Movie Review: ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’

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Review by James Lindorf

It is a great time to be a kid! Schools are wrapping up for winter break, and we are just days away from the start of most major Winter holidays. While next week will focus on adult audiences with the openings of “Nosferatu,” “Babygirl,” and “A Complete Unknown,” this week is all about the kids. There are two major studio releases that are sure to fill theaters, along with a minor release from a beloved British series.

Paramount’s upcoming major release, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” is set to premiere everywhere on December 20th. The Sonic franchise had a rocky start, facing widespread backlash over the design of the blue speedster. After delaying the initial release to redesign the character, Paramount was rewarded with over $300 million at the box office and generally positive reviews, leading to the quick development of a sequel. The second film, released two years later, achieved even greater financial success and garnered more favorable reactions. Now, two years later, Team Sonic is ready to hit theaters once again, taking on both new and familiar villains.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) is back for a showdown with his nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), and two new foes. First is Shadow (Keanu Reeves), a grief-stricken red-striped black hedgehog powered by chaos energy, which gives him super strength and the ability to teleport. Fifty years ago, a military experiment to harness the chaos energy ended catastrophically, resulting in multiple deaths. The lead scientist, Dr. Gerald Robotnik (Jim Carrey), spent the last 50 years in a prison of his own and is out for revenge against G.U.N. and the world. To stop these powerful new adversaries from taking control of a secret space laser, Sonic will need all the help he can get from Knuckles (Idris Elba), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Tom and Maddie Wachowski, again played by James Marsden and Tika Sumpter.

The Animation in Sonic 3 is solid throughout. It may not be on the level of “Mufasa,” “Dune 2,” or “Planet of the Apes,” but 40+ million less in budget will do that. However, the movie still looks excellent, especially with its use of color and how well the characters interact with their live-action environment, which is always a challenging task for animators. Accompanying the visuals is great audio encompassing both the sound effects and composer Tom Holkenborg’s score, which, much like the film’s plot, took inspiration from the 2001 video game “Sonic Adventure 2.” That audio was working overtime in my AMC Dolby Cinema, thanks to the PRIME rumbling seats more than I can recall for any other movie.

This is my first experience with the Sonic films, and I know that missing the first two films cost me some of the back story and some of the jokes. However, I was able to follow the plot and understand the dynamics between Sonic and his family and his villains. So, while the experience may be richer if you have been following the series, parents of children hoping to see the film shouldn’t be concerned about their ability to enjoy the movie alongside them. This is especially true if the parents grew up as fans of Jim Carrey, who is in excellent form, playing both roles wonderfully.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is thoroughly entertaining, and while it may never threaten to take home the Best Picture Oscar, it is highly successful and nearly pulls off its goals perfectly. Most of my issues with the film could be categorized as quibbles. I am a fan of Krysten Ritter, and it is a shame to see her here in such a thankless role that borders on being a cameo. I also love Keanu Reeves, but I don’t think voice acting is his best skill. He has elite physicality and charisma on screen, and when you take him behind the camera, all he can give is an average acting performance. He didn’t hurt the film as Shadow, but he didn’t elevate it either. Director Jeff Fowler and the writers did not approach message mallet territory; they did go pretty heavy-handed with the message about making good choices and not losing yourself in anger or grief. Kids could have picked up on this without the multiple flashbacks and reiterations, but they at least chose a good message to go overboard with. Finally, I found that the longer the film went on, the more grating Sonic’s voice became. I wanted him to talk less so more time could be given to Robotnik and Knuckles, who are easily the movie’s best parts.

After watching “Sonic 3” and grading it very highly with a 4.5 out of 5, I am left with two questions. Where in the top five video game movies of all time does this land, and when does part 4 come out?

Rating: PG (Rude Humor|Mild Language|Action|Some Violence|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 2024, Wide
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Jeff Fowler
Producer: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, Hitoshi Okuno
Screenwriter: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Sega Sammy Group, Original Film, Marza Animation Planet, Blur Studio