After years of being considered the absolute lowest of the low when it came to cinema, video game adaptations have been making something of a comeback as a more accepted form of entertainment for the masses as of late thanks to the freedom granted by the current superhero age of the silver screen. By far the biggest and most surprising success of their modern resurgence into prominence has been SEGA's iconic blue mascot. The ultra-fast hedgehog unbelievably managed to defy the odds and become recognized as a welcomed bit of fun for the whole family in his previous outing, largely by adopting the MCU's tried-and-true formula for success that has proven infallible so far. A path this sequel continues down to even more outstanding results. With the origin story and worldbuilding now out of the way, the door has been opened for these films to explore all of the weird, wild corners of their source material and begin introducing more of the big characters fans are dying to see. Something that has immediately started here and the results are one incredibly odd story. It won't faze anyone already familiar with the ludicrous, bizarre plots from the games (particularly the 3D ones) and is still somehow remarkably more coherent than a lot of recent Marvel projects, but no doubt the uninitiated will be left a little stupified by the sheer strangeness of the narrative. The movie is able to get away with it though due to how funny, charming, and exciting it is to watch. The overall sense of humor is much sharper. There continues to be stuff such as the occasional overly juvenile fart gag or whatnot that will only work for the youngest members of the audience, yet on the whole the variety and range of jokes ensures there are plenty of hilarious moments here for everyone regardless of their age. By far the adventure's biggest strength however is its heroes. These anthropomorphic critters are delightful and incredibly endearing. Even their human counterparts, which have always been the low point for the franchise in its other formats, are a likable part of the experience. There's an entire subplot surrounding Marsden and Sumpter attending the wedding for a returning member of the supporting cast that, while entirely unnecessary, I'm glad was included because of how much it made me laugh. This ability for viewers to enjoy and care about everyone onscreen REGARDLESS of which side of the conflict they're on (Carrey's Dr. Robotnik really won me over this outing) makes the bombastic action all the more thrilling, despite some shoddy green CGI used on the main villain. Essentially allowing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to succeed at everything it sets out to do and at a level of quality that rivals the works coming from Disney and Warner Bros. these days. It's not a stretch to think that if the next installment performs well these flicks could match, and quite possibly surpass, the longevity and box-office returns Paul W.S. Anderson managed to achieve with Resident Evil years prior. This isn't just one of the best video game adaptations of all time, but also the best superhero movie of 2022.