SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

Cert PG

110 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild violence, language

Another day and another big studio sequel which has lost much of the freshness of its predecessor.

I was surprised at how much Mrs W. laughed during the original Sonic The Hedgehog but this time she remained stony faced.

Indeed, we both had trouble staying awake and yet, as of this week (May 25), it has made $376m at the box office on the back of a $110m outlay.

Does this prove it is much better than I am suggesting or that there is a desperate paucity of high-quality family movies at the cinema?

I would plump for the latter.

It is set several months after the original with Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) now adopted by human parents (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter).

He is attempting to be a super hero but hasn't fully mastered his unique power of speed.

Meanwhile, out in space, the movie's villain, Robotnik (Jim Carrey), is desperately trying to work out how to get back to earth and wreak revenge on Sonic.

He also inherits an unlikely ally in a rather aggressive animated hedgehog (Idris Elba) who seems even stronger than our hero.

After initial spats between good and pantomime evil, they all become embroiled in a chase for an emerald which can literally change the world.

Of course, I would accept that fantasy films have plots which don't necessarily bear too much scrutiny and so that is not my problem with Jeff Fowler's picture.

However, I would say that it suffers in the same fate of many sequels - it inevitably lacks the same surprise elements as the first film and so the gags fall flat.

This is particularly the case with Robotnik. We laughed at his wild moustache and his exaggerated behaviour the first time around but this is just more of the same.