Sonic 3 REVIEW: Beyond a Typical Kids Flick
“The light shines, even though the star is gone.” — Shadow
There will always be a sense of satisfaction when you see a franchise evolve and grow in scale and depth. That is exactly what Sonic has become ever since the first film.
In the first, all we got was a standard buddy getaway comedy with some nice heart and humor in it. That little heart and humor kept the franchise going and while the second is bigger in scale, that film lacks the depth it needed to be elevated whilst maintaining itself as a buddy comedy. This film however completely outdid itself and made the best of what the two movies had been building up to.
Not only do we have a larger scale with an ensemble team, talented actors giving off amazing performances coupled with lifelike visuals and a great score but the film finally has the thematic depth that completes the puzzle of what these movies should be about. You can just feel and see what the director and writers had learned throughout these 3 films and how they improved altogether.
Character Driven Story
Sonic 3 is a story centered around Sonic, Robotnik, and Shadow. It explores the underlying theme of choices, whether decisions should be based on our hearts or driven by vengeance/rage. We see how this theme is explored, addressed, and answered in each of these characters’ journeys, elevating it to be beyond a standard buddy comedy.
For Sonic, we get to see in the beginning how he cares to be the best as seen in a race but always forgets about the strength of being a team. His need to prove himself as the best and feel as if he can solve anything thrown at him would be his ultimate flaw. Later, we see how Tom talks to Sonic about making good choices based on his heart. He even said this in the hole Sonic stayed in before meeting Tom. At this point, we understand how Tom played a huge role in Sonic’s life and acts as a moral compass as without him, Sonic could have ended up like Shadow, a vengeance-seeking person without a happy life. I like how they touched on this and even played a huge part in the climax. From here we see how this theme fits into Sonic’s arc on whether he should choose to prove himself over others or make the right choice from his heart.
Throughout the film, we see how this flaw constantly places him in greater danger and gradually forms this underlying tension between the team. Whether it's from smaller moments like Knuckles mentioning him beating a worse Hedgehog or the team being called Team Sonic which he is proud of, to bigger moments like catching up to Shadow all on his own only for him to escape and Sonic getting hurt. I also like the smaller moments where he would use his heart to make the right choices. When Tom and Maddie were trapped on the gravity floor, a sharp debris would have killed them, but Sonic made the choice from his heart and didn’t even care for his own life and destroyed it just to save them. I like this moment, but it was here when Shadow mistakes Tom as the director and attacks him only for Sonic to see it. This is when Sonic uses his rage and thirst for vengeance to make choices instead of his heart. He fought with his friends to become ultra-powered to kill Shadow. He beats Shadow up and nearly kills him. It was devastating but at last he learned that he needed to use his heart and that being on a team would always be better than being alone.
I like how the film utilizes this theme to create his character arc, his moral compass figure, and in the moment of realization how it connects to Shadow’s character arc as well.
For Shadow, he was a major standout and one I felt a lot of emotions for. The biggest takeaway would be his traumatic past. He was this alien who was captured and experimented on so his whole life seemed pointless and exhausting until he met this girl, Maria who became his friend. She was the light of his life, and I think that was what made her so special and impactful. We see how they have fun, and he feels genuinely happy. Shadow would even confide in her how people see him as a monster and nobody truly likes him. When she mentions the light in everyone to show that there is goodness in him, it's such a touching moment and in contrast with all the terrible stuff he had to experience all his life. When Maria is killed, you feel and see the pain in him. That sense of morality and happiness was turned away when the very person who represented that was gone. I just love it and feel an instant connection with Shadow because of this.
I also enjoyed how he was introduced as this crazy godlike powerful being who just kills all these soldiers. Throughout the film, we know how much he misses Maria and the stark contrast between the happy times with her and the sad and mundane present-day is shown very well and just sucks the soul out of you in a sad way. Even when there were moments where he doubted himself like when he attacked Tom and saw Sonic as if he was in the past when Maria died, he did contemplate the morality of his actions even if he still chose vengeance.
I like how the film makes Shadow turn good. He saw the world as this dark and unredeemable place, but Sonic proved to him that even with someone who is enraged there can still be good from their heart, and we can make the right choices from there. Maria’s words would echo from Sonic and make him realize what he had done. He ultimately sacrificed himself for the world and used his heart to shed the goodness in him just as Maria had said, making his whole character to come full circle.
Finally, there is Jim Carrey who was a major standout of the film as Robotnik. Now I know Jim Carrey has always been what made this franchise so special and I love his filmography with him being one of my favorite actors of all time. He is probably the only actor who stars in a random comedy which I would pay a ticket to watch. That’s pretty rare since I never find comedy as my go-to genre but Jim Carrey manages to do so many goofy antics that I find amusing and genuinely funny. Him announcing his retirement was quite sad since he had never made an actual comedy ever since Dumb and Dumber 2. While he did get back to comedy in these Sonic movies, I have always wished we could get some sort of Jim Carrey comedy-centric film like the old days or a legacy sequel to one of his iconic films. There is still so much to explore with Ace Ventura and The Mask so that was a very sad piece of news from him. However, this film does kind of give Jim Carrey the sendoff that he deserves.
Robotnik has been this bitter old character who constantly wants to be the best and hates humanity, especially those hedgehogs. His life had been nothing but a wasted dump but then he found something that gave him purpose in life. His grandfather. He can finally bond and do all these things that an ordinary kid would do with his family and it is even funnier when Jim Carrey portrays himself as a little kid just as in the old days. Sure, he dances around during a heist and learns to ride a bike but these wholesome moments were held on by Carrey's golden comedic talent and a drop of nostalgia to his older films. Throughout the film, all Robotnik does is help out his grandfather just to please him and be accepted in a family. Unfortunately, even he gets conned off by his grandfather as he wants to destroy the world out of vengeance for Maria.
Robotnik was lied to and cheated on which prompted him to make the right choice with his heart. You could say Robotnik never had a heart but because he found his grandfather and experienced what life with a family would be like, he discovered his own heart. Just as the Grinch, his heart increased 3 times the size that day. He ultimately chooses to sacrifice himself just to save the world. After all, if he couldn’t conquer the world then why not save it?
The film even has an emotional touch where he records himself and bids farewell to Agent Stone whom he had neglected throughout the film. He even mentions his love for his coffee and does the dance he was known for with him. It's silly but it is something that has genuine emotional value and makes his character arc well-rounded and perfectly concluded.
In the end, I am happy if Jim Carrey does retire, at least he got to bid farewell as a hero rather than a villain.
Side Characters
Previously speaking of Jim Carrey, he also portrayed Robotnik’s grandfather Gerald. From here as a side he manages to be as cunning and deceiving as Robotnik himself. However, unlike Robotnik who discovered his heart, Gereld had lost his own in the form of Maria. Now all he does is to get vengeance for her. He doesn’t have anything else and just lies and manipulates his grandson. Ironically, he managed to make a heartless person gain a heart which would be what caused his death.
On the sidelines, there are also Tails and Knuckles. Now I did wish the film did more with them besides being with Sonic. They could have had their own individual arcs which connect to the theme but I get that this film isn’t an ensemble and they aren’t the main characters. I accept that. I enjoyed how they have their signature traits like Knuckles being the muscles and Tails being the tech girl. I like how they were used and how sometimes their traits could lead to something worse. It's fine and they played a role in Sonic’s character arc.
Now onto some of the sides, we have Tom and Maddie. Tom is portrayed as Sonic’s moral compass. I like how the film establishes that and makes it so especially with the buildup of the previous two films. Of course, they could have done it better, maybe Sonic and Tom got into an argument with Sonic letting his pride take over and not accepting it and this conflict stirs on throughout in a subtle way until when Tom was attacked we get an emotional blow where Sonic would be sorry for being mad at him and let his rage take over. Still, I enjoyed what they did here. A highlight would be them using the hologram for Maddie’s sister was fun and I enjoyed her character very much no matter what some may say.
Finally, there is Krysten Ritter as director Rockwell. Unfortunately, she is a pretty wasted character. She just came out and blamed Sonic and his friends because they took the key. She was only there to be more of an obstacle to Sonic than being a developed character. She could have been a good way to tell more about GUN and how things ran. She could have had her own agenda of using Sonic and his friends to gain power just like they did with Shadow and her previous director who died canceled it so she has this bitter taste and would be happy to take that power of director. That would have been cool but instead, we just got a typical overenthusiastic work character.
Filmmaking Technicalities
With that visually the film manages to recreate Sonic and his friends to seem lifelike. You could see the fur and everything on them as if they were actual creatures on this planet. You would also want to cuddle them too.
The score here is great, especially for scenes that have Shadow. The composer Tom Holkenborg who composed Furiosa just locked in every time Shadow appeared.
The action is also more intense and larger in scale. This is no silly fun action but actual big blockbuster action that feels eventful.
Conclusion
Overall Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is easily one of the best sequels to a franchise that has been improving in each entry. Not only did it make itself bigger but also had more depth in its writing which many sequels forgot to do. I take the ambition and additions to be a remarkable achievement, setting this film as a standout against the previous two.
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now available on digital
