Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Year: 2024
Rating: PG
Length: 110 minutes / 1.83 hours
One thing that initially struck me about the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies was how much lore could be extracted from the video games (especially the 16-bit ones). With Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) being a bit of an origin story movie for Sonic (Ben Schwartz) and Robotnik (Jim Carrey), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) easily added two iconic characters from the second and third games in the series. Then there’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). The lore is at its deepest in this chapter and was a logical next step in Sonic’s story.
When Sonic made the jump from 2-D platformer to 3-D space, there was a bit of a learning curve for the series. While I’ll probably have to write another review of Sonic Adventure 2, that this movie made a mostly clean adaptation of this game’s plot is a big positive. With the introduction of Shadow (Keanu Reeves)—the series’ most tragic character—there was a lot more at stake than just saving the people from Green Hills. Of course, because of the Sonic/Shadow dynamic, there were a ton of great action moments that enforce what makes this live-action series great.
As with the previous two films, the sections with humans are probably the weakest parts. Sure, I get there needs to be some comedic relief, and the goofy bits are fun for the kids. But honestly, Sonic and Robotnik can carry a lot of that load without other human foils for humor. Luckily, this movie had way more plot moments it needed to cover, so these silly (and sometimes cringe) moments are rarer than in the past two movies. Ultimately, these movies bridge the gap between those who grew up with Sonic and those who are just coming to know him.
The best plot in the Sonic movies so far, I give Sonic the Hedgehog 3 4.0 stars out of 5.
