Sonic the Hedgehog III Review: A Manic, Family-Centered Sequel That Speeds Ahead

“The light shines even though the star is gone.”

Sonic the Hedgehog III is a sparkly, stylized and sometimes silly sequel to 2022’s successful Sonic the Hedgehog II. Though the revenge plot and the theme focusing on the importance of family, found or otherwise, are fairly pedestrian, the film is an excellent interpretation of Sega’s long-running, eponymous video game, features a loaded cast and is made with impressive production design. The movie is bristling with Easter eggs targeted at fans of the games and other IP’s. The action sequences are flashy and frenetic enough to hold a child’s interests. Most of the humor is in Jim Carrey’s hands, so those familiar with his shtick will know what to expect.

Sonic the Hedgehog III is a 2024 Paramount Pictures production directed by Jeff Fowler from a screenplay by John Wittington, Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Jim Carrey headlines the live-action cast along with James Marsden, Krysten Ritter, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub and Alyla Browne while the film features the vocal talents of Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey and Ben Schwartz.

“It’s uncanny! It’s as if we were two characters in the same movie played by the same actor!”

Power is sabotaged at a Guardian Units of Nations holding facility outside of Tokyo and Shadow the Hedgehog (Reeves), an immensely powerful creature deemed too dangerous to run free, escapes the complex. Following the events of Sonic the Hedgehog II, Sonic (Schwartz), Tails (O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles the Echidna (Elba) have formed Team Sonic and have all moved in with Tom (Marsden) and Maddie. G.U.N. agents arrive at their home to plead for assistance with the Tokyo situation which has swiftly spiraled out of their control.

Fire and destruction greets the team upon their arrival at the epicenter of a rapidly deteriorating scene. Wrecked and burning cars line the intersection with battered and broken G.U.N. agents strewn about like discarded toys. Shadow steps forward and warns them off, telling them not to get between him and the G.U.N. people. Each member of Team Sonic takes a crack at Shadow and each is soundly defeated with Sonic himself the last to fall.

Recovering from the fray in a Tokyo Kid’s Garden, the team is attacked by egg drones belonging to their old foe, Ivo Robotnik (Carrey). When G.U.N. responds, Commander Walters is critically wounded, but before he passes out, and afraid that there was a traitor in his ranks who helped Shadow escape, he manages to give Sonic a chip that, when combined with its twin, can activate G.U.N.’s most devastating weapon.

Suddenly wary of the many agents surrounding them, Team Sonic decides to get out of dodge and pursue their own investigation, leaving G.U.N. Director Rockwell (Ritter) fuming. The group forces Agent Stone (Majdoub), Robotnik’s assistant, to drop the dime on Ivo’s whereabouts and brace the mad scientist in his lair, demanding to know why he sent his eggs after them. Ivo is baffled and professes his innocence, claiming to be out of the villain business. Incensed, he is furious that someone would hijack his equipment and vows revenge. A reluctant Sonic and his crew join forces with their nemesis, realizing that, for the moment, the enemy of their enemy is their friend.

Who has stolen Robotnik’s technology? What drives Shadow’s dreams of revenge? Why can’t Sonic get out of his own way? Where has Knuckles hidden the Master Emerald? When will Tails get tired of being taken for granted? Please see Sonic the Hedgehog III to find out.

“Stone, you were more than a sycophant; you were a syco-friend.”

Though the film is dotted with sly winks at the viewer, for the most part, Sonic III takes itself as serious as a car crash. However, in a manic, multirole performance, Jim Carrey spends the runtime of the movie mugging for the camera and chewing on the scenery. He is also the driver of the bulk of the humor with the occasional sight gag or bit of slapstick providing the rest.

The dialogue is breezy, but playing to their roles, Reeves and Elba have made Shadow and Knuckles so damned dour and grim that they just let the air out of several scenes.

The CG is wonky in parts. Wet Shadow looks more like a black cat covered in glitter than a wet hedgehog and occasionally it’s hard to gauge exactly what the animated characters are looking at. This is also a problem when the actors share screentime with the CG creations. There are moments where it looks like James Marsden has no idea where Sonic’s eyes are supposed to be.

The soundtrack is a mix of pop song covers, along with a weirdly anachronistic use of a few songs from the nineties used to give an acoustic timestamp to a flashback sequence that takes place fifty years ago, (which would be twenty years before the nineties). In a very nice homage, Shadow’s escape from the G.U.N. complex cribs from Nightcrawler’s opening in 2003’s X2. Near the climax, Sonic and Shadow fight like Super-Saiyans from the Dragonball franchise and as a cute callback to the game, almost all of Dr. Robotnik’s machines sport a mustache in the mold of their creator’s.

Sonic the Hedgehog III is a goofy, rowdy romp that is at the same time sober and earnest. Fans of the IP should be satisfied. Video game films are hard to get right. In a video game, you tell the characters what to do, while in a movie, the director tells the characters what to do. The genre of video game-based films is strewn with the wreckage of many failed franchises that have come before the Sonic series. Sonic the Hedgehog III maintains the high bar of quality its two prosperous predecessors have set.

Sonic the Hedgehog III opens in theatres 12/20/24.