I consider myself an enjoyer of Sonic the Hedgehog. I think he is pretty appealing as a character through his design and emphasis on speed, and the history of his series is fairly interesting if you are into video games. His venture into cinema was intriguing as well, with the first movie released in 2020. Both the first and second films have been pretty solid movies that you can enjoy with your family. They are intended with a younger audience in mind, but that does not mean that the people behind them care about the source material any less. As the films have progressed, they have been adapted more and more from their source games, and the recent third movie released in December continues that trend. Using a blend of live-action and CGI, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” brings more of Sonic’s gaming roots to the big screen, making for a fun movie that everyone can enjoy.
In this film, we continue to follow Sonic, as well as his friends Tails and Knuckles (who were introduced in the second movie and are characters from the games), as they live their lives on Earth. In addition, though, we are also introduced to Shadow, who is considered a fan-favorite from the games, specifically with his debut in “Sonic Adventure 2,” released way back in 2001. Shadow’s arc in this film mirrors a lot of what is found in his first game, showing off his troubled past and how that has shaped him to be a ruthless and serious threat.
Representing Shadow’s past in the movie was something they got right in my eyes, as it’s integral to understanding his character and the movie’s story. It was better to make it more accurate to the game’s (admittedly absurd) story, unlike someone like Sonic, whose backstory was more improvised to fit the tone of the films.
They also did a truly magnificent job at bringing over the cool factor Shadow had in the games. One of the first scenes between Shadow and Sonic interacting with each other takes place on a high-speed fight scene in Tokyo, with guns and motorcycles. All of that alongside the impressive CG animation makes for a really nice scene.
Another thing I like in this movie compared to the prior films in the series is the decrease in human screen time. In the last movie, a lot of the film’s run-time was dedicated to really boring side plots with the human characters—run-time that could have been better spent on the CG characters. Thankfully, you do not see that very much here; human characters are only shown at the times when they are most important, and nowhere else, which is good for a movie like this. The only complaint that I can say is really present now is how that’s made this movie shorter than the last one. I think they made the most out of the run-time, but for a movie based around characters known to be extremely fast, one area that you do not want that to apply is in the movie’s pacing. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but hopefully they can improve on it in the next film.
Speaking of human characters, I cannot go on without mentioning Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey. Like the last two movies, he does an amazing job with the acting. Carrey still has that signature weirdness of his, which helps a lot for a movie with this demographic. There is also a new character, Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Robitnik’s grandfather who is also played by Jim Carrey (the movie made that pretty clear). All of what I said earlier applies here as well. That said, I feel like the silly nature of their scenes can have mixed results. Some scenes can work really well for the two characters as one actor, like the dance scene when they are dodging lasers. Other times, like at the climax of the movie, scenes with them do not work too well when right next to other scenes of characters like Sonic and Shadow having a super cool fight scene with each other. Overall, it’s not too bad though.
All in all, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is a fun movie to watch. Frankly, it’s definitely more fun when you have knowledge of and a connection to the games, but even if you do not, it can still be entertaining. A lot of the characters and their dynamics with each other are well thought out, with impressive voice work and animation to complement them. Not to mention that end credits scene which makes me excited for the fourth movie. Even if this may look like a kids’ movie to some, don’t be so fast to judge. It’s actually pretty solid.
