Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a fast and furry ride

With electric goggles and action-packed adventures, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 completes the best video game movie trilogy yet.

Inspired by the games, but reworking them in the first film’s cinematography of Sonic (Ben Schwartz) with a human family (James Marsden and Tika Sumpter), as well as getting Tails (Colin O’Shaughnessy) and former nemesis Knuckles (Idris Elba) as brothers at the end. Sonic the Hedgehog 2, that’s what it created Sonic: The movie franchise so far stands as one of the most enjoyable movie game adaptations we’ve ever gotten Sonic 3:this week, bringing the very sad story of one of Sonic’s most famous rivals, Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves), is the perfect bookend, and it delivers on every level. Sonic 3: left me feeling like a child at play Sonic Adventure 2: Back with its little brother on the Dreamcast, it felt like I just watched my favorite parts of the game’s story fit perfectly into the puzzle of the film’s arcs.

As Shadow, Reeves delivers one of his best voice performances to date, full of bitter pain as he seeks revenge against Sonic and those who neglected him, giving the team a fun antagonist fight againstand: Sonic 3: not only pokes fun at its game world, but also with Reeves’ own cinematic legacy (and more: we’ve all seen it Akira: slide into the clips.) On the character side, Schwartz, Elba, and O’Shaughnessy find a comfortable vibe with each other as Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, whether it’s during the action moments of the film or during the break. These great performances all around attract you and that even before Sonic 3: starts to really delve into Shadow’s history from the games by giving us his tragic past and his connection to the Robotniks through Maria (Alila Brown) in a way that fans of the games will be very pleased with how Shadow has made it to the big screen.

This time around, the human side of things is anchored by a fantastic dual performance from Jim Carrey, who returns not only as the Robotnik we knew and loved (to hate/laugh) from the first two films, but now also his grandfather, Gerard Robotnik; Not only does Carrey enjoy a wonderfully flawless performance when he gets to play himself; it’s crazy and funny and leaves me crying with laughter at times, but the relationship between the two Robotniks and how Gerard uses Shadow’s inner conflict Maria to pull her strings offers a fresh lens to the series with family themes.

Fans of the games may already have an idea of ​​how Gerard plays out here, but it really gives Carrey more than just mirrored comedic insights into his dual roles , while during Ivo, Carrie adds another layer to her performance as her desires to rule the world begin to collide with her grandfather’s plans for revenge. Not only are the stakes high in the world, but Robotniks gives the entire conflict an extra personal layer to the proceedings; Sonic 3: a little something extra to chew on, even as it enjoys using those raised stakes to include a few iconic elements Sonic:of gaming history for good measure. It is not everyone high-action nods – there’s a particularly fun nod to Chao Gardens featured there Adventurous games, but they all feel really earned in the end, thanks to both their time in the series, spanning all three movies here, and Sonic 3:own weaving of the original material.

In Sonic 3:Director Jeff Fowler gets a well-deserved victory lap celebrating the incredible road from the rocky, ugly-Sonic-drama-filled start an adapted game franchise that is a guide to making the leap from consoles to the big screen. Sonic 3: leaves some out-of-this-world themes open for potential exploration. For now, though, it just has to celebrate itself as the culmination of one of the best video game movie trilogies we’ve ever gotten, and will probably stay that way for a long time.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opens this Friday, December 20th.

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