Sonic the Hedgehog 3

I don’t care how they do it, but I’ll take another one of these movies every couple of years until Jim Carrey finally decides to retire.

Following Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) — now collectively known as Team Sonic — after being recruited by G.U.N. leadership to take down the escaped experiment known as Shadow (Keanu Reeves), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 reintroduces Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) along with his grandfather, the equally as conniving Professor Gerald Robotnik (also played by Jim Carrey), upping the stakes and ensuring that saving the day will not be as easy for Sonic and pals this time around. Contending with a new foe who possesses all of Sonic’s speed-based abilities and then some, as well as an old adversary who now commands double the amount of resources and evil schemes, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and their chosen family of Tom and Maddie Wachowski (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter), must face their toughest challenge yet, one they may not be able to overcome.

I have to say, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was better than I anticipated, especially considering the first two films were average watches at best, with the titular character’s contagious charisma and slew of highly entertaining action scenes sprinkled throughout, making good on the film’s video game source material. Running with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, Sonic 3 is technically more of the same, with the film rising slightly above the mediocrity of its predecessors thanks to the addition of Shadow. Further bolstered by the return of Jim Carrey’s dueling Robotnik roles along with more focus put on the film’s main characters rather than its basic yet still serviceable story, it’s the action sequences ripped right out of an anime that did it the most for me, making it easier to accept Sonic 3 as a successful piece of popcorn entertainment rather than a soulless cash grab of a sequel.

Of course, this film is far from perfect (its first act especially), with most of its flaws yet again stemming from the human characters’ obligatory inclusion in the story. Given less to do this time around in favor of more Sonic-related goodness, Sonic 3’s script at least tries to make James Marsden’s inclusion necessary to the plot, eventually sidelining him and the rest of the fleshy cast (save for Robotnik and his grandfather) for the better. Furthermore, a lot of what makes the writing so great  — Shadow’s tragic characterization, the relationship between characters regardless of hero or villain status, and a handful of genuinely thrilling action sequences, being some prime examples — is more often than not sidelined for a quick eye-roll-worthy gag or unnecessary cutaway to a boring subplot, making this film feel uneven and messy at its worst.

Credit where credit’s due, as these films are getting better with each new entry, but Sonic the Hedgehog 3 still proves that for as much as the filmmakers get right, there are still areas that need a lot of improvement, a nagging problem that needs to be addressed in future installments. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is by far my favorite entry in this growing video game-inspired franchise (including the surprisingly solid Knuckles Paramount+ show), making the already in-development Sonic the Hedgehog 4 a film that will hopefully continue this series’ steady climb in quality and then some.