Full of electric spectacle and action-packed adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 completes the best video game movie trilogy yet.
Taking inspiration from the games but re-working them into the cinematic storyline of Sonic (Ben Schwartz) having a human family to belong to (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter) in the first film, as well as gaining Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and former nemesis Knuckles (Idris Elba) as brothers at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is what’s made the Sonic movie franchise work so far as one of the most enjoyable cinematic gaming adaptations we’ve ever got. But in Sonic 3, out this week, bringing in the very sad backstory of one of Sonic’s most famous rivals, Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) is a perfect bookend, and it delivers on every level. Sonic 3 left me feeling like the kid who played Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast with her little brother all over again, like I just watched my favorite parts of the game’s story fit perfectly into the puzzle of the film’s arcs.
As Shadow, Reeves delivers one of his best voiceover performances so far, one filled with bitter pain as he seeks out revenge against Sonic and those who’ve slighted him. It gives Team Sonic a fun antagonist to battle against, and Sonic 3 revels in not just its gamified world but also getting to layer in nods to Reeves’ own cinematic legacy too (and more–we’ve all seen that Akira slide in the trailers). On the heroes side Schwartz, Elba, and O’Shaughnessey have found a comfortable vibe with each other as Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, riffing off of each other effortlessly whether it’s in the film’s action moments or its downtime between. These great performances all around really pull you in, and that’s even before Sonic 3 starts really digging deep into Shadow’s backstory from the games, giving us his tragic past and his connection to the Robotniks through Maria (Alyla Browne) in a fitting manner that will leave fans of the games very satisfied about how Shadow’s been brought to the big screen.
This time the human side of things is anchored in a fantastic dual performance by Jim Carrey, who returns not just as the Robotnik we’ve known and loved (to hate/laugh at) from the first two films, but now also his grandfather, Gerard Robotnik. Not only does Carrey revel in delivering a delightfully unhinged performance as he gets to play off of himself–it’s madcap and hilarious, and left me crying with laughter at times–but the two Robotnik’s relationship, as well as how Gerard leverages Shadow’s internal conflict over Maria to pull his strings, offers a fresh lens on the movie series’ familial themes.
Fans of the games might already have an inkling as to how Gerard’s role plays out here, but it really gives Carrey an opportunity to bring more than just mirrored comedy shenanigans to his dual roles. As Gerard, there’s an extra layer of tragedy as his villainy ramps up over the course of the film, while as Ivo, Carrey gets to add another layer to his performance as his own desires to take over the world begin to clash with his grandfather’s plans for revenge. Not only are the stakes world-endingly high, the Robotniks give the whole conflict an extra personal layer to the proceedings–giving Sonic 3 a little something extra to chew on, even as it delights in using those heightened stakes to incorporate several iconic setpieces from Sonic‘s gaming history for good measure. It’s not all high action nods–there’s a particularly fun nod to the Chao Gardens introduced in the Adventure games–but they all end up feeling really earned, thanks to both the time across the series it’s taken to get here across all three films, and in Sonic 3‘s own weaving in of the source material.
In Sonic 3, director Jeff Fowler gets to take a well-earned victory lap, a celebration of an unlikely road from a rocky, ugly-Sonic-drama-filled start to an adapted gaming franchise that stands as the hallmark for how to make the leap from consoles to the big screen. While this could by and large feel like the end of a particular chapter of video game movie history, Sonic 3 does leave some out-of-this-world threads open for potential exploration. For now though, it should just simply get to celebrate itself as the culmination of one of the best video game movie trilogies we’ve ever got–and will likely remain that way for a good while yet.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opens this Friday, December 20.
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