4.5/5
Review by Michele E. Hawkins.
Since their thwarting of the evil plans of Dr Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, life has become happy, peaceful, and fun for the aliens Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba), and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and their human adoptive parents, Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter).
But, watched over night and day by a crack military team in a remote laboratory, another hedgehog as powerful and fast as Sonic, Shadow (Keanu Reeves), has been kept prisoner for many years after contributing his chaotic energy to the development of a superweapon. When Shadow is mysteriously broken out of his confinement, keenness for revenge drives him to wreak havoc.
And Sonic and his companions and adoptive parents first learn of Shadow’s existence only when the military calls upon them to stop him.
The themes that emerge as Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails meet their match in Shadow concern such matters as the importance of setting aside anger as a basis for decision-making, the value of teamwork and mutual trust, and the courage it takes to acknowledge one’s mistakes. If you’ve seen either of the earlier Sonic the Hedgehog movies, though, then you’ll already know that the chief experience to take away from this latest in the vastly entertaining live-action animated franchise will be how funny these larger-than-life protagonists are in their interactions.
With meticulous 3D animation, graphics by Industrial Light & Magic, and the almost perfect soundtrack adding an extra emotional layer to an exciting but strangely humanistic tale, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is all that you’d hope for in a grand space-age action crime comedy for the entire family.