In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, returning director Jeff Fowler amps up the action and urgency to mixed results, proof yet again that bigger isn’t always better. My 6-year-old and the video game fanboys/girls in the audience would disagree with me. 

Sonic and team are back to battle the emergence of an evil hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) who has escaped from a government facility, so they enlist former enemy Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to help them for the same reasons this always tends to happen in sequels that wants to bring past villain (and big-name stars) back into the fold. 

As a kid’s action movie, Sonic 3 is a solid third entry in a solid franchise. The visual effects are really good, there is plenty of humor, the movie operates fast and furiously, and it’s all relatively harmless in terms of material. There is no surprise my kid loved it, who said it was on par with The Wild Robot in terms of recent releases (she has also seen Mufasa and Moana 2, among others).

For adults, your mileage will vary. Sonic is a fun little character, but the whole experience of Sonic 3 is a bit trying. There are some pretty good action sequences, but the stuff in between is half-written filler. The screenplay needed another pass or two to nail the laugh track, as evident in Jim Carrey’s dual roles—you can tell he’s trying, but most of his comedy unfortunately falls flat amidst lame kid-friendly jokes and tiresome antics. Sonic 3 also takes itself pretty seriously at times, which further pushes it off kilter from its sweet spot as a blended action-comedy. 

Still… viewed through the eyes of a parent, rewatching this one a dozen times over the next year sounds much more palatable than some options… so that’s a win, right?

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.