Directed By Jeff Fowler

Starring – Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves

The Plot – Sonic (Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba), and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow (Reeves), a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.

Rated PG for action, some violence, rude humor, thematic elements and mild adult language.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Official Trailer (2024 Movie) Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves

POSITIVES

This is incredibly rare territory for family adventure franchises, in that not only have the installments improved with each passing addition, but also in the case of this third film, it feels like the producers have finally listened to the consistency in complaints that plagued the first two films. The first and most integral of these is a firmer focus on the game characters, instead of their human counterparts, which helps tremendously in maintaining the momentum that the humor and lore establishes for itself, with only sporadic cameos from past characters appearing in the briefest of flashes. On top of this, the material is hilariously improved, this time around, with elements of parody and self-abasement that prove the characters aren’t above making fools of themselves with continuous fourth-wall breaking that winks and nods to its audience in the most clever of circumstances. Does the material include too many pop culture references? Absolutely, but the confidence of its actors helps to ease it all the effortlessly, feeling second only to July’s ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ for wall breaks, but with hilarity that repeatedly justifies its cause. The script also contains a surprising underlining of heart amid its thematic impulses that imbeds a deep-seeded message that you wouldn’t expect from a movie based on a video game, which arrives in the form of its newest character addition, Shadow. In the depths of the exploration, the film taps into the tender psychology of one paralyzing themselves to such overwhelming grief and emotional trauma, seen here with an untimely loss that renders the newest antagonist crippled by a world of constant pain and longing, and while his vengeance involves the monumental circumstances of destroying the world, it’s a conflict that everyone in the audience can definitely relate to, with seamless tonal transitions performed exceptionally in the same movie that features a duo of Jim Carrey’s having a techno-infused dance sequence. Capping off the improvements is a remarkably surprising quality in the C.G animation that feels decades away from where we first started, with the shameful embarrassment of the original Sonic rendering that the public completely ate alive. This time around, the polished and detailed designs in fur and emotional expressions of the characters come across gorgeously in the overall presentation for the film, particularly during physically interacting sequences with these animated characters that make our imaginations come to life in bringing the fantasy of the games to the luster of the silver screen. The action itself is obviously done with high velocity executed breathtakingly in the balance of meaningful schemes of editing and camera placement, but it never feels nauseating or disjointed in the visual continuity of the sequencing, instead appraising clarity and coherence in ways that allows the audience to follow along seamlessly with the velocity of attacks within the involved characters, which has never looked better or felt more impactful to the ways they’re interacted with live backdrops. The returns of Schwartz, O’Shaughnessey and Elba attain a continuity between the film that pays off immensely for the integrity of their evolved familial connection since we last saw them, with Schwartz’ nasally charismatic deliveries, O’Shaughnessey’s adventurous exuberance, and Elba’s bluntly dry deliveries during silly statements, each appraising something integral to the dynamic of the group that makes them stand out with respective uniqueness. However, this is once again the Jim Carrey show, with a double dosage here that involves him not only playing the Robotnik that we’ve experienced in the previous two films, but also a 110-year-old grandfather of that character, which affords him the freedom to get as maniacally eccentric as you’ve ever seen the comedian. If you’re someone who is easily annoyed by Carrey, this performance will do little to change your mind, as Fowler has definitely let the dog off of his leash in order to articulate the mental instability of these characters, and between a newfound obsession for Telemundo soap operas and condiment smothered burritos, this is Carrey at Tasmanian devil levels of scenery chewing, feeling every bit the cartoon that his animated costars are, without ever missing a step physically at the tender age of 62-years-old. Lastly, make sure you watch the film all the way to the midpoint of the credits, as there is an eye-opening sequence that lays the foundation for the inevitable direction of this franchise. While the ending of the movie itself would be the perfect place to finish a more than entertaining trio of films, this late development does leave me a bit excited for a fourth installment, especially with the arrival of another character of the Sonic lore, who has my casting choices limitless for who I would wish to play them.

NEGATIVES

You might notice that I left out a new addition to the ensemble, in Keanu Reeves’ Shadow, and while Reeves does a good enough job for what’s given to him, his character approach feels a bit one-dimensional upon reflection, offering him so very little chances to make the character stand out in the same ways as his co-stars, or disappear into him in ways that wipe away that familiarity of Keanu that we’ve all come to love and expect. It’s not entirely his fault, as even the script seems to not value that Shadow character as much as it should in being the established antagonist this time around, and even despite receiving ample backstory that ties into the aforementioned dramatic underlining of the movie, the second act pushes him aside for a significant amount of time that makes him feel unimportant to the development of the storytelling, leaving him as the weakest link in a growing ensemble that features no shortage of star power. That second act definitely feels like the weakness of the narrative for me, where the effectiveness of the humor becomes less consistent, with more of a dependency upon it, and the exposition dumps feel all the more evident with ample time taken away in flashback transitions that leave our current day narrative on hold for a bit longer than I was anticipating or would even want. At 105 minutes, there’s no particular scene that I would cut from the finished product, especially because the pacing shapes itself out more often than not, but there are certainly those noteworthy instances that I would hem quite a bit, once those human cameos start to dominate more of the screen time, primarily featuring my least favorite character of the second movie. It feels like an obligation to include them, instead of a necessarily creative one, and it makes me wish these instances didn’t receive as much time to orchestrate, as they feel too long and self-indulgent in their influence towards the film. Finally, while almost everything in measurement is improved upon, this time around, it pains me significantly to express that longtime series composer Tom Holkenborg isn’t bringing his best compositions to this installment, leaving a noticeably significant void in the audible identity of the games that served as one of the best touches to the nostalgic heavy second movie. There are evidential instances in small doses that include themes from the game, particularly a tweaked instrumental on Sonic’s ‘Green Hill Zone’ that served as a nice touch of complexity to a scene with such palpable emotionality, but the unfortunate aspect is that so much of it goes disappointingly unexplored this time around, with a continued contemporary cliche of more time and energy paid to pop culture heavy soundtrack that dominates much of the audible interpretation. It’s one of the only measurements that was done better in the previous installment, and one that I think would’ve cemented this as the single greatest video game movie of all-time, if it continued to remain true to itself, especially with a limitless library of possibilities from some of the best in-game music in gaming history.

OVERALL
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ is a significant improvement from its predecessors in nearly every capacity, but primarily in the vibrancy of the animation, and effective consistency in gags that offers something endearing for every member of the gaming family. With a manically supercharged scene-stealing performance once more from Jim Carrey, as well as an underlining merit towards heart that packs quite a profound punch for a gaming property, that inspires hope for the future of adaptations done right, even if the creative cylinders in its cycle don’t always perform as smoothly as intended.

My Grade: 7/10 or B