For two years, the second live-action Sonic movie was about as close to perfect as these movies could have been given Paramount’s inability to leave out the human detours, needle drops, and product placement. Unlike the first film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 hits the gas, bringing all the video game dressings to its live-action universe. Tails and Knuckles are here this time, completing Sonic’s trio, which teams up to defeat Robotnik once more. It’s a straight-up Avengers moment seeing what looks like a whole Sonic Heroes segment as these little guys defend their new home. While those feel-good fanservice moments are fun, Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s integration of concepts like the Master Emeralds and Super transformations, as well as its giving more focus to game characters like Shadow the Hedgehog via its post-credits scene, was proof that the live-action movies are starting to feel like true adaptations of the source material made by people who clearly want to pay tribute to it.
