If you're going to see this film, most likely you've seen the previous two, either one or both. If so, odds are you like the franchise and want to continue liking it, or else this is merely a distraction for your children. If that's the case, this one won't disappoint. The humor is on par with the previous. Yes, Ben Schwartz who voices Sonic the Hedgehog, the iconic video game character from the Sega Corporation, is doing his usual, innocent braggadocio and upbeat charm. However, the real showstopper and the person who sucks all the oxygen out of the room is Jim Carrey who returns as Ivo Robotnik. Carrey is the real reason to see this film, as his silly, over-the-top, cartoon-like antics never fail to entertain.
The past two films were all about building out the family of Sonic, an alien being capable of running super fast. He was given human family members and alien family members. Therefore, it was only fitting that this film now does the same for Ivo Robotnik. One of those family members that one would not expect is an alien that looks like Sonic but is arguably the evil twin named Shadow, voiced by Keenu Reeves (John Wick and The Matrix). How Shadow and Ivo become a family is by very circuitous ways, but it's a kind of parallel track to what Sonic and his human family members experienced. Those circuitous ways include a history of trauma and pain, resulting in them wanting revenge to one degree or another.
However, in addition to this new alien becoming Ivo's family, there's another family member that Ivo gets and this one is human. One might think that that human is Agent Stone, played by Lee Majdoub, reprising his role from the previous entries. Yes, Stone is a henchman, or possibly the sidekick to the main villain, but he's revealed to be more than that. He's more caring and arguably more in love with Ivo than even he is ready to admit. It's a rather unfulfilled friendship and possibly a potential brotherhood that the two unexpectedly develop. I almost wish that the film did more with that relationship, but it was effective enough.
Fans might get a kick out of the introduction of Shadow. He's meant to be an evil version of Sonic. The film does a good enough job of explaining why he's so-called "evil." As one might expect, it's about how he was raised and traumatic experiences where either he didn't get enough love or any love that he did have was violently ripped away. Although one could argue that Shadow's character arc is basically the same or very similar to the character of Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Instead of wanting to get revenge on Sonic in particular, Shadow wants revenge on the organization for which Sonic works, known as "Gun." That expands to wanting revenge against humanity itself.
If one wants some thrilling or entertaining, action set-pieces, again this film doesn't really disappoint. There are three really interesting set-pieces that actually impressed. One is inside a restaurant known as "Chao Garden." The other is inside the headquarters of the Gun organization, involving variable gravity. The third is in outer space and specifically on the moon. All three were fun and were worth the price of admission. Director Jeff Fowler who has done all three of these Sonic films crafted these sequences in amazing ways. Kudos to him!
Rated PG for action, some violence and rude humor.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 50 mins.
In theaters.