around.

This. What I’m saying is that it’s an INSANE directing choice I didn’t think they’d have the guts to do, but it was absolutely the right call in this movie.

https://twitter.com/joliemenzel/status/1512528539911868416

Like you hit the predictable bits where you’re like “oh man it’s time for the killjoy human characters to take center stage huh” — and then whoever wrote the scene went Terry Jones on it and injected a turkey baster full of absurdism.

Like there’s ten minutes at the break to act 3 where a minor supporting character from the first movie suddenly is in the spotlight. And they get, like, a whole, complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. And it’s the WACKIEST execution on what would be tiresome beats.

I’m not gonna pretend some parts don’t feel like they blend so much as they feel like car crashes. But it’s like if you set up all the car crashes in such a way as to create a sculpture.

Like there’s actual thematic coherence. Every beat explores or reinforces the ideas of trust, camaraderie, and friendship. And its sense of humor is so playful and free of mean-spiritedness.

But then a fight scene happens and Sonic and Knuckles fucking BRUTALIZE each other. Like with actual back-breakers and shit. And they’re like, well-animated and choreographed.

Actually that’s an understatement — they’re -creative-. Like the first movie was very playful with Sonic’s super speed, but they think of it completely differently once two super-fast talking animals get into the ring together.

And the dialogue. Like, they throw lots of jokes at you VERY fast, some of them try too hard, and sometimes there’s the friendship speech platitudes. But most of the time the banter is really fun.

Like both Sonic and Robotnik have this attitude of “god damn it THIS GUY again” and the taunts they get are so fun.

And Knuckles ……… Sonic Boom fans, Idris Elba is gonna do you proud. Actually this is like all the best parts of all the interpretations of Knuckles in one.

Then there’s the Easter eggs. There is REMARKABLE attention to detail in a lot of things. Like you find out what these faces in Labyrinth Zone are. And they re-create so many frames and poses from the games.

It’s FASCINATING if you’re a fan. I’m not sure non-fans will get it, because they really brush past the worldbuilding, but this movie is a treat if you grew up with a Sega Genesis.