Sonic, the most iconic blue hedgehog in videogames, is back with a third film, and this time, he is going up against the ‘John Wick’ of the Sonic world.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 sees ‘Team Sonic’ – comprising Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey) – celebrating the anniversary of Sonic’s arrival on Earth with their adoptive parents Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). However, trouble soon comes looking for them again when military organisation G.U.N. enslists Team Sonic to after Shadow (Keanu Reeves), a Sonic-lookalike and former military experiment who has powers that are far greater than those of Sonic and his friends.
Outmatched in every way, the team has to form an unlikely alliance with their old nemesis Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey) in order to stop Shadow and protect the planet.
If you've seen the first two Sonic movies, you'll know what to expect from this – an action packed special filled with intentionally cheesy scenes, epic fight scenes, lots of humour and even emotional tear-jerking moments.
The storyline itself is simple, and follows the usual 'enemies-to-friends' tropes, which teaches kids that even sworn enemies can become the best of friends.
The voice acting for me, is a 50/50, as the voices for some characters sounded a tad bit cheesy or unnatural. For example, Sonic’s voice in the first half of the movie sounded too much like his in-game counterpart which made him somewhat monotonous and at some parts rather cringy.
That aside, the rest of the voices were quite decent, giving the viewers an immersive character experience that many animated movies fail to do. As expected, Keanu Reeves's performance as Shadow the Hedgehog is the highlight, his iconic and very recognisable voice giving Shadow a very 'John Wick vibe'.
The visual effects and CGI scenes are also great, especially when it came to the explosions, Dr Eggman’s mechanical contraptions, and the characters' abilities.
The movie also includes a lot more references and mechanics from the game franchise, which will be sure to make the retro gamers happy. (Note: If you're a Sonic fan, you definitely won't want to miss the post-credits scene).
Overall, Sonic 3 is a good family movie that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults of all ages.
Summary:
Gotta go fast!
