The time has finally come. After waiting all year, the film of the decade is upon us, and it isn’t that Mufasa one; it’s SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 BABY! The threequel has landed in cinemas worldwide and has been doing numbers at the box office. The live-action debut of Shadow the Hedgehog has been highly anticipated by fans (including myself), and the excitement has only grown with every trailer. However, sequels often fall short of their promises and end up lesser products than their predecessors. Is the same true for Sonic the Hedgehog 3? Let’s find out (spoiler-free, of course).
The plot of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 picks up after the end of the Knuckles series, with Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) living with Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) in Green Hills. They’re in the middle of celebrating the anniversary of Sonic arriving on Earth when they’re interrupted by GUN who ask them to help with a problem. The problem is Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves), who has broken free from his 50-year imprisonment and is now wreaking havoc. Can Team Sonic take down this new foe, or will Shadow’s revenge cause the end of the world?
I really enjoyed the story in Sonic 3 for a multitude of reasons. I love how this feels like a continuation of what came before, not just another story with these characters (*cough* recent MCU). Story beats and character relationships have carried over from film to film, such as Sonic’s relationship with Tom, Knuckles learning to adapt to a new home, and Dr Eggman (Jim Carrey) going even more bonkers with each passing entry. I also appreciated the pacing of this story, and I never felt like things were taking too long or going too fast; they nailed it.
With Shadow being at the forefront of the marketing campaign, people immediately assumed this would be a direct adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. While it isn’t one-to-one, they did a great job incorporating plot lines and characters from that game (among others) into this pre-established movie universe. It also helps that this story focuses more on the Sonic and Shadow story and not a random wedding in Hawaii. Not that I disliked that part from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but the removal of some of the human subplots was for the best.
And then there’s that third act, which was absolutely bloody amazing. I was on the edge of my seat, my heart rate was increasing, and I was kicking my legs in excitement the whole time. Definitely one of the best final acts of any film, period.
The biggest selling point of this film was the inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog, and he was perfect. Voiced by Keanu Reeves, this version of Shadow was spectacular. He has a similar character arc to that of the games, but they’ve made a few changes to adapt it to this universe and humanise him even more. They tweak his origin a little bit (which hinted at something I’m very much keen about), and his relationship with Maria (Alyla Browne) is shown to be way more like siblings than what we’ve seen in the games.
These changes also make this version of Shadow a lot more similar to the movie Sonic, leading to some interesting interactions between the two. Combine these changes with Keanu’s fantastic performance, and this is one of the best portrayals of Shadow we’ve gotten in a while. Also, Shadow gets a gun and shoots at Sonic while riding a motorbike through the streets of Tokyo; that shit is fucking awesome.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all return once again, and I loved how they felt like a group of friends going out on an adventure. Sonic had a lot of interesting and compelling moments throughout the film that gave a new perspective on this version of the character. Similar to Shadow, I really enjoyed seeing how Sonic interacted with the new Hedgehog and some of the dark places Shadow pushed him to. There’s also Tails, who is really coming into his own as the inventor of the group. He’s become way more like his game counterpart, which I appreciated. I also liked how Knuckles was done in this film because they’ve nailed the balance between his comedic and serious moments. They didn’t get that quite right in the Knuckles series, but they’ve learned their lesson.
The human characters take a bit more of a backseat this time, except Eggman and Gerald Robotnik, both played by Jim Carrey. I initially thought that having double the Carrey might have been a bit much, but it ended up not bothering me at all. In fact, I laughed at quite a few of the jokes that revolved around these two characters (one involved a bug zapper). The relationship between the two Robotniks is a major part of this film, and I think it was handled well. They did change a few things about Gerald from the games, but it wasn’t an issue for me.
The other human characters, such as Tom, Maddie, and Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub), didn’t have much screen time, but I found their roles a lot more endearing this go around, especially Stone, who has been and continues to be a highlight of these films.
In a time where a lot of blockbuster films have less than stellar visual effects, it’s refreshing to see the Sonic movies having consistently great visuals, and that is no different here. From the character models for Sonic and Co. to Eggman’s various creations and even the visual spectacles that are the action scenes, it all looks top-notch. It’s also nice to have CGI characters interact with real-life actors and environments and not look entirely out of place, which is something that this film and series do really well. And those last few fight scenes are jaw-dropping; I’ve been rewatching them on TikTok every time they pop up.
One of my biggest criticisms of the Sonic films is the soundtracks and the lack of actual Sonic songs. It was something that I always thought would elevate these films to the next level, and Sonic 3 has proven me right. This is the most video game-filled soundtrack the Sonic film series has seen, and it’s awesome! You can hear snippets of songs such as “Escape from the City” and Eggman’s theme from Adventure 2, alongside some other tracks played in full (I won’t spoil the big one here). I will most certainly be rewatching this film when it is released on Blu-Ray to find each and every musical reference.
I would have never expected that Sonic, of all game franchises, would be the one to get a successful film trilogy that has been a hit with critics and fans alike. We’ve definitely come a long way since that initial horrible Sonic design was bullied out of existence, and it’s only been getting better since.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the culmination of all the lessons director Jeff Fowler and team have learned over the past several years and is undoubtedly the best film in the series. The story is fantastic, the characters are complex and engaging, and the film looks great and sounds excellent! I’m very much excited about what the future holds for this series, and if those mid- and post-credits scenes are anything to go by, the future looks very bright.
Have you seen Sonic the Hedgehog 3? What did you think? Are you keen for more Sonic films? Let us know in the comments where we can talk about our favourite easter eggs from the film (mine are the Sonic Heroes ones).
