Even at the regular length of an hour and 40 minutes, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is fast, which would be the point of making a film based on an iconic character whose primary trait is that he runs lighting-fast.

The blue-furred hedgehog (voiced by Ben Schwartz), whom people from the ’90s remember as videogame company Sega’s mascot, has friends: a two-tailed fox, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and an echidna with big massive hands called Knuckles (Idris Elba). One is a genius inventor-cum-tech support, the other is simple and likes to smash things, for comedic relief of course.

All three are fast and, as sequels go, Knuckles was the baddie who turned good in the last part. And as trends and cliches continue, part three introduces another powerhouse villain, Shadow (Keanu Reeves) who, any viewer would know, will develop a conscience by the big climax.

By the way, the climax really is big, given that this is primarily a kiddie movie, though one that also banks on nostalgia for the adults to drive its business (the film had been beating Mufasa at the US box-office for two weeks solid).

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a fun adventure that one enjoys despite the predictability of the premise

The story returns to Sonic and company’s happy family, Tom and Maddie Wachowski (James Marsden, Tika Sumpter) — a local sheriff of a small town named Green Hills (Sonic fans will catch that reference) and his veterinarian wife — when disaster strikes. The special military unit GUN (Guardian Unit of Nations, silly name, really) reaches out to Sonic and his friends to contain Shadow who trashed Tokyo Square. Shadow had been kept in suspended animation since 1974, and is now out for revenge.

The revenge angle hardly holds up its credibility, especially when the film enters its climax, which — did I mention? — is quite big.

The characters are a hoot, and it feels like Jim Carrey is enjoying playing Sonic’s regular villain, Dr Ivo Robotnik, and his very similar-looking evil-genius grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. The latter is helping Shadow with his ultimate revenge and the grandson agrees to team-up with Sonic to foil his apparent doppelganger.

The characters are well laid out — that is, as much as they can be, given the plot-versus-character development constraints of routine big-budget filmmaking. The voice-work is fine — with exception to the near-lifeless, un-hammy voice work of Keanu Reeves, though I think that was a deliberate call. And the film, overall, really is a fun adventure that one may enjoy, despite the predictability of the premise.

Director Jeff Fowler (a VFX-company maven-turned-director with the Sonic films), and his writers Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington, should pat their backs for a good show. Now, on to the next instalment in 2027.

Released by Paramount Pictures, in association with HKC (in Pakistan), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is rated PG and has nothing (apart from a few on-screen deaths) that may not sit well with kids or adults

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 12th, 2025