What once seemed impossible is steadily growing into one of the most popular and successful movie franchises of the 2020s, and “Sonic the Hedgehog” shows no signs of slowing down.
Based on the global hit video game franchise from Sega, Sonic is a blue hedgehog from another world with super speed abilities — an obvious basis for a live-action Hollywood adaptation, but one that didn’t have its issues, most notably the original “realistic” design immediately shunned by fans and dubbed “Ugly Sonic.”
Somehow, producer Paramount Pictures heard the cries of displeasure and delayed the first film by a few months to redo a lot of the CGI animation for the titular hero. To millions of fans, it was a smart move as the first film, released in 2020 just weeks before the pandemic, was a surprise hit, and a new franchise was born.
And following a sequel in 2022 and a spin-off miniseries following one of the side characters in April 2024, the third film in the series was released this past Christmas. Once again going bigger than the previous outing with more characters and action, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is the best of the bunch so far.
In this new story, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) and his friends Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Idris Elba) and Tails the Fox (voiced by Colleen Ann O’Shaughnessey) reunite when they’re called on to handle a new emerging threat.
That threat is Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves), a mysterious enemy who had been frozen in stasis for 50 years with powers unlike anything Team Sonic had faced before. With their abilities outmatched, the trio seeks out an unlikely alliance — old foe Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik (Jim Carrey) — to stop Shadow and protect the planet, but not before a Robotnik family reunion aims to thwart Sonic and his friends for good.
As the young target audience of a series grows up, so do the themes the movies explore. While still full of exciting action and goofy comedy, this third film is decidedly more mature, starting from the prologue introducing Shadow.
Through flashback scenes, we learn about his life 50 years earlier in a military science experiment and the bond he forms with a young girl, Maria, the granddaughter of the project leader. To the surprise of no one, things don’t quite go according to plan, or else why would Shadow have been frozen for five decades?
Even with the vast improvement from the original “Ugly Sonic” in the first film, the CGI animation of the characters continues to get better with each new installment. From the detail in their design, such as how many individual hairs in the fur are realized and the lights reflecting in their eyes to how they interact with the world around them, it’s becoming close to flawless — and yet, they’re still obviously cartoon characters, which makes the work all the more impressive.
Part of that success is the main voice cast having an excellent rapport with each other and fully embodying their characters. Schwartz and O’Shaughnessey (who has voiced Tails in the games and animated TV shows for over a decade) were great from the start, but bringing in the celebrity stunt castings of Elba and Reeves and being the perfect choices was a huge relief.
If we’re talking about stunt castings that became fully realized characters, nothing is better than seeing Jim Carrey back again as Robotnik. He’s mostly reined in during the first film, showing only a glimpse of the Eggman character from the games/cartoons. But with each sequel, he’s gone more broad and wild, evoking the Carrey of “The Mask” and “Ace Ventura.”
And the best part? He’s playing two characters — the usual Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik. Combining makeup effects with Carrey’s rubber face performances, with nonstop one-liners and ridiculous stunts, is worth the price of admission alone.
As the younger Robotnik says in one scene, “Double your villains, double your fun,” and that’s all you really need. The other great characters, exciting action and emotional story are just icing.