‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Review: Threequel Outshines Its Predecessors by Introducing a Shadow [B]

It’s funny what a series of competent, agreeable family movies have done for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Following a prolonged down period for the speedy hedgehog in the gaming world, subject to a litany of poorly received video games throughout the 2000s and 2010s, 2020’s CGI/live-action-hybrid film Sonic the Hedgehog has given the blue blur and his extended team a new lease on life. The film and its follow-up proved themselves to be healthy box-office earners, while a Knuckles spin-off emerged as a Paramount+ streaming series. Meanwhile, the newly released Shadow Generations has garnered more broadly positive reviews than any Sonic game in years. It’s even funnier to think that Big Blue’s tenure as a blockbuster hero started with a now-infamous horrifying character design revealed in the first trailer that sent the production scrambling to revise his look after widespread fan backlash.  

The swift decision by the creative team to go back to the drawing board in response to the internet’s reaction could be seen simply as a shrewd business move to appease the fans who would be paying their hard-earned dollars. But as the Sonic films now reach trilogy status with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, it’s clear there’s a genuine love for (and a desire to do right by) these characters embedded in the frenzied, kinetic action and goofball juvenile humor. Helmed once again by Sonic auteur Jeff Fowler, Sonic 3 races onto theater screens still more than a little clunky in its attempts to map the denser parts of video game lore onto generic kids’ movie tropes, but it continues to find more effective ways of reconciling those two identities, making it the strongest Sonic outing yet.

It achieves this, in part, by inputting something of a cheat code: introducing Shadow the Hedgehog (a brilliantly cast Keanu Reeves). Teased at the end of the previous film, Shadow indicates a continued shift away from the more tedious human-based plotting of the first Sonic entry, in which a large chunk of the runtime saw the hero stuck in a car with James Marsden. Instead, the focus shifts to more earnest attempts to capture the madcap spirit of the games. Shadow’s inclusion enables this movie to reach zanier modes than ever, while simultaneously finding pathos-driven ways to incorporate new members of the larger Sonic family. 

Speaking of family, as the film opens we find that Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) have fortified themselves as a close-knit team, enjoying some downtime from world-saving capers at home with their adoptive parents Tom (Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). Their serene existence is soon shattered when the G.U.N. organization calls on them to stop an attack on Japan by Shadow, who has been released from cryosleep after decades of containment. Shadow’s powers of teleportation, extreme strength, and looking cool as hell while wielding a gun on his motorcycle prove too powerful for the gang to handle alone. So, they make the unthinkable decision to team up with their arch-nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey).

Naturally, events take an unexpected turn. Soon, our trio is not only facing off against Ivo and Shadow, but also against Gerald Robotnik (also Carrey), Ivo’s long-lost grandfather, whose secret ties to Shadow’s past complicate matters. From there, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles find themselves on another high-stakes adventure to save the world from a cataclysmic threat. 

You can feel the distinct ways the film tries to mix up its structure, sometimes with inspired results, other times feeling strained. Sonic 3 couldn’t simply have Robotnik team up with another alien creature to fight Sonic again, as in the previous film. Instead, he teams up with a new alien and his own kin, allowing Carrey to put forth a dual performance so steadfastly tailored to his exuberant comedic style that it occasionally feels ever-so-manufactured. The gag has its moments and calls to mind a more charmingly antiquated time of studio comedies where this type of stunt was a more novel gesture, but one wonders if Carrey could have been sidelined just a bit to allow room for the more genuinely compelling Shadow, who remains a secondary villain until the climax, making this the third straight film that sees Sonic facing off against Robotnik as the main antagonist.

Shadow is the character with the more directly emotional arc, a surprisingly effective one for a family movie that also features two Jim Carreys performing an elaborate dance routine amid a grid of security lasers. His dark conflict stems from a sense of rejection and a desire for vengeance against a world that outcast him while taking away the only human who ever accepted him—a perfect moral quandary for kids to learn from by the time the credits roll. Throughout the runtime, Sonic and Shadow realize that they’re mirror images of each other in more ways than one and their push-and-pull understanding of one another finds meaningful thematic clarity by the final act. 

Some strengths and weaknesses here will feel familiar to fans of the Sonic franchise. It looks great, with noteworthy cinematography by Brandon Trost, which helps integrate the cartoony, colorful characters into real-world environments seamlessly. But it’s also expectedly hyperactive and frenetic in ways that feel discordant, constantly toggling between kids’ movie fluff and a more dedicated interpretation of iconic characters. At least the film finally has the good sense to largely bench Marsden and Sumpter, giving them limited screen time beyond some setup and one mid-movie heist sequence, allowing more room for the characters we actually came to see.

Sonic 3 would frequently win me back over in that way. One minute I was groaning at Carrey referring to “trauma dumping”—yet another instance in a long line of comedy movies dropping internet buzzwords as a joke. But then I would be gently surprised at a keen narrative decision or an engaging action set piece, such as the fluidity and satisfying nature of the outer-space-set climax, which goes through multiple extended phases and feels consistently anime-inspired as we watch our heroes soaring through the skies battling mechs to the backdrop of rock music. The film may still rely on cheap laughs and broad slapstick, but the series’ quality is on a steady upward trajectory, having gained a better understanding of what fans actually want. (To that end, I haven’t heard a crowd go this fully nuts for a mid-credits scene since the height of the MCU.) All things considered, you could do much worse.  

Grade: B

Paramount Pictures will release Sonic 3 only in theaters on December 20.