Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 – With the emergence of a powerful new enemy, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails find their abilities hopelessly outmatched. Shadow is faster, stronger, and more determined to find revenge against those who wronged him. Unable to keep up, our heroes must team up with an unlikely ally, but will it be enough to defeat the powerful weapon being aimed their way?

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (2024) – Director: Jeff Fowler

Rating: PG

Running Length: 110 mins

Starring: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves

Genres: Comedy, Action/Adventure

REVIEW: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3

Who would have thought after the initial images of movie Sonic appeared in 2019 and were roundly mocked (not without good reason) that director Jeff Fowler would helm not one, not two, but three excellently balanced family friendly movies with the super speed blue hedgehog?

Appealing to both children and adults alike with no real need to be massively into the rather wishy washy Sonic video game cannon, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 continues a very strong run of movies that have nailed their characters and humour perfectly. Knuckles (a perfectly cast Idris Elba) still gets the lion’s share of the best gags, and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) is chirpy best friend personified. Where this third outing differs is by introducing a plot line and character that is dripping in Angst: Shadow.

The plot can be quickly summarised by stating that Shadow (a character as fast and as strong as Sonic) has been kept locked up for 50 years after a tragic event left him posing a serious danger. Of course, he escapes and engages in a mission of vengeance that intersects him with team Sonic who quickly discover themselves unmatched. A sombre presence throughout (voiced weightily by Keanu Reeves), Fowler works hard to give Shadow’s backstory weight without tipping the finely balanced children’s film out of the range of its target demographic. The result is a movie that also ups the daft laughs thanks to the Jim Carrey’s usual brand of gurning capital C comedy. You certainly get a lot of Carrey here; enough for this reviewer but perhaps too much for those not inclined to board his frantic train ride.

Surrogate family Tom and Maddie (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter) get less to do this time around but their fun comedic turns ensure the movie doesn’t descend into purely animated fare. Similarly, Robotnik’s highly enjoyable lacky Agent Stone (a wonderful performance from Lee Majdoub) manages to tug at the heartstrings way more than a supporting character usually manages.  As it all wraps up there was an unexpected lump in our throats, which is commendable for a movie that on the surface is a breezy commercial affair.

Carrey X Factor aside, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 will be a delight to anyone who enjoyed the first two movies as well as families who just want to jump straight in with no prior knowledge. Clean laughs, a little dollop of darkness, and plenty of sparkly action fun: ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’ is ready to ‘gotta go fast’ at your command.

CONTENT: IS ‘SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

An alarm sounds when it appears that Shadow – who is unconscious and floating in a tube – is awakening. All the characters are afraid of what may happen. He awakes suddenly with an angry look and bursts through the glass. He very easily defeats all the soldiers in a quick action scene with poor visibility. The soldiers don’t have time to be afraid or react due to the speed of the attack.

An established minor human character from the previous movies is present during a café scene in Tokyo. After an attack this character lays on the floor and utters some last words before passing away. The mood is respectful to this moment but isn’t lingered upon and no later scenes remark upon it.

Dr Robotnik is in a poor physical state having slumped in defeat. Once a scene starts to trim his hair and smarten him up he runs to the bathroom and loud bowel movement noises are heard.

The characters explore an abandoned army base and split up to search down different corridors. There is a short mildly scary sequence as they are picked off one by one by a character who gets the jump on each of them, often by emerging from the darkness. Only Knuckles is scared to be in this situation and his fear is treated comically, but this sequence could frighten younger children.

During an imagined sequence of what deployment of a secret ultimate weapon would look like, a laser beam is fired from space and destroys the G.U.N Headquarters in London. Whilst the headquarters look a bit like the Twin Towers / World Trade Centre that were destroyed in New York, children are unlikely to know of this visual imagery.

A weapon that acts like a ‘mini black hole’ is used against team Sonic. They cling on to debris in order to avoid being sucked into it and presumably killed. This is a tense moment where for 5 seconds it appears that they will be dragged into the hole before the last second changes the circumstances.

As the team plan on how best to sneak into G.U.N headquarters we see an imagined sequence where Sonic runs full pelt at the base. However, an energy shield covers it up before he can reach in and the shot cuts to a single burnt shoe bouncing into frame. This is repeated for other planned methods of entry for comic effect.

Of the two villains one says to the other “If you weren’t family I would gut you like a pheasant.”

When caught out by armed defences one villainous character remarks that they can’t believe it, following which the other states “I know! A woman in the military!” The character is shown to be old and so this sexist comment will be taken in that context, but making out of touch comments hasn’t been part of their character up to this point so it’s a surprise joke.

During an attempt to gain access to a vault, the vault has some strong unforeseen defences.  After an attack goes wrong there are large metal poles that are driven hard into the ground right by character’s faces in a tense sequence. However, this is more exciting than scary.

As the ‘heist’ sequence finishes, a major human character is using technology that disguises them as another. A very powerful character mistakes them for the character they are imitating and delivers an extremely strong punch directly to the chest, in slow-motion. The character flies backwards and hits the ground hard, unconscious. They are discovered quickly by one of our heroes who is crushed with emotion, which quickly turns to violent anger. This is a very heartfelt and powerful scene which might be difficult for children susceptible to strong emotional scenes, especially as there is no update as the status of the stricken character for a long time.

A flashback sequence reveals more details of Shadow’s backstory including the fate of a young girl who befriended him. An explosion hits the room that she, Shadow, and another character are in. We see the impact throw her back briefly. In the aftermath both characters stand over what is evidentially her body. The body is never directly shown nor is there any injury details, but both characters are devastated.  This emotional moment is quick and had already been implied in earlier scenes.

In the final part of the film the usually heroic and jovial Sonic is consumed with rage. He argues with his team mates and fights Shadow violently. This culminates in an emotional epiphany but it is possible that children may be upset at the shift of tone as there is little comic relief from Sonic for around 10 minutes.

One villainous character is whacked into the air and after a second they impact in the distance with an energy field with a muted ‘zaaap’ noise, presumably killing them.

A character contacts a friend and tells them how much they mean to them. The music becomes emotional and the scene clearly shows that this character is expecting this to be their goodbye. This is quite a sad scene and enough weight is given to it so as not to be a frivolous moment, however it is not lingered upon too much. The character who was contacted is shown to have tears in his eyes as he says goodbye.

There is a mid-credits scene that shows a robot attempting to attack Sonic. Although this attack is thwarted, Sonic sees numerous red eyes appear, surrounding him and a mysterious hooded character turns up to help.

CAN I SEE A CLIP OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3?

VERDICT: IS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 FOR KIDS?

Honestly, it is quite an achievement that director Jeff Fowler has consistently delivered Sonic movies that have balanced fun, excitement, and genuine family friendly appeal (although it’s possible that an upcoming part 4 may introduce too many animated characters to keep the run going). Sonic The Hedgehog 3 introduces a darker touch with an aggrieved enemy and rage overcome Sonic in the final act, but carefully keeps this a surface level darkness by juxtaposing it with comedy and exciting action. Of the three Sonic films this one may skew a little older, but we would recommend it as suitable for ages 5 and up.

• Violence: 1/5 (no blood or injury detail throughout and most characters shake off attacks with little damage)
• Emotional Distress: 3/5 (a distressingly strong attack against a major character that leaves them critically injured)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (slightly scary scene in the abandoned base as the main cast are picked off in darkened tunnels)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 1/5 (one graphic threat, if comical (gut you like a pheasant) and one sexist remark)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of found family, the poison of revenge, weapons of mass destruction, relying on support of friends, treating others with respect, and childhood without parents)

Words by Mike Record