Thank You Sonic 2 for the Healthy Dose of Black Girl Magic
Sisters getting things done!
Spoilers for Sonic 2
While the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie had its human characters getting used to the idea of a teenage, anthropomorphic animal calling them “Donut Lord” and “Pretzel Lady,” the second film has them dealing with, as Rachel (Natasha Rothwell) exclaims, “Two of them now.”
In my review, I mentioned how I liked that the second film has much bigger stakes. Sonic and Tails are working together to stop Robotnik from doing massive damage to Green Hills AND all of civilization. That’s obviously the movie’s main focus but fortunately, the human characters also get to do more than just stare in shock at these strange creatures like Santa in that “they do exist” M&M’s Christmas commercial. They actually participate in the big fight, in their own way, and there’s no better example than Maddie (Tika Sumpter) and her sister, Rachel, working together to help Sonic, Tails, and Tom (James Marsden).
Black Girl Magic is real!
The sisterly team up
Tom and Maddie are off to Hawaii for Rachel’s wedding, which is just enough time for Sonic and Tails to get into a world of trouble. Not only does Robotnik have the compass that’ll direct him and Knuckles to the Master Emerald’s location, but his robots are in hot pursuit of Sonic and Tails! Sonic has no choice but to call Tom for help, which completely disrupts Rachel’s big day. Arguably, this ends up being a good thing, because it means that Randall (Shemar Moore) is forced to reveal the truth: He’s an undercover agent of an organization called GUN (or Guardians Units of Nations).
GUN captures Sonic, Tails, and Tom, but they probably should’ve captured Maddie and Rachel, too, because we all know Black women get things done. Time is of the essence, though, because Robotnik and Knuckles are getting closer to finding the Master Emerald. This leads to Maddie coming up with a plan where she goes after Sonic, Tails, and Tom, while Rachel happily volunteers to go have a little “talk” with Randall.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
While the movie definitely kicked things up a notch from Sonic’s snowboarding scene through the final battle, I was surprised to see Maddie and Rachel (ESPECIALLY Rachel) take hold of Tails’ gadgets and run in to save the day. It was a nice way to show us that the new human characters were going to be more directly involved with the action. The first movie was a lot of Sonic and Tom fleeing from Robotnik, but this movie has them facing the doctor, and GUN, head-on.
Honestly, GUN could’ve saved themselves a lot of time if they would’ve just listened in the first place. Instead, they had to be taken out by two badass sisters wielding gadgets created by a two-tailed fox. I’d already expected Maddie to be willing to get her hands dirty (yes, I love her grabbing Sonic just before he gets stepped on by the Death Egg Robot during the climax), but Rachel? What an absolute legend. Watching her erratically drive a golf cart toward the man who lied to her as Heart’s “Barracuda” played in the background, complete with her having a slow-motion walk away from an explosion, was not the scene I expected to get, but I’m so glad I did.
I’m happy that Maddie and Rachel got to be the ones to kickstart the human characters working to help Sonic and Tails. The first movie had them going along for the ride, but this one let them really be a part of it. As a Black Sonic fangirl, watching Black women be part of the franchise I’ve loved since childhood is incredible. Even if I appreciate the movie letting Sonic and Tails do most of the adventuring, I’m glad it let these women contribute in a way that benefitted the heroes.
Also? Considering how Rachel handled that golf cart? She should definitely be recruited into the hero squad permanently, though she probably passed out after seeing Knuckles and realizing that there are THREE of them now.
(Image: Paramount Pictures)
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