If you’re not a parent, you may have no interest in seeing Paramount’s “Sonic” movie franchise unless you’re like my dear friend Caleb, who is in his early 30s, loves anime, and seemingly has the same taste as my eight-year-old son. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ But this is fine, “Sonic” movies are definitely movies for children first and foremost”— and there’s nothing wrong with that either—and “Sonic 3” mostly continues down that same path.
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However, presuming you don’t know the “Sonic” movies—I certainly would have never seen them without my kiddo—they’re actually quite surprisingly endearing, lighthearted, amusing and entertaining. And when they’re at their best, they’re essentially stories about outsiders trying to fit in, our collective need to belong and the heartening qualities of found families; all good emotional qualities that put an extra pep into the wacky energy of these fun movies.
“Sonic” films center on an andromorphic blue hedgehog alien with superspeed powers, Sonic (Ben Schwartz), who is adopted by human parents, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife, Maddie (Tika Sumpter), in the bucolic suburban setting of Green Hills, Montana.
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Throughout the two films, the Sonic family has grown to become about friendship, brotherhood, and teamwork, including the yellow alien fox Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and the red alien echidna Knuckles (Idris Elba). The devious villain, the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), has always been central to the narrative alongside supporting cast like Robotnik’s sycophantic assistant Agent Stone (Lee Majdoub) and Wade Whipple (Adam Pally), the Green Hills deputy sheriff of, and human star of the “Knuckles” spin-off series.
“Sonic The Hedgehog 3” flips the formula slightly, introducing a new sort-of-ish villain in Director Rockwell (Krysten Ritter), a high-ranking officer of the G.U.N. military organization (Guardian Units of Nations) that’s threaded through the franchise (think Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D) and turning Robotnik into an ally—briefly anyhow.
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But ‘Sonic 3’ is all about the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves), an angsty anthropomorphic black hedgehog who was used in military experiments 50 years ago but had been put on cryostasis ice ever since because the government became too wary about his uncontainable powers. Shadow is essentially the dark black opposite of Sonic but comes from tragedy.
During his years as a tool for the military, he befriended the young teen Maria Robotnik (Alyla Browne), who perishes in a tragic accident that leads to Shadows cryosleep imprisonment.
Shadow was also the tool of the scientist Gerald Robotnik (Jim Carrey again, this time in old-age make-up), the long-lost grandfather of Dr. Robotnik. After several machinations, some of which include Shadow’s awakening and Robotnik teaming up with Sonic and Co. briefly, Robotnik and Gerald reunite and decide to rule the world together by exploiting the power and bitterness that Shadow still holds. But of course, Gerald has much darker plans up his sleeve that even his own grandson is blind to.
In typical form, ‘Sonic 3’ is mostly amusing and low-stakes enjoyable for the first two acts— if a little derivative, cause these stories don’t’ evolve that much—they definitely do get dragged down by Shadow’s villain origin backstory and his angst-ridden resentment and the past that haunts him.
Precisely like the convention of “Sonic The Hedgehog 2,” at first, he’s the foe but then becomes the friend, collaborating to fight the dual threat of two Robotnik relatives. But there still might be redemption for Dr. Robotnik along the way.
But the overly serious and grim third act is a wildly overblown, super melodrama about saving the world with doom and gloom everywhere and an epic-sized finale that is loud, kinetic, and so hyper it becomes overwrought to the point that you tune out.
Director Jeff Fowler continues to do an impressive job of making modestly budgeted blockbusters that play like they cost $200 million, and he’s good at scaling action and creating set pieces. The films look good, too, but the method here is too familiar to be compelling. ‘Sonic 3’ has its laughs, a few moments of the cheerful and sweet joviality that makes the franchise generally so affable, but is ultimately forgettable, even remembering the basic plot is a bit of a chore.
And at nearly two hours long, simply thirty minutes too much for this franchise, the wearying drama becomes enervating and exhausting.
Reeves does fit in well as the character Shadow, but the overall darker, grittier tone feels like it clashes with what makes the “Sonic” franchise so easygoing. That fact that a big name like Reeves is in this film, is a testament to its popularity, and quality—again, these are generally surprisingly charming little movies that are difficult to dislike. But “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” feels like a darker, the-end-times-are-near blockbuster in the vein of a big “Avengers” Marvel movie, and it’s unclear how being like everyone else serves a franchise that has been perfectly content to be its weird, wacky, lovable little self. [C+]