I have now seen Sonic 3. The one with Shadow voiced by Keanu Reeves. Well, I went there on Friday night, and I'm only reporting on it now because I got busy during the weekend. Family reunions because of the Holidays, all that. Hey, you've still got two days if you want to see it before Christmas! I'll keep light on the spoilers, as usual - well, aside from the stuff confirmed in trailers.
The story
We're continuing from the previous movie, with Sonic (Ben Schwartz) now living with Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), Knuckles (Idris Elba), Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). They're even celebrating Sonic's first year on Earth... Okay, no, that's incorrect, it's either "Sonic's first year of being found by Tom", or "Sonic's first year of joining the Wachowski household".
This outdoors party is interrupted by the arrival of a G.U.N. helicopter, with agents enlisting the aid of the three friends against a new threat. For the last 50 years they had been hiding another alien, the mysterious Shadow. The hedgehog broke out of his containment from a prison by the coast of Japan, and has been wreaking havoc in Tokyo as a result. Team Sonic lands and gets beat up pretty badly by this new threat. Even Sonic can't match the similarly speedy hedgehog.
After Shadow has left to who knows where, Team Sonic recovers at a close-by place, where they meet with Commander Walters of G.U.N. (Tom Butler). Walters begins to explain Shadow's story, but the discussion is interrupted by a surprise attack by Robotnik's robots. A mysterious masked motorcyclist barges into the fight and incapacitates the robots. Walters gives Sonic a special key card, telling him to keep it hidden. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles then chase down the motorcyclist, whom they find out is Agent Stone (Lee Madjoub). Robotnik's lackey them to the mad scientist's lair.
Robotnik (Jim Carrey, of course) has been in a heavy funk since his previous defeat, and spends his days eating crap and watching soaps. He's put on quite a bit of weight. Hey, he's Eggman fully realized, he's just missing the suit! Once everybody realizes that someone else is using Robotnik's robots for nefarious purposes, the heroes strike up an unlikely alliance with their greatest enemy.
This takes the whole group to a military base, where the culprit is found: Gerald Robotnik (also Jim Carrey), a grandfather Ivo didn't know he had. Gerald is the one who freed Shadow from confinement, and intends to use him to enact revenge on G.U.N. for everything that happened fifty years prior. And since he's as evil as his grandson, the two Robotniks team up for another ploy that threatens all of Planet Earth. And with Shadow still under their control, they're nearly unstoppable...
The review
Even more action-packed than the previous two films, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is intended as a (rather loose) adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. Not a game I've played in full yet, but I know the general details of that story. Not that this is very relevant; like I said, rather loose. What matters is whether the new characters in the film are respectful of their original game versions, and whether the end result is cohesive.
The Sonic movies so far have had action, sure, that comes with the territory. However, they tend to veer a lot more into comedy, owing to being a family film. Sonic and Robotnik can't spend 2 minutes on-screen without tossing banter. The Sonic franchise in general, especially in the games, tends to oscillate between serious stories and more lighthearted ones. The action is still great; and in fact, this might be the most action-packed entry in the film franchise yet. It is to be expected, with Shadow proving to be much stronger, and a lot more dangerous, than any previous opponents.
Character-wise, I love the energy that has settled within Sonic Team, and even with Sonic's "adoptive parents" Tom and Maddie. Tails and Knuckles have adapted well, and even Knuckles seems to have loosened up a tad. Guess it helps that Knux had an entire miniseries all to himself on Paramount+ in 2024... it's not really mandatory watching before Sonic 3, the only thing that ties the two is a one-minute gag.
But let's get to the centerstage character: Shadow. I haven't seen the film in English, but I've read that Keanu Reeves went above and beyond to respect the core of the character in his performance, and I 100% believe it. (Guess it helps that this hedgehog shares many traits with a certain John Wick...) Shadow wouldn't be who he is without his traumatic backstory, and... well, I won't spoil for anyone who doesn't know it yet, but I'll say: There's a couple differences with game canon, but it's ultimately faithful.
Which brings me to the Robotniks. Ivo is the same as ever, evil but hilariously so, with Jim Carrey once more bringing his pure chaotic energy to the performance. You could say he steals the show, as usual. However, this time there's twice the Carrey to chew the scenery. Gerald Robotnik was a way for director Jeff Fowler to carry the themes of family that permeated the previous films, this time by exploring it on Robotnik's side, he who normaly treats everyone as idiots. This time, he is not only facing someone just as smart (if not smarter!), but someone with similar spite.
Barring a few specific moments, Gerald Robotnik is played with the exact same energy as Ivo. It's very cool that both of them appear all the time on-screen together, despite being played by the same actor - there's some impressive special effect work here, be it in the use of body doubles and other tricks to have them next to each other.
My biggest issue with the film lies in Gerald Robotnik, actually. Yeah, he's as zany as his grandson, as we get to see in several scenes I won't spoil. The original Gerald Robotnik is a part of Shadow's backstory and is, as a result, a much more tragic character. Yes, Jim Carrey is capable of dramatic acting, and some of it peeks through in the relevant flashbacks involving Gerald, obviously, but also when his true motivations are revealed. (Again, not telling.) But that's the thing; no matter how hilarious Carrey's interpretation is, I can't seem to reconcile the overtly silly and the genuinely tragic sides of this Gerald. They don't... fit together, at least not as well as I suspect Fowler wished.
And while most of the film is great, there's often this tonal clash: This attempt at telling a serious, mature story, that gets often chort-circuited by the silliness. Honestly, that's my biggest gripe with the film, and the more I think about it the harder it gets to ignore. I think I would have preferred if Gerald got played a little more seriously, if only during his final scenes.
But honestly, that's not that big of an issue when it's such a good ride for most of the film. If we put that little hiccup aside, emotion's there where it needs to be, the action is great, and the story does take some turns that are a little more intense than in the previous two, so while comedy is still a core tenet, there is indeed a bit more of a serious element this time around. Definitely a recommendation, if you've seen the other two you'll enjoy this one as well.
Sonic 4 was already announced. Stick around to the end of the credits - the previous films both showed new characters, so you can expect that here as well.
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