Sonic The Hedgehog 3 review: Gotta go see it again

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is indeed the best film in the trilogy, and I can’t wait to watch it again, and again, and again…

Ever since the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 post-credit scene, I was going feral with excitement for the third film. I tempered my expectations of course because these the first two made it clear that they’re not trying to be 1:1 retellings of the games, so I went in expecting a few nods to Sonic Adventure 2, but no shot-for-shot remakes of it.

See the trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 below

This attitude was indeed the right one, as from start to finish I was enamoured with the story it told, its larger than life characters, and even how it handled some of the more somber moments of the Sonic The Hedgehog mythos…

Keanu Reeves as Shadow The Hedgehog is an inspired choice that carried this film for me. I adore the character of Shadow. He’s one of my favourites, and as much as I love Keanu, he wasn’t going to be safe from my criticism if he buggered this up. Low and behold though, he crushed it; while it felt like a few lines fell flat here and there, it was abundantly clear he’d done his homework. The love and care that went into Shadow’s character for the film was astounding, from emotional scenes where he reflects on his tragic past to the sheer rage emanating from him as he battles G.U.N soldiers in the present.

Sonic is also handled well, as he adapts to his new role as leader of Team Sonic. His character mirrors Shadow’s in the sense he was met with tragedy but found a family out of it whereas Shadow never did, so the clash in their ideologies really shined throughout the film.

The rest of the cast does a fantastic job too, with another special shoutout to Jim Carrey who plays not one, but two Robotniks. As he says in the trailer, “double your villains, double your fun” and that’s by no means an exaggeration. Gerald Robotnik is as wacky and unhinged as Ivo is and at first I didn’t vibe with it, but you quickly see there’s something deeper and darker than Ivo has ever been exuded on his own… Maria Robotnik is also introduced and while she’s used sparingly I can only praise Alyla Browne’s portrayal of the character. Maria’s love for Shadow and importance in his story is not undermined by any means, and I’m more than happy with the way it was handled.

Paramount Pictures

Something that really surprised me with this film was the action. The battles were on another level and I’d say this is possibly the closest we’ve been to a live-action Dragon Ball Z film. It was high-speed, choreographed beautifully and demonstrated the sheer power of these characters perfectly. I was really impressed.

As for the rest of the film, specifically the writing, overall story and soundtrack I honestly couldn't complain. So far the films have done a good job of accommodating those who aren’t as familiar with the Sonic world whilst rewarding those who are experts with little nods here and there to the blue blur’s long history. The references were on point but they won’t alienate those who haven’t played the games, and there are certain story beats that made me very excited for what’s to come in future films…

Something I really want to highlight though is it feels like they finally struck a perfect balance between the Sonic characters and human characters, giving the humans actual roles to play that didn’t feel obnoxious or intrusive. Anyone who watched Sonic The Hedgehog 2 will no doubt remember the infamous Rachel’s Wedding subplot, and thankfully there’s none of that in this film, the focus is exactly where it should be. Humour is obviously subjective and while I had a good few laughs there were a few jokes that didn’t land for me, but that’s not a big deal. Finally, the soundtrack slaps, that’s all I have to say about that.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 was amazing. It really is the best film of the trilogy by far, yet I’m still confident the next film could be even better if they keep this momentum up. It’s hard to believe that we started from a shoddy, horrific design for a live-action Sonic The Hedgehog and somehow ended up here, it’s honestly surreal.

It’s a must-see for any Sonic fan and I can’t wait to see what other fans like myself make of it, and don’t forget to stick around for that post-credit scene…

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 releases in cinemas on 21 December in the UK.