Some might disagree, but now is a great time to be a Sonic the Hedgehog fan. In 5 years, we’ve gotten three live-action movies, a spinoff show, and confirmation of Sonic Movie 4 coming in another 2 years. I’ve enjoyed almost all of it thus far. I wasn’t a fan of the Knuckles show like most Sonic fans I know, but thankfully, that was limited to 6 episodes of garbage. The Sonic movies, on the other hand, have gotten better and better with each entry, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 doesn’t slow the momentum down for a moment.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. Just as the movies have had different takes on things in the series, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 did some things differently. Some things worked, and some didn’t for me, but it all came together quite nicely. This third entry involves Sonic against his most powerful adversary yet, Shadow the Hedgehog. After being in stasis for 50 years, Shadow awakes to complete his mission for revenge against the military after a raid took away his best friend.

Honestly, the story for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was phenomenal. Sure, there are some pretty significant changes, but it didn’t take away from the story for me one bit. If I’m being 100% honest, this story works so well because it actually feels like a Sonic story. The past two movies were good, but they had a large focus on the humans. The first movie was understandable because it’s an origin story, and world-building needs to be established. Sonic 2 was a slight improvement – the horrible wedding subplot in the middle of the movie works against it, but still an improvement. Knuckles just went all the way back to go and focused on the humans for almost the entirety of the show. However, in Sonic 3, the humans were only there when necessary. It was all about Team Sonic and the villains.

Regarding the villains, this being a Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation, you’d expect to see Rouge the Bat as she was a core member of the villain team alongside Shadow and Dr. Eggman in the Dark storyline of Sonic Adventure 2. That’s not the case this time around, however. As previously mentioned, Shadow is the primary antagonist, and of course, Dr. Ivo Robotnik is back after somehow surviving falling into an abyss alongside a giant exploding robot. Where Robotnik is, Agent Stone is sure to be close behind, but he soon becomes a third wheel when Ivo’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, shows up and becomes an idol figure to Ivo.

Gerald being alive after all this time was one of the biggest changes to the original story. Again, it works exactly how they intended it to. I hated him as a character, though. He wasn’t funny to me. I knew he was up to something. And I’m sorry, but if I were Ivo, he would’ve been on the ground as soon as he told me I’m no Maria. I say that to give an example of his character working as intended because he turned out to be a complete piece of garbage in the end. To be willing to sacrifice the entire planet to take revenge against a small group of your country’s military is pathetic. I understand grief can make you do crazy things, but I feel like there are much better ways to enact revenge in that situation.

Jim Carrey plays Gerald in Sonic 3, so the audience gets a double dose of Carrey this time. I have to say that Jim Carrey did a stellar job. That isn’t surprising by any means, but you can see how much he enjoys playing the roles throughout the movie. The remaining cast that we’re familiar with was also great, as always. Idris Elba destroys as Knuckles every single time, and there can literally be no complaints against Colleen O’Shaughnessy’s Tails. If you have an issue with her Tails voice, you have to have a legitimate problem with it in the games as well, and she’s the most loved Tails voice I’ve seen in all my years as a Sonic fan. Ben Schwartz’s Sonic voice isn’t bad at all. My only issue is that it’s the same as almost all the other characters he’s voiced.

Paramount decided to go the route of a big-time celebrity again for Movie Shadow’s debut. Keanu Reeves is on the scene, and while he’s an outstanding actor on his own, he was easily the weakest out of the main squad. That’s not to say he did poorly, but it wasn’t consistent. He had some high highs but some extremely low lows. They want to have a celebrity voice for their prominent characters, but I wish Shadow could’ve gotten the same treatment Tails got. Tears would’ve welled up if I could’ve heard Jason Griffith in theaters.

Another front they improved on was the music. They finally incorporated some video game music into the movie, which was great to hear. It did get a bit repetitive because every time it switched to Sonic and Shadow in the climax, it would just be ‘Live and Learn’ playing, but I’ll take it. Apparently, it’s difficult to get video game music in the movies due to licensing, but they’ve had a Sonic Symphony tour for the better part of two years now, so how hard is it?

For anyone who says this next part is a spoiler, you’ll be alright. After adapting a game that’s 23 years old, you better believe I’m going to talk about Super Sonic vs Super Shadow in live-action. That was absolutely the most epic part of the movie, without a doubt. The Sonic movie crew got live-action Dragon Ball Z right before the actual Dragon Ball crew did. It’s crazy. But it was amazing to see – truly. The hype was there and didn’t stop until it was over. It was a privilege to see it come to life, especially how they both transformed. I can’t wait to get the Hedgehog Trio – they better bring all the sauce.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a solid film through and through. My only real complaint was knowing that Tom’s speech to Sonic at the beginning of the movie would impact him at the end. And I was right. During the climax, Sonic uses Tom’s words to give him strength and overcome Shadow. I’m never a fan of predictability, but that’s the only part. I was slightly annoyed that Sonic didn’t face any real consequences with Tom getting hurt, but understandably, this is a children’s movie, first and foremost. Secondly, Sonic has already lost a parent – Longclaw. At this point, there’s no actual need for the loss of Tom or Maddy in the Sonic movie series.

Now, you might be wondering what exactly I meant by ‘Movie Sonic finds his footing’ in the title of my review. Most people don’t realize that Sonic the Hedgehog has an expansive multiverse of characters, just like Marvel and DC – SEGA just doesn’t know how to utilize it. But just like Earth-616 is the O.G. Spider-Man, Game Sonic is the definitive Sonic. The Sonic movies are good, and they keep getting better. But it wasn’t until the climax of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 that Movie Sonic began acting like Game Sonic instead of some happy-go-lucky wannabe version of him. It’s something many fans have wanted for a long time, and it makes me ready for Movie 4.

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

Stay in your seats until the very end because there’s not just a mid-credits scene but a post-credits scene as well. The mid-credits scene is the most hype of the two and has me wondering how they’ll tackle the villain in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. An army of Metal Sonics hasn’t been seen before from what I can remember, and I was hoping they’d go the route of Neo Metal Sonic and Metal Overlord, but they could surprise me. Of course, Metal Sonic being revealed was fantastic – his design is a nearly 1:1 copy of his game appearance, and it’s perfect. However, the second character revealed is what got fans screaming. Just as Sonic is about to be taken out by a multitude of Metal Sonics, a hammer comes crashing through the gang of robots to save him. A hooded figure catches the hammer, revealed to be fan favorite Amy Rose. It’s about time, and we can all agree that Sonic isn’t even close to being ready for the ultimate challenge – girls.

END SPOILERS

The post-credits scene was great but not unexpected. I won’t flat-out spoil this one, but anyone familiar with Sonic the Hedgehog could’ve guessed this was coming. Another character is confirmed for the future of the series. That’s all I’ll say.

The filmmakers would’ve had to drastically change the story for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to be bad. Sure, it’s not a 1:1 adaptation like people hoped, but the story was as strong as ever. Movie Maria is a great character in her own right, though I didn’t feel anything for her like I do in the games. Her illness is gone completely in the movie and with that being removed, Shadow’s purpose for being is never explained. His origin changed as well, though I feel like that will be explored in another Shadow spinoff project. If you’re a sentimental one, be prepared to shed some tears. Some of the scenes can be a real tearjerker. It’s a wonderful story that does its best to teach you not to lose yourself to grief. Take the time to mourn the one you lost, but honor them with your life moving forward, don’t taint their memory.

I’ve echoed these sentiments throughout my entire review, and I’ll do it again – Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an exceptional movie. It truly improved in every aspect of the series. It was focused more on Sonic and his crew. The story was cohesive and flowed instead of feeling like multiple stories going on at the same time, and the movie used music from the games – even just for little riffs and motifs. It feels good to say that it’s times like this when it feels great to be a Sonic fan. Three movies that have been some of the best video game adaptations compared to adaptations from the past aren’t anything to sneeze at. And with each movie improving with each release, I’m confident that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will be another great experience. But for now, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is here and made its presence known, knocking a certain Lion King off his throne atop Pride Rock at the American box office. There’s no stopping the momentum.