Shadow of the Night — Sonic the Hedgehog 3

William J Hammon
8 min readJan 13, 2025

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Movie trilogies are a common occurrence, now more than ever. As studios continue to rely on franchise IPs, sequels, prequels, and remakes to pad their coffers, every “popcorn” flick that comes out is designed to get at least three installments, if not more. What was once a rarity in the likes of Star Wars is now the order of the day, whether the property warrants continuation or not.

But within that framework, you know what’s really rare? When that third entry (or fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.) manages to outdo its predecessors, to demonstrate an escalation of quality from one film to the next. There are highs and lows to be sure, but it’s almost unheard of for each film in a trilogy to have so much good stuff in it and advance its characters and story to the point that you can honestly say that each successive picture surpasses its predecessor. There are plenty of cases where the first sequel is agreed upon as equal to or better than the original (The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, or Back to the Future Part II for instance), but a three-peat? Not so much. Sometimes the third is solid but doesn’t quite rise to the second’s level (Return of the Jedi), while other times it tanks entirely (The Godfather Part III, Alien 3, Austin Powers in Goldmember), but to my mind, I can only think of five such triumphs: Toy Story, Mad Max, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones, and The Lord of the Rings (when I finally see Army of Darkness, I’ll probably put the Evil Dead trilogy on this list as well).

Well, shocker of all shockers, add Sonic the Hedgehog to this elite club. The first movie wasn’t great, but it had charm and showed that occasionally the suits will listen to the people giving them money (and “Ugly Sonic” became an unintentional cult favorite, to the point that he was arguably the secret MVP of the Rescue Rangers movie). The second shifted gears away from tired clichés and started to find its footing as a fun, zany, no-stakes bit of escapism. Now, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the series has finally realized all of its visual and comedic potential, giving us the adventure that we all knew was possible back when we saw that first cringeworthy trailer. The steady improvement is so noticeable that, where the first two movies got mixed-to-positive reviews (Rotten Tomatoes scores of 64% and 69% respectively), this latest romp has soared to 87%, putting it just a point off of Wicked (the audience score is actually a point higher), and it didn’t even need eight months of browbeating advertising.

How did it happen? Well, I put it down to three things. One, Jim Carrey is turned completely loose this time around, giving the fans a chaotically wonderful double performance that makes his turns in the last two films feel somehow restrained. Second, the addition of Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves) brings a fan favorite into the fold while also providing the first story to have any real pathos. Third, and most importantly, despite the addition of stakes, the creative team (once again led by director Jeff Fowler) went above and beyond to keep things grounded and relatively lighthearted, with proper focus on the video game characters, rather than their human companions. Nothing against Tom (James Marsden), Maddie (Tika Sumpter), Wade (Adam Pally), Rachel (Natasha Rothwell), or Randall (Shemar Moore), but they’re sidekicks, and they should have always been treated as such. The only non-Robotnik human that really matters here is Agent Stone (Lee Madjoub), and his antics reach their absolute peak.

This is definitely a heavier plot than the last two outings, but it’s mostly window dressing to set up the action scenes. As teased at the end of Sonic 2, Shadow has been kept in a state of suspended animation by the quasi-military organization, GUN, for the past 50 years. While Sonic (Ben Schwartz at the height of his powers), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessy), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) celebrate their accidental family life with Tom and Maddie, the enraged Shadow has broken free of his containment, seeking revenge against GUN — and humanity writ large — for the death of his one human friend, Maria (Alyla Browne, finally getting to show her face after Furiosa AI-ed Anya Taylor-Joy onto her).

When Shadow starts cutting a path of destruction across Tokyo, Sonic and crew are called in to stop him, and the dynamic conflict is immediate and understandable, even to the youngest of viewers. For the kids, they get to see the happy, quippy Sonic mellowed out from his more dickish tendencies from the earlier films and working as part of team, taking on the brooding, hate-filled Shadow going it alone as two sides of the same coin, with Sonic openly contrasting them as what happens when someone takes their anger and works through it versus someone succumbing to and living within it. For the adults, we get the same message — though in more obvious tones — while also chuckling at how intentionally over-the-top Keanu is with the line readings. He’s so emo that it almost feels like self-parody, but really he’s inhabiting a character that, in the games, is often defined by how angsty he is, even when the situation doesn’t call for it. Reeves plays it perfectly.

After a drone strike from Robotnik’s devices, Team Sonic is contacted by Agent Stone, who denies involvement, evidenced by his still-living boss, who has spent the intervening period from the last film gaining a ton of weight and watching telenovelas. In what both sides admit is a trope, Robotnik and Sonic team up to hunt down Shadow, and are lured to an abandoned GUN facility where it’s revealed that Shadow is working for Gerald Robotnik, our main baddie’s grandfather, who was also granddad to the late Maria (no word on if she and our Robotnik, first name Ivo, were siblings, cousins, or what). Gerald was imprisoned after the disaster that killed Maria, but he got out, orchestrated Shadow’s escape, and is working to secure the Eclipse Cannon, a massive space laser, which he and Shadow plan to use to destroy GUN Headquarters in London as revenge. Ivo is recruited, and the stage is set for the ultimate showdown.

So much cinematic joy comes from such a basic plot. It allows us to have our gigantic video game adversary without genuinely risking anyone’s lives. Sure, London (really the whole world) could be destroyed, but we know it won’t be, so really this is just an opportunity to have fun with visual effects, and honestly, these outshine plenty of other higher-profile projects, including “GladiWicktor.” It allows for some genuine character exploration between Sonic and Shadow, as the former tries to play by the rules so as not to be consumed by his growing anger while the latter questions his own motivations given Maria’s kind nature. The human characters — particularly Tom, Maddie, and Wade — get to serve their plot utility while also generating a tiny bit of emotional resonance and not stealing the spotlight. We somehow get a stunning side tangent about Stone’s unbreakable loyalty to Robotnik, and how one-sided their relationship is.

Most of all, we get so, so much mileage out of Jim Carrey playing two Robotniks. He’s about as classic 90s Carrey as possible, but the two characters are distinct. They complement one another in their movements and various quirks, and there’s so much comedy to draw from the fact that the evil genius Ivo is so easily swayed to Gerald’s side by simple patriarchal affection and approval. Just as movies like Longlegs show us Nicolas Cage in all his batshit glory, so too does this film give us pure, distilled Carrey. Every moment he’s on screen is an expert demonstration of physical comedy and commitment to a bit. I’m so glad he didn’t really retire.

There are flaws and holes to poke here and there, certainly. Sonic and Shadow somehow breathe and converse in outer space despite a lack of air during the climactic fight, and their respective returns to the planet surface involve no atmospheric burnup. Shadow and Maria’s backstory is a montage set to “End of the Line” by the Traveling Wilburys, a song that came out 15 years after the events depicted (I get the feeling they tried to license “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen, which would have been closer to accurate, but just couldn’t for some reason, and this was the next best option). Krysten Ritter and Tom Butler as GUN agents make little to no impact and are basically just there as distractions (though Butler was at least in the last film for consistency). During the Tokyo scenes, the gang is approached by a group of young girls who ask if Tails is Detective Pikachu as a gag, which just feels wrong. I know Sega works with Nintendo now on the Sonic franchise after bowing out of the Console Wars, but a) it’s impossible for other video game franchises to exist in this world but not Sonic, b) it beggars belief that anyone in Japan wouldn’t recognize Sonic, be it for his game presence or just the events of the previous films, and c) it just feels like Nintendo’s rubbing it in a bit; that particular white flag was raised nearly 20 years ago. Also, to that last point, how did Sonic meet Shadow, hear Keanu’s voice, and not opine that he sounds like the guy from Speed, since that’s his favorite movie? A rare missed opportunity for a meta joke.

But really, this is mostly just picking nits. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 isn’t perfect, but it does something truly amazing by continuing to build on itself in ways that only enhance the product. To watch this series in order is to see the creative and comedic discipline, as well as the characterization, performances, and storytelling, improve with each step forward. And yet, there’s still room to get even better. That said, as expected, the fourth installment is teased during the credits, featuring the exact two characters I figured would be next in line. As excited as I am, a big part of me is also hoping that Paramount quits while it’s ahead. I’m stoked for whatever Sonic 4 can deliver, but after that you’re just begging for diminished returns. I don’t think we need to see the likes of Silver, Big the Cat, Flicky, or Rogue (though she makes me feel things). And if we ever get to Princess Elise, I think we’ll have torpedoed any and all goodwill this film series has engendered over the last five years. Still, that’s an issue for down the line. For now, let’s just enjoy this very uncommon and very unlikely triple play score. In the midst of Awards Season, it was the perfect respite.

Grade: B+

Join the conversation in the comments below! What film should I review next? Have you been enjoying the series’ progression? Which trilogies did you think got better with each new entry? Let me know! And remember, you can follow me on Twitter (fuck “X”) as well as Bluesky, and subscribe to my YouTube channel for even more content, and check out the entire BTRP Media Network at btrpmedia.com!

Originally published at http://actuallypaid.com on January 13, 2025.

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William J Hammon
William J Hammon

Written by William J Hammon

All content is from the blog, “I Actually Paid to See This,” available at actuallypaid.com

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