‘Long ago the Echidnas forged a weapon called the master emerald and used it in their wars. But the owl tribe believed that the power of the emerald was too much for any one creature. They battled the Echidna warrior wielding the power of the emerald and took it from him. The owls hid the emerald where no echidna would ever find it.’

 The plot of Sonic 2 focused on Robotnik being rescued by Knuckles who is hunting sonic, the ward of the last owl warrior. Knuckles is the last echidna warrior. He is a large red warrior resembling Sonic but larger and stronger. His eyes will glow purple when he is using his power unless he is angry, then his eyes will glow red. Tails helps Sonic escape Robotnik and Knuckles. The two are hounded around the world as they try to find the fabled Master emerald, a powerful weapon that turns thoughts into reality, forged by the ancient echidnas. After Knuckles is betrayed by Robotnik, who takes the master emerald and gains the power of a god. He returns to Green Hills and attacks, forcing Tails, Sonic and Knuckles to team up to defeat him.

Sonic 2 was a surprise for many fans. The after-credit scene of the first Sonic movie showed Tails arriving on earth from what looked like Sonic’s home world seen in the opening of said movie. What fans weren’t expecting was the entrance of another favorite Sonic character Knuckles. The hard-hitting, dull but loyal echidna warrior from angel island was a key part of Sonic 2, as was the master emerald. In traditional Sonic lore the master emerald is an artifact of ultimate power capable of giving any who use it the power of a god. It was protected by Knuckles and the Echidna tribe, the movie differs from this.

For a long time Sonic fan this movie holds more references to the games than can be named. For a fan of the Sonic IWB comics and the Archie comics there were also many references. The biggest and most exciting reference for me was the flashback involving the battle between Emerjak and the owl tribe. Emerjak is an Echidna warrior who wields the full power of the master emerald. Many have taken up the mask of Emerjak in the Sonic world, the most notable being knuckles. I am excited to maybe see Emerjak going toe to toe with Super Sonic or maybe Shadow.

Knuckles was voiced by Idris Elba who did an amazing job. For Sonic fans you really felt like this was knuckles. A bit dull witted, but still a likable character in general. Idris Elba is a favorite actor of mine. Ever since I saw him as Heimdal in the Marvel Thor movies, I have loved this actor. He has acted in Thor, and the subsequent sequels, Zootopia, Finding Dory, and Star Trek Beyond.

Tails was voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey who plays a male character quite well. If I had not known beforehand that the actor for Tails was going to be female I would have never guessed it. She has had a very successful voice acting career, voicing characters in Digimon, Naruto, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and her previous role as Tails in an old Sonic show. The voice acting and camera work was pretty good, the CGI was phenomenal, but the movie was really carried by the story. While I feel they could have done a bit better They were targeting a younger audience. That being said, the movie was definitely a Sonic movie.

While the first movie was more of a movie with Sonic, it lacked Sonic elements. The second film fully made up for that. The scenes of Sonic speeding through a temple, the fights with knuckles and the appearance of new Robotnik Badniks (Badniks are what the Robotnik robots are called) really made you feel like this was a true Sonic story. The attention to detail and keeping with Sonic traditions in the movie was amazing, even down to traditional Eggman costumes.

A big surprise was the appearance of G.U.N a earth protection agency devoted to protecting earth from alien threats, namely Sonic. The secret owl ruins on earth have letters written in Babylonian. This is a

reference to the Babylon Rogues, a team of pirates that clash with Sonic in the Sonic Riders game where they are taken on by Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. It was well done, the story strayed off course a few times with side plots but the main narrative was quite good. The thrill of seeing Sonic and knuckles clash with such force was great for me. I loved every second of the Sonic/Knuckles interaction.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, even if they haven’t seen the first one. I excitedly wait for the Knuckles T.V show on Paramount + and the appearance of Project Shadow in the third movie.