Sonic the Hedgehog. A franchise known for its high highs and low lows has speed blitzed the movie industry! Starting in 2019, with a not so flattering depiction of our blue speedster, Paramount put out a trailer that would become one of the most infamous film trailers in cinema. And Paramount, in a surprising turn of events for a modern film studio, listened to the criticism! They fixed Sonic’s design and this led to the rise of one of the greatest movie comebacks and one of the most successful film adaptations of a video game franchise ever. With each film outdoing the other, fans had high hopes for the next installment, and in my opinion, it did not disappoint.
As a long time Sonic fan, who knows an embarrassingly large amount of information about a blue fictional anthropomorphic hedgehog, the film was a treat. The movie shows a great amount of respect to the source material, and does so in a manner that does not detract from the experience of a casual viewer. A fan will be gushing about the small details, and the average watcher will be enthralled by the cool fights and set pieces.
The story, compared to the tone of the last two movies, is darker, but not to the point where it’s going to affect the overall viewing experience. The Sonic franchise as a whole is no stranger to death and loss, but with this film’s shift in focus to Shadow, who has an arguably darker backstory than most of the characters, this change is more apparent. However, the film has enough light hearted moments of banter and goofiness that it doesn’t make you feel like you’re going into a WW2 documentary. The movie also has far higher stakes than the last two films.
The acting is very good; everyone feels natural in their roles; Jim Carrey is just acting as himself (when is he not, to be fair?) This should be expected though, because most of the actors are returning from the two other films. But Shadow, the new hedgehog on the scene, is being played by a new actor to the franchise: Keanu Reeves! For his first time in his role, he did great! He even did background research on the character to really feel his role. This paid off, because Shadow felt organic and enjoyable to watch. Keanu’s already stoic personality lent itself nicely to Shadow’s character, so it was really just Keanu playing as a slightly edgier version of himself. No one feels forced or like they’re phoning it in.
But, for first time viewers to the franchise just peeking in, this may be a little overwhelming for you. This film has a decently large amount of characters that you may not be aware of, and the movie doesn’t really make an effort to do much exposition into who they are, besides the new characters. Although this may be fine for a returning viewer or fan, a new person may be a little confused by some of the returning concepts or characters from other movies. However, I feel that this would be a momentary amount of confusion because the characters are memorable enough to remember after 30 minutes.
I encourage anyone, Sonic fan or not, to check out the film, which is now streaming on Paramount +. Do you like action? You have it. Do you like comedy? It’s full of it. Do you like high stakes? Yessir (or ma’am)! It’s all there! Sonic fans will leave the theater feeling like kids again, and a new viewer will leave the theater with an enjoyable experience. On a scale from 1 to 5, I’d give this film 4 out of 5 stars.
