Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The trajectory of the Sonic movie franchise has been arguably more consistent than a majority of his game releases. With an initial trailer that lives in internet infamy for hilariously meme-worthy reasonings, the decision to switch a hideous design into something more faithful resulted in the 2020 film performing well with fans who defended it in spite of its glaring faults. The second film felt more in line with the original Sega game series, with high octane action, more focus on the colorful anthropomorphic creatures than on lame human characters, and a zippier creative spark that didn’t rely on sloppy cliched cinematic tropes when presenting such an iconic character. With this imperfect but otherwise steady building of a legacy, the third film released near the end of 2024 had the chance to be the greatest of all, especially with since it included the very beloved character of Shadow voiced by the equally beloved Keanu Reeves. The initial reception was great on both ends, the advertising did a nice job sparking and then igniting this euphoric fandom explosion, and after viewing it, many were ready to call this trilogy one of the most efficient for a video game adaptation.

Sonic (voiced again by Ben Schwartz) has fully adjusted to his life on earth with his human family, Tom and Maddie (played again by James Marsden and Tika Sumpter) along with newly added members like Tails and Knuckles (voiced again by Colleen O’Shaughnessy and Idris Elba), but this peace is interrupted by Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves), a similar-looking but more powerful hedgehog who escaped a military laboratory and is new seeking vengeance on humanity for a crime committed on him years ago that he refuses to let go of. After easily being defeated, the Sonic team begrudgingly decide to team up with Dr. Robotnik (played again by Jim Carrey), but this quickly goes awry when they discover that Shadow is working alongside Robotnik’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik (also played by Carrey), with their plan being to use a super-powered death ray in space to wipe out earth for good. Needing the help of Tom and Maddie to prevent the end of the world, Sonic and his family are faced with a threat far greater than ever before.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 gives audiences exactly what they are looking for and retains its usual personality in the process, which is both a good and a bad thing. The story is still very child-oriented, has some questionable pacing issues and doesn’t always have the greatest zingers, but is held together by a passionate crew, charming characters, thrilling action set pieces, and faithfulness to its source material.

Taking a lot of its plot points from the games, Sonic Adventures 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, this film was strangely well built up to despite the initial shaky beginnings of this franchise. With each passing film revealing a new character from the Sega franchise, having Shadow lead the third film feels like a strong escalation from the previously frivolous and wacky direction of the first two, providing a feeling of elevation most people would’ve been ready for. With Jeff Fowler still directing, and Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington returning as writers, there’s a consistent continuity with this series that, while not astronomical, helps flesh out this newly birthed universe, which has the chance to become something beautiful at this rate. While these creatives aren’t masters at what they do as there’s been a fair share of dumb moments, cliched plot threads, and random comic escapades throughout these films, there’s a genuine passion behind their work that makes them infectiously likeable, and their love comes through in its presentation.

They deliver on references and easter eggs in an obvious, but not manipulative manner, and they do try and keep the story and characters as the main focus and not get lost in a sea of future promises, which makes for the best of both worlds. This third film contains a lot of the same pros of the second film and even negates some of the bad, removing the obtrusive human side plot and painful comedic gags in exchange for keeping the overactive personality, memorably flashy action moments, and delightful character interactions, it’s a solid upgrade. With that said, while the film is arguably the most consistent, it’s hard to say that it’s a massive improvement as issues that have plagued the whole franchise are still present. The extreme fast pace of the story means the more dramatic moments never fully hit their mark, the story isn’t that deep and is incredibly easy to predict, and even if the humor isn’t as bad, there’s very few times when there’s an actual good joke as its mostly just meant for babies. It’s a solid movie that gives people what they want, but it won’t deliver anything above that expectation.

The Sonic characters have been pretty well realized in this world, not just through the effects (which despite not looking realistic, do have a lot of personality), but also because the voice talent is pretty well cast. Schwartz has essentially been playing the hyperactive show-boating kid hero his entire career, Colleen O’Shaughnessy has literally voiced Tails several times before so it feels like second-nature at this point, and Idris Elba has made for a pretty great Knuckles, taking a role that used to be irritatingly stupid and angsty, and making him more loveably simple-minded yet still strong willed and honourable. It’s a great showcase of three iconic gaming heroes, and the creatives knew how to cast them in a way that will satisfy viewers, which was definitely the case when Keanu Reeves was cast as Shadow. Already being an incredibly likeable person with huge fan support in almost everything he’s in, Reeves being Shadow felt like a solid choice, with the character’s broody nature and blunt delivery arguably working with Reeve’s more stoic and unemotional acting style, and it turned out pretty good. The character does have a lot of cool moments, Reeve’s does do a decent job, and through the character’s neat power set and Dragon Ball Z-esque battle scenes, it results in a great new addition to this world.

Jim Carrey has also been a bright spot in these films, as despite originally feeling a little out-of-tune, he really brings a zestful life and even chaotic touch to Robotnik that offers a little humor for older audience in a way that’s not entirely pandering (even if it isn’t all good, it’s got a little more wit than most of the dialogue), and even working against himself in a dual role surprisingly fits as well. The two have some dumb scenes that halt the story for a pointless detour, but that isn’t surprising by this point, so at least it doesn’t catch people off guard. The other human characters are handled a lot better this time, and while a lot of the miscellaneous ones like Adam Pally, Krysten Ritter, and Lee Majdoub are pretty perfunctory (with Majdoub in particular trying way too hard on a role that has never been that interesting), those remaining are tolerable at least. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter are used for an obvious purpose, but are likeable enough when they’re around the group, both Natasha Rothwell and Shemar Moore appear in a pretty cute cameo, and even Alyla Browne as Shadow’s former human friend, Maria, provides for a small but meaningful scene of the two bonding, showing that she’s a talent that can do a lot with very little.

It feels almost insulting to bring up the quality of the effects after what the first movie could’ve been. The effects on the classic characters don’t look the best by any means, but they look so much like the original games and have so much expression and charm that it never seems to be an issue. With this being their third outing, they only feel like they’ve gotten better and it doesn’t even feel like there’s much of a divide between the real world and the digital space anymore, showing that they at least have more faith in leaving these CG characters to their own devices and not needing real people on screen in order to hold the audience’s attention. The spectacle of this film also allows for a lot more effects work, as the fight scenes go big and don’t hold back. The second film had fights scenes that were anime in nature and definitely felt upped, but this one goes further with the style, the energy and even the shots (handled again by Brandon Trost), making these moments feel grand and epic in a sense that matches the slightly more dramatic story being told.

The film doesn’t really feel serious, and any sense of drama is mostly cut down by an awkward edit or a lame joke, but it’s at least trying to feel a little harsher, with moody lighting and somewhat reserved music. The musical score by returning composer, Tom Holkenborg, continues the trend of knowing how to upgrade a moment with an impactful cinematic stir, but also when to play to the audience and deliver a familiar tune or song in order to hype up a moment, another example of the nice balance of providing fan-service and keeping things appropriate for film purposes.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was going to be a commercial success (it would be an enigma if it didn’t especially with Keanu and Shadow attached), but the fact that it was also viewed as a critical success by both audiences and critics is pretty cool, and Paramount is certainly going to continue building upon this franchise. These films aren’t perfect by any means, and it might be nicer if they included a bit more sophisticated writing and stronger developments for its characters, but there is something wholesome about how much this universe seems to emulate the world of Sonic, in all of its shades and forms. They won’t result in masterpieces but will provide fans and even newcomers an energized, passionate and creative experience that will make them come back for more, and if you can’t get it from a video game, at least they can get it on the big screen. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here (especially after the promising future set up in the post credit scenes) but for now, these developers certainly knew how to learn from their mistakes and live to provide a brighter future.