As a 90s kid, I grew up playing various “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise videogames throughout my childhood and even now into adulthood, too.
That being said, when the recent movies were announced, I made sure to catch them as soon as possible and that carried through to last weekend.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” brings the iconic blue speedster back to the big screen with enough silliness for children and jokes a handful of adults will catch, too.
I credit my enjoyment to Jim Carrey’s portrayal of villainous and over-the-top Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
The rest of the flick is just a bunch of CGI with famous voices giving life to the franchise’s other legendary characters.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 2024 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega.
It was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller.
Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Tom Butler, Lee Majdoub, and Idris Elba reprise their roles, while Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, and Keanu Reeves join the cast.
The film is rated PG for action, some violence, rude humor, thematic elements and mild language and comes in at 110 minutes long.
In 1974, Shadow the Hedgehog (Reeves) came to Earth in a meteorite and was taken in by the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.). Shadow's power was used for various experiments headed by Gerald Robotnik (Carrey) at a G.U.N. facility; during this time, he developed a close friendship with Gerald's granddaughter Maria (Browne).
One night, as Gerald, Maria, and Shadow tried to escape the facility to prevent Shadow from being taken away, G.U.N. accidentally caused an explosion that killed Maria, leading Shadow and Gerald to become vengeful toward humanity.
Gerald was imprisoned but eventually released, and Shadow was placed into suspended animation.
In 2024, off the coast of Japan, a secret G.U.N. prison facility's systems are hacked, awakening Shadow.
Elsewhere, Sonic (Schwartz), Tails (O’Shaughnessy), and Knuckles (Elba) are celebrating the anniversary of Sonic's arrival on Earth with their adoptive parents Tom (Marsden) and Maddie Wachowski (Sumpter).
G.U.N. Director Rockwell (Ritter) arrives and recruits Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, whom G.U.N. has dubbed "Team Sonic", to stop Shadow, who is causing chaos in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, Shadow easily overpowers the three and escapes.
Team Sonic meets with G.U.N. Commander Walters (Butler), who informs them about Shadow's past.
Suddenly, Dr. Ivo Robotnik's drones attack and fatally wound Walters; before he dies, Walters gives Sonic a digital keycard and warns him to keep it safe.
Team Sonic, not knowing who to trust, vows to find Shadow without G.U.N.'s help.
They encounter Ivo's assistant, Agent Stone (Majdoub), who reveals that Ivo did not send the drones.
Armed with that revelation Team Sonic decides to form an uneasy alliance with Ivo and track the drones to an abandoned G.U.N. base.
There, at Gerald's old facility, Shadow captures Team Sonic, while Ivo meets his long-lost grandfather Gerald, who activated the drones to lure Ivo.
Team Sonic has its work cut out to try and save the world and each other amidst plenty of chaos and confusion but the ending is more than worthwhile.
After all, the heroes never lose in children’s movies and the family Sonic has found is putting him on the path to achieving legendary status.
