Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Director: Jeff Fowler
Screenwriters: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington
Cinematographer: Brandon Trost
Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Sega Sammy Group, Original film, Marza Animation Planet, Blur Studio
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 20 December 2024
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes
MPA Rating: PG
Availability: Theaters
Synopsis
Sonic Team faces their greatest – as well as their most emo – enemy yet in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz), Tails the Fox (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba), are currently experiencing the “sweet domestic life” with adoptive parents Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) Wachowski. This peace is interrupted, however, when the incredibly powerful and traumatized Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves), is awoken after spending fifty years in stasis by Dr. Eggman’s (Jim Carrey) grandfather (Jim Carrey, again), to help enact his plot of global revenge. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, are promptly recruited by G.U.N. Director Rockwell (Krysten Ritter) to combat this new threat. With time running out and potentially billions of lives on the line, the furry trio must make hard choices – including making the unlikeliest of allies – if they hope to save the day.
Analysis
I was honestly surprised by how well the story held up. First, the movie does an excellent job at getting you emotionally invested in the characters – including some of the villains. The film makes these characters come across as personable and relatable, and has them go on journeys exploring the themes of emotional healing and the importance of personal connection. You end up caring a lot about what happens to these characters, and the personal themes explored will tug at your heartstrings even further. There are plenty of laughs to keep audiences across all age ranges entertained: childish jokes and multiple “Jim Carreyisms” – driven by his playing two roles – will get big laughs from younger viewers, and there are enough adult-tailored jokes to earn laughs from older viewers as well. The story is fairly straightforward and so mostly makes sense (more on that later), and taken together, the first three films of the Sonic series reflect one coherent narrative. Lastly, the two previous successful films in the franchise clearly gave the movie’s creative team the license and confidence to tell an even more videogame story, because Sonic the Hedgehog 3 feels like a live-action recreation of 70% of the game Sonic Adventure 2. So for anyone who’s been looking for a solid live-action adaption of a videogame franchise, this movie is for you.
The movie also excellently delivers where many Sonic fans – including myself – cared about most: a solid live-action debut for Shadow. The “feel” of Shadow is very much on point: the character looks, moves, and fights just like he does in the games, and Reeves is the perfect voice actor to capture the character’s serious and tragic personality. But more importantly, the movie does the character of Shadow justice. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 gives Shadow a traumatic backstory that more than justifies his grim personality and desire for revenge, but humanizes him enough so that you still sympathize with him, and even root for him to have a happy ending. I also liked how the movie focuses on Shadow by making his story the film’s emotional driver: it demonstrates a clear interest in telling Shadow’s story to the fullest, and helps make the film work.
The movie makes for a spectacular viewing experience as well. Excellent VFX helps ground the furry protagonists and Dr. Eggman’s malevolent machinations in (slightly fantastical) reality. The film’s large assortment of awesome action sequences feel fresh due to variety in location, and type and scale of action. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 also boasts an absolutely insane third act that plays as Dragon Ball Z meets Star Wars. Needless to say, this is the type of movie that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
While the film has problems, they weren’t big enough in my eyes to bother me. Yes, the story certainly could’ve been tighter; for example, at times it’s not clear whether a certain character is an actual villain, and the narrative “busyness” that comes with multiple storylines leads to pacing issues and some characters having nothing to do. And while the humor is certainly welcome, it occasionally waters down the movie’s stakes and stalls the plot. However, these flaws didn’t really take away from the narrative or dampen its intended effect. Also, there are so many things to enjoy about the film that it was easy for me to sweep these missteps under the rug.
Conclusion
To conclude, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an absolute blast of a film. It offers an emotionally compelling and spectacular viewing experience along with an excellent introduction to a new character, and it’s easy to forgive the film for the occasional slip-up. The movie is definitely worth checking out in theaters, but obviously don’t be too surprised if you wind up sitting next to a bunch of kids.