Published , by Lucas White
Published , by Lucas White
As someone embedded in video games for so long it’s still weird (in a good way!) to see Sonic the Hedgehog sitting so high in the culture. In the past five years Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have become bonafide movie stars. Last night I caught a showing of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a household event for my family. But while I knew going in we’d have a good time as a pair of nerdy parents with a goofy kid, I was caught off guard by how big of a deal this movie felt. I could feel that gravity radiating off the screen, a level of passion and even desire to make this ridiculous movie work on a heightened emotional level, almost as if someone on that crew was experiencing some kind of creative homecoming. Then I remembered director Jeff Fowler was, almost 20 years ago, part of the team on the often-maligned Shadow the Hedgehog video game.
As a character Shadow the Hedgehog has often felt like an easy target for mocking, a sort of poster boy for the “Sonic Cycle” memes dragging the series for adding too many characters, too much goofy lore, and losing focus on what made Sonic a generational success in the 90s. But part of that is because the creators behind Sonic games took big swings with Shadow, who stands as one of the only characters with not just a melodramatic backstory, but a living, breathing character arc that has been built upon and developed over multiple games in a series otherwise occupied by Mario-like mascots that just kind of operate on cruise control. Regardless of which games are “good” or not, Shadow resonates with fans for a different reason than Sonic and pals, likely because he was their first encounter with complicated, real life emotions during their formative years.
I could be projecting because it’s not like I know anything about Fowler or anyone else behind this film on a personal level, but Sonic 3 at times almost felt like two different movies. Whenever Shadow was on screen, two things happened. One, the movie really goes out of its way to call to specific moments, plot threads, and ideas from the video games in a way the last two really don’t, speaking directly to millennials like me who played Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast or GameCube. Two, with a combination of Keanu Reeves' morbidly sincere performance and a level of filmic craft that almost feels out of place for this series so far, things feel like an attempt to adapt the Shadow mythos in a way that feels like a conversation with its divisive reputation.
When the cameras are on Team Sonic (there are fun nods to Sonic Heroes strewn throughout the movie, but nothing substantial for, probably, the best), the flick feels more like the first two, with lots of kid-friendly antics including overwritten jokes, pop culture references, and dancing. So much dancing. As a parent with a child who is perfectly lined up for this age-wise (he’s 12, the perfect age for Shadow), I expected this stuff and never quite hated it the first two times, but overall the writing and jokes feel slightly more organic, character-oriented, and funny. It helps that the obligatory human characters take more of a back seat this time, and I don’t have to think too much about Donut Lord’s bizarre quest to be Sonic’s dad instead of his friend. I never wrote about this series before so I had to get that off my chest; that part was weird! You don’t need your found family to also be your real family!
Family is still a big deal here though, and that theme is now the driving force behind Robotnik’s piece of the story. This is where the movie falls face first into Hollywood corporate product mode to a detriment. It starts out fun, with Jim Carrey pulling a Jean Claude Van Damme and playing both Ivo Robotnik and his long-lost grandpa, Gerald Robotnik. Gerald’s presence largely being an extended comedy routine (complete with eye-rolling fat jokes) is a major compromise for the Shadow mythos, but an understandable one that doesn’t get in the way too much and comes back when it matters. That said, the charming weirdness Carrey brought to Eggman in the first two movies is not only doubled because of this, the tone is also dialed up to an obnoxious level that takes up way too much runtime.
There are multiple attempts at pathos between the pair (and an oddly muzzled Agent Stone) but they either feel unearned or victims of noticeably sloppy editing, ostensibly done to make room for dance sequences and a fight scene that exchanges genuine video game homage for the “this is what studios think video games are” style of comedy that grazed the first two movies but hit here like a bullet in the gut. The kids in the audience loved this stuff of course, which is totally fine! They’re the target audience, and the moments that feel defiant to that part of the equation are the anomalies, not when toys are being sold and children are being entertained. This stuff just gets in the way, taking oxygen away from story threads instead of contributing to them, which is what made Carrey work so well before.
I cannot stress enough how jarring the “two movies” vibe is. When Sonic 3 takes the time to explore Shadow’s past, there’s genuine filmic craft. The camera moves and shots are carefully arranged to tell a story with imagery and draw emotion out of the audience, the script shuts up and gives us time to think and process information, and the story is coherent and told with a basic narrative structure. When Shadow is part of the present there’s exciting action choreography (bro does The Akira Slide up a building and into the air; that’s cinema), natural dialogue, and again, a sense of coherence. When other things happen the green screens kick in, the camera stops being an active participant, and inconsistencies or weird pacing problems yanked me out of the movie and back into my chair. I spent way too much time confused about what Krysten Ritter’s character was doing, and I suspect the answers were left in the digital trash bin. It’s not as disastrously edited as Moana 2 to provide a recent example, but I saw a better movie trying to escape, and at times that was frustrating.
To be clear, I don’t hate the jokes or sillier moments in Sonic 3, nor do I think the whole thing should’ve been pretentious filmmaking tropes featuring Shadow the Hedgehog. I’m a staunch supporter of Idris Elba’s take on Knuckles, and laughed every time there was a new fish out of water bit. I also respect these movies for doing the bare minimum of acknowledging “real” voice actors and keeping Colleen Ann O'Shaughnessey’s irreplaceable Tails in the picture alongside the stunt casting. I still have mixed feelings on Ben Schwartz’ Sonic and the way the Blue Blur is half a character, half a generic contemporary family movie joke factory, but I saw that clip of him talking up Chrono Trigger so the slate is clean in my book. There’s a scene that plays out in a “Chao Garden” restaurant that’s a hilarious way to include that element from the games, and even Shadow himself has a moment that expertly crossed the streams and had me cackling. I even had fun with the Robotnik antics when they weren’t actively sabotaging the bigger picture.
As much as there will be moments I’ll hate to revisit in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I already want to revisit it. I’ve seen the other movies a few times because kids like to rewatch movies in a way that makes me feel confused envy, but I never felt motivated to myself despite enjoying them. Sonic 3 is a surprisingly good movie, that puts observable effort and care into adapting a character that has a complicated reputation in the gaming world. Fowler’s treatment of Shadow gives validation to the legitimate reasons he’s resonated with people for over two decades despite the low review scores, dismissive memes, and other roadblocks we don’t need to get into. I may be looking too much into it as a reflection of Fowler’s own history with this story, but as an observer it feels like a full circle moment, an opportunity that feels exceedingly rare and harder to swing at. But if that feeling does have some truth to it, then that swing didn’t miss.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is out now in theaters. A regular screening was attended for this review.