Kids

Sonic 3: Third Time’s a Surprise

by Miguel Fermin
January 17, 2025

How did Sonic the Hedgehog 3 perform from a kid’s point of view? Here’s the review!

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is pure blockbuster goodness. With a brisk runtime of 1 hour and 50 minutes, this movie wastes no time speeding straight into the fun. But the Sega mascot and friends bring a surprising amount of heart, and the story is able to strike a decent balance between serious, goofy, and awesome. It’s over-the-top in all the right ways, and it does justice to its colorful characters by staying focused on what it wants to be.

It’s impressive to see how far the hedgehog has come on the big screen. Those who were there to witness his initial reveal in early 2019 either block out that memory or always remember how lucky the world is that things turned out for the better. For those unaware, feel free to search up the infamous original trailer for the first movie at your own peril, but it is sufficient to say that live-action Sonic started out with one of the ugliest character designs. Thankfully, the studio and the team behind the movie listened to fans’ concerns. They delayed the movie to fix the design, making Sonic actually look like Sonic. That first film did well, and the rest is history.

How’s the movie for someone who didn’t grow up with it?

As someone who didn’t grow up with Sonic, I’m happy to see this movie franchise do well and continuously improve. While I’m not an expert on the lore and history of the game franchise, I am aware of the fans’ sentiments. I certainly heard how happy the fans were when I watched this latest installment, as the cinema was filled with cheers. The movies have rewarded the good faith of the fandom by staying faithful to the aesthetics of the characters and the spirit of the games. This remains evident to any casual moviegoer who has only seen the films, as they’ve progressively gotten more colorful, wacky, and adventurous.

What this third installment does especially well is how it treats Team Sonic as a family and indeed a proper team that needs one another. Ben Schwartz as the titular character brings his A-game to the role yet again. Sonic is still the mouthy wisecracker, but Ben’s performance lets the character be more mature and even reflective in this movie. Colleen O’Shaughnessy is endearing and lighthearted as Tails, and Idris Elba is my favorite voice actor of the bunch as the blunt Knuckles.

James Marden and Tika Sumpter also return as Tom and Maddie respectively, but they have a lot more to do in this movie compared to before. Normally, in movies where the main characters are not human — think Transformers or Godzilla — the human characters are auxiliary to add more plot in between the cool fights. A good example would be the second Sonic movie, where there was a wedding subplot for most of the human cast, while Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were on the main quest after the Master Emerald. In this third Sonic movie, Tom and Maddie are given much more to do, being integral to the main adventure as well as the character dynamics and development of Team Sonic.

What makes the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 great

The strengths of what this movie improves in with its story and characters culminates in Shadow: another long-awaited fan-favorite character added to the movies from the games. When Idris Elba was announced as the voice of Knuckles for the second movie, many were confused, but when the movie came out, like the character’s gloves, it was a perfect fit. Something similar can be said for Keanu Reeves’ casting as Shadow.

Without spoiling the turns and reveals of the story, Keanu’s signature gruff and morose portrayal fits so surprisingly well, as if Shadow is a new character made just for him. Shadow poses a true challenge for Sonic and his friends both physically and emotionally, raising the stakes and ramping up the action. Speaking of action, I would be remiss if I did not mention that it wowed me. Without spoiling anything again, the action went shockingly hard for cartoony characters hitting each other silly.

While the stakes and emotions resonate surprisingly well, this movie is far from being all doom-and-gloom. Like the other two movies, there’s a whole lot of humor to go around. Team Sonic has great banter, and Shadow retains Keanu’s dry humor. But of course, none come close to being as funny as Dr. Robotnik, played by the great Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey is a total treat

As someone who did grow up with Jim Carrey, I applaud the Sonic movies for giving us peak-90s unhinged Jim Carrey again. After the first movie, he said he would retire, but he came back just for the second movie. And after the second movie, there were similar sentiments, but here he is once more, hamming it up and stealing every scene. Not only that, but this time around, he’s playing Eggman and his grandfather Gerald Robotnik. Personally, Jim Carrey has been by far my favorite thing about this series. His portrayal of a classic maniacal, theatrical villain reflects the journey of the movies becoming more like the games. One of the highlights of this series has been watching Jim Carrey transform from the standard egotistical genius into full weirdo and psycho Eggman.

I just wanted more Jim Carrey, and I got treated with a double-trouble Jim Carrey. It was an absolute feast, and I (and I suspect many others) caught myself laughing so hard that I couldn’t keep up with the movie. Lee Madjoub as Agent Stone deserves a shoutout as well, as the humor from the dynamic between Eggman and his assistant has been another pleasant surprise.

Should you watch it?

If you liked the first two Sonic movies, you’ll definitely love the third one. It’s easily the best in the franchise so far. It elevates the action, comedy, and characters up to eleven and then some. Much like its characters, it finds its strength in being earnest in what it sets out to do. This movie is a buffet for both longtime and casual fans to eat good from, while still serving dessert for what’s to come next. Gotta go fast! Gotta go watch this in cinemas!