Temple of the Hidden Emerald
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| They had to one-up Indiana Jones, huh? |
Ivo Robotnik and Knuckles arrive on an island not that far from Hawaii, and plant the compass on a lock in the sand. A beam of green light shoots upwards, the seas part, and a massive temple appears from the waves. The beam is visible from Oahu, with Tom and Maddie calling out Commander Walters for focusing on Sonic instead of the mad scientist.
In Green Hills, Wade, patrolling the town on a cheap electric scooter, stops by the Mean Bean for coffee, only to find the place closed. A quick peek under the blinds and the place’s new life as a lair is exposed, with Agent Stone caught red-handed playing a dress-up game on a picture of Robotnik. Cowboy costume, a French maid outfit, or the Black Mamba from Megamind… You see that scene and try to convince me there’s no homoerotic text between these two! That scene originally went for much longer; originally, Wade would call Tom to figure out what to do, Tom would tell him to NOT go in there alone, and radio interference would make Wade hear the opposite. This explains why Tom and Maddie rode with G.U.N. back to Green Hills, whereas the final cut of the film doesn’t indicate why they went home specifically when there was a threat on the horizon. Wade bursts into the shop, threatening Stone with his weapon. Hey, he did something right as sheriff!
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| Officer Whipple on the case! |
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| Into the unknoooooown-! |
With no portal rings to get to the temple, Sonic has to face his fear of water and run across the ocean to reach the source of the beam. Hey, cut me some slack, the kiddie pool I sent them hasn’t arrived yet! He gears up, then speeds off. It’s a tough moment for him, one that ends with him seemingly not reaching his destination. The waves become too strong and he's overwhelmed – but he lands on the correct island.
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Even though he might die crushed by a spike ball, the
doc's only worry is that the death would be derivative.
Priorities! |
Robotnik and Knuckles are already deep into the mystical temple’s maze of corridors, using drones to trigger traps ahead of time. What a dangerous place to be in, there's a trap every seven seconds. The doc works smartly, and so his machines scan the area to figure out the path. “Turn left”? There is no left turn here! Well, Knuckles has enough brute strength to create a direct road to the emerald by breaking the walls… At the same time, Sonic arrives at the entrance of the maze. He’s quick enough to trigger yet outrun every trap on the way – perhaps because this place was always designed to be visited by someone with super-speed?
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| A powerful clash between two Chaos Energy generators. |
The villains’ cheating takes them to the Master Emerald’s room in record time. Robotnik is ready to backstab his ally, but Sonic crashes through the ceiling and blocks their path again. He takes on Knuckles. They fight, and though Sonic uses his speed well to get several hits onto his enemy at once, all it takes is one powerful punch from Knuckles to send him flying. It’s a very cool, showy battle, in which you’re led twice to think Sonic has the upper hand… until he’s on a receiving end of a flurry of punches from the warrior. Only one connects, and just like that, the battle is lost.
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| The ultimate power came with a costume change. |
While the two were busy, Robotnik got to the Master Emerald. Sonic warns Knuckles about it, but it’s too late. Knuckles screams of betrayal, but the mad doc points out that anyone would have seen it coming. The villain absorbs the Emerald, his clothes turn green (a very common color across Carrey’s roles – the Mask, the Riddler, the Grinch…), and he vanishes. Vaporized? Nah, he teleported. He has taken in the power to make thoughts into reality… and his thoughts aren’t great. The removal of the Emerald causes the temple to break apart.
Master Robotnik
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Didn't know Sonic had that much strength. Normally,
that column wouldn't budge at all! |
Water floods the place and Sonic is ready to run, but Knuckles gets trapped under a fallen column. Refusing to let the echidna die, Sonic dives in and tries to lift the giant piece, without success. (He sucks in a bubble of air when doing that, a fun reference to the underwater stages in the games.) Knuckles had accepted his fate, but seeing Sonic is trying to save him, he helps lift the column and swims to safety… leaving Sonic down there. The hedgehog almost drowns… but the red guy repays the favor, diving back to rescue his opponent.
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Just like in the games: These two generally get along...
but sometimes, it takes a bit of fighting beforehand. |
On the beach, the two finally see eye to eye, with Sonic sharing the wisdom Tom imparted to him on the boat about heroism and accountability. The two agree to bury the hatchet and shake on it. Sonic, predictably, gets his hand crushed. A revigorated Tails has “borrowed” the biplane that flew a “Rachel & Randall 4eva” banner during the wedding, and uses it to rescue and bring the two back to Green Hills.
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| Ohhhh, this is unsettling. |
During that time, Wade has been trying, with little success, to get any information from a handcuffed Agent Stone. This pitiful display is interrupted by Robotnik, who appears in the room and shows off his arsenal of brand-new superpowers. And yet, deep down, it’s still the same old kook. Robotnik frees his lackey. Stone opens the windows to reveal a more pressing issue; G.U.N. is outside and has the Mean Bean cornered. Commander Walters’ own helicopter lands nearby, with Tom and Maddie riding with him. Considering this film’s mid-credits scene, there’s no way the “SA-2” on this helicopter is there by accident. Or that Maddie is wearing black and red. Remember when I offhandedly mentioned the Maddie color theory?
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| Sequel foreshadowing all around. |
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| Pfft. Showoff. |
Master Robotnik emerges from the café, floating above ground, and gets into a verbal spat with Tom, who is ready to kick his ass off Earth again! Remember in the previous review when I said that Robotnik’s research and machines were funded by the government, which was a clever way to explain why he could afford to build so many robots and high-tech tools? That connection, which we thought was terminated at the end of the first film when everyone thought he was gone forever, still existed. Walters states that Robotnik’s assets have been seized. Master Robotnik doesn’t take it well.
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2,000-foot tall robot, no assembly required.
You might need a few extra pieces though. |
The doctor uses his new reality-altering powers to take apart all nearby machines and vehicles. Cars, jeeps, tanks, helicopters, trains, anything mechanical floats to a single point, with the pieces coming together into one robot. A desperate Agent Stone begs a flying Robotnik to take him along into the massive machine, and – in one of those rare displays of friendship the scientist will never admit to – his boss accepts. It’s those little moments that make people ship Stobotnik so much.
Everything converges into a giant tornado of green electricity, and a shape forms. A giant humanoid robot, with a round top, a long nose and a large mustache… Some sources call it the Giant Eggman Robot, others call it the Death Egg Robot, for my sake I’ll go with the latter.
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| The man sure loves his green sparks. |
I LOVE the idea of a Master Emerald-powered Robotnik. In the games, the scientist has managed to steal the (much bigger) artefact more often but is never shown using it himself; sometimes, his robots benefit from it, but that’s all. With Sonic collecting the alternate super-powered forms like there’s no tomorrow, it’s almost weird that Eggman never really got a form of his own. Then again, you never truly fight the guy; only his machines. But the guy himself getting the crazy superpowers, and using them to further his dark schemes? Now that’s new! And maybe it’s because it works much better in film, a medium that can take full advantage of such an idea.
Or maybe it helps because Jim Carrey goes pants-on-head nutty in the form. Robotnik himself admits he’s “not all there” anymore… Sure, he doesn’t go full Ace Ventura or the Riddler, but damn, he takes advantage of every aspect of the power – teleporting, being overtly creepy (“I can smell the electricity in your brain…”), floating in place, and emitting electricity constantly. And justice for Agent Stone, he has been put behind a control panel and is actively participating!
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When did Robotnik find the time to make that book, out of
everything else he made... y'know what, never mind. |
The funniest part of all this: Even though the scientist created a SEGA-style instruction manual for the damn robot, and literally built it with his damn mind, he still doesn't actually know all of its features. That said, he did create this thing with a backup power source and regular controls just in case something went awry, which feels like a throwback to the five-stage road tank I’ve rambled on about in my review of Sonic 1.
Team Sonic to the rescue
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Herculean strength maybe, but against something this
large, your ods aren't great, Knux. |
The biplane gets to Green Hills through a portal ring. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles see the tornado in the distance and know something terrible will come out. Despite their agreement to form a team against a common enemy, the three lack cohesion. Sonic tries to come up with a plan, but Knuckles drops to the ground like a rock, where he takes the machine solo head-on. The Death Egg Robot appears from the swirling winds, scaring the residents of Green Hills. Inside, Robotnik controls the machine with his movements, which it replicates. Knuckles fights the robot’s arm, and sure his punches are powerful, but they barely make a scratch.
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| Well that's an unexpected feature. |
Tails and Sonic can’t think of a plan right away, so busy that they are with the robot tossing every missile at them. As much an expert pilot here as he is in the games, Tails manages to avoid them all. Unfortunately, one loose missile ends up hitting Sonic. This distracts Tails and he ends up flying too close to the giant robot, where the biplane gets struck and destroyed by the machine’s mustaches. The fox can fly, so he makes it out of the biplane safely. What happened? Agent Stone has read the instruction manual and figured out how to make that feature work. As for Sonic, he has managed to take control of the missile and is sending it right back to sender, hitting the mecha’s knee, which is enough to destabilize Robotnik and knock Agent Stone out.
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| Time to make a plan, and make it work! |
Team Sonic regroups on the ground, seeing how none of their attacks did much against the madman’s machine. It looks like he can’t be stopped – at least while he has access to the dangerous powers of the Master Emerald. Knuckles suggests they attack the robot’s groin, which Tails rephrases into figuring out the doc’s weak point. Sonic realizes that he is that weak point, as the villain hates him enough to target him specifically, which would make him forget about the fox and the echidna, who’ll then be free to sneak aboard and act. That’s the plan they settle on.
I dunno if I’ll get past Sonic calling himself a groin. I wasn’t ready for that.
Gotta go for today. Let’s finish this Sonic movie month in Part 5 next Friday!
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