Fans of the popular SEGA video game and the first two movies will no doubt be in Hedgehog heaven with the out-of-this-world third film, Sonic The Hedgehog 3. The audience always seems to want more, more, more and too often studios misread that as better, better, better. In the case of this overly caffeinated edition of a successful franchise determined to bring a new movie every two years – or so it seems after the 2020 and 2022 entries – you might kind of wish they slowed it down a bit and cooled the emphasis this time around on Jim Carrey‘s manic and evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik. At the London premiere recently Carrey was nothing if not honest about the reason he signed on to this one. “I bought a lot of stuff, and I need the money, frankly,” he admitted. Let’s hope they paid him more because this one has been turned into a showcase, for good or bad, for the actor’s character as he plays not just Dr. Robotnik, but also his 110 year old Grandfather Gerald. It could be double the fun if it weren’t so over the top.
As for the plot of this live action/CGI animation mix, our galactic superhero team of Hedgehogs Sonic (voice by Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (voice by Idris Elba) and Tails (voice by Colleen O’Shaugnessey) have settled into domestic bliss with human parents Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) when they are suddenly called into action by G.U.N.to deal with an escape by the kind of formidable foe this trio has rarely encountered. Keanu Reeves lends a dour voice performance to the imposing Hedgehog Shadow who was put in suspended animation at G.U.N. 50 years ago and has now gotten loose and is hellbent on revenge.
To do this Sonic and team must reluctantly join forces with Robotnik who has seen his life go to hell after being soundly defeated by them in the second film. He spends his days watching bad telenovelas and juggles a huge pot belly and other decay, but decides to spring into action. However the evil side is quickly reawakened when grandpa Gerald (played by Carrey with an impressive three hour makeup transformation) who also had spent 50 years in prison for helping Shadow, now is bringing the fearsome Hedgehog, who feels his life was unfairly ruined, back to business as they must get the key to the ultimate weapon of destruction that Sonic was given by a dying man, and then break into G.U.N. to retrieve the other key needed to operate it and threaten the lives of millions of innocent people.
Joining the operation eventually are Tom and Maddie who travel to London with the team, but find themselves in too deep against Shadow and the Robotnik duo all around the globe including some action in Japan and later the big finale in outer space. Under returning director Jeff Fowler it is all frenetic and loaded with CGI galore so attention spans will not be challenged. Sadly gone is the charm of Sonic 2 which was a little more nuanced, and a lot more engaging. However, the audience at the press screening seemed to be eating this all up despite its excesses, so there’s that.
Carrey is such a talented actor, it seems a shame he is stuck having to rev up even more manic energy to play Dr. Robotnik, which he does to the hilt while throwing off a series of break-the-fourth-wall pop culture references in the process. Unfortunately Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool have cornered the market on that lately to better effect. Schwartz’s Sonic is lovable as ever, and Elba’s Knuckles is nicely delivered. Marsden and Sumpter are so likeable you wish they had more to do. In her brief moments on screen Natasha Rothwell as a kickass Rachel proves the kind of scene stealer this movie could use more of.
Be sure to stay through the credits as there are some pretty vivid clues about who Sonic and the gang may be facing next. Oh probably in about 2 years, no doubt.
Producers are Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, Hitoshi Okuno.
Title: Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Distributor: Paramount
Release Date: December 20, 2024
Director: Jeff Fowler
Screenplay: Pat Casey & Josh Miller and John Whittington
Cast: Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves,
Krysten Ritter, Lee Majdoub, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Alyla Browne, James Wolk
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour and 49 minutes