I have had the pleasure of witnessing something amazing. Something that I never thought would be possible. Something that, by history’s past, should be a pipe dream. But yes, it has happened. I honestly believe that after years of disappointment, years of let downs, years of false hope, that the video game movie curse has been lifted. The first Sonic the Hedgehog film kicked it off in 2020 after fans aggressively persuaded the director to correct the egregious mistake that was made in 2019. 2021’s Mortal Kombat has its hits and misses yet it is better than any fighting game-based movie that came before it apart from the 1995 original film. (And maybe Street Fighter) The second Sonic film upped the ante by introducing Knuckles and Tails as well as getting Colleen O’Shaughnessy to voice the two-tailed fox for the film. And, in 2023, video game fans ate good with the Super Marios Bros movie. No more needs to be said about that. Now, we have Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and, let me tell you, we’re eating good with this one, especially for anime fans.
Sorry, but this is Shadow’s story. Keanu Reeves delivers as the new voice behind the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’, bringing at bit of John Wick flare to the character.
Getting into it, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails are already established thanks to the crimson echidna’s spinoff series. Ben Schwartz has already anchored himself as the voice of the Blue Blur. As an older Sonic fan, I am looking for that Jaleel White cameo just as a nice nod to him playing Sonic in the animated series. Idris Alba continues to deliver as Knuckles. He does such a good job of portraying him as a ‘fish out of water’ type of character without dumbing him down. We got to keep in mind that Knuckles is a warrior and will always have that mindset; he is just trying to adapt to his new life while retaining his warrior’s heart. Colleen O’Shaughnessy is simply adorable as Miles Prower. Bringing her in to voice the movie version was another smart choice, and if more characters appear in future projects then let’s bring in someone else from the games. The CGI used for these characters seems to improve with each film and they look amazing. While we’re on the subject of voice acting, getting Keanu Reeves to portray Shadow was the best choice. He did an amazing job in this role and truly delivers Shadow’s dark tone and animosity towards his blue counterpart, which is incredible since Reeves knew nothing about the character prior to his casting and research him to give fans a quality interpretation and director Jeff Fowler wanting to give a “John Wick” vibe to the character. All of Shadow’s animations are smooth from his gliding and running to his teleporting via Chaos Energy. And, once again, Jim Carrey does no wrong as Ivo Robotnik. There were concerns when he was first cast for the role for the first film, but now, those concerns are thrown to the winds, and I love his version of the iconic mad scientist. Having in the dual role as Ivo’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik was just genius and showed us that he is still pretty spry for a man in his early 60s. Dual roles is not unfamiliar to Carrey. He portrayed a man with a dual personality in 2000’s “Me, Myself and Irene.” But, let’s be honest, this was a chance to let Carrey show off.
Donning the iconic suit, Jim Carrey delivers as both Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald. We get classic Carrey showing his comedic prowess in both roles.
Now, we’ve come to the meat and potatoes of the film. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is more actiony than the previous two films, especially the first film since that was an intro film. Right out the gate, the film puts its foot on the gas and keeps pressing harder. As we’ve seen in the trailers, Shadow takes out Team Sonic was minimum effort which leads to the hedgehogs’ first confrontation. They would encounter each other again for the film’s climatic Dragonball Z inspired battle. This fight was ridiculous! Even though this was Sonic vs Shadow, all I could think about was Goku vs Vegeta. It was a great sequence and a nice nod for anime fans who enjoy big, epic battles. This and the “Akira” bike slide by Shadow. The special effects team needs their money! They did an incredible job delivering crisp, clean CGI fight scenes that were not muddy. You could see what was happening. When the characters were fighting each other, they were visible. The blur was only there to show movement, you didn’t lose sight of the character or their details which made the scene that much more entertaining.
There is one thing I noticed with this film. The main humans Tom and Maddie are being moved to the back seat. They had less screentime than they did in Sonic 2, likely to keep the focus on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow and the main villains. This is fine. They can take a back seat, but let’s not remove them completely. Tom and Maddie still serve a purpose for Sonic and friends. Fans will also note that changes were made to soften Shadow’s story since the target audience is children, and his dark, brooding attitude has not been well received by some video game journalists. Nevertheless, Keanu Reeves does a good job.
Crisp, clean CGI fight scenes make a movie enjoyable. Only the right amount of blur is needed so focus is not lost on the characters.
Overall, Sonic’s third film outing has proven that a good video game can be made that will keep fans happy simply by listening to them. It hits on the right notes while still taking some liberties that do not hurt the film. Kids will enjoy it because of the fun colorful characters. Sonic fans will enjoy it because of the Easter eggs. Video game fans will like it because it a dang good video game movie. I certainly did.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 gets 4.5 out of 5 rings.
