This was supposed to be the weekend of two heavyweights squaring off, but it appears the battle between Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King prequel and Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is over before it even began. According to reports from Deadline and Box Office Mojo, Sonic 3 has more than doubled Mufasa’s grosses, with a $62 million dollar opening. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I have you covered.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Review (Some Spoilers Included)
In the third outing to the Sonic franchise, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are faced with stopping a powerful and mysterious new adversary, known as Shadow, by teaming up with former enemy, Dr. Robotnik. In the movie business, you will sometimes hear a reference to the curse of the threequel. Thanks to the fine people over at Paramount Pictures and Sega, the Sonic franchise is in safe hands and this needed to be of no concern. As a matter of fact, I would have to say this is the best of three movies so far. I say so far, because it was just announced that there is a fourth movie in the pipeline now. But what makes this the best of the three? The answer comes in the form of Keanu Reeves making his franchise debut as the fan favorite, Shadow. Keanu gives a performance as Shadow that is altogether dark, brooding, and sympathetic. This provides the perfect contrast to our three main heroes, and is an absolute scene stealer.
Yes, this film has the typical family-friendly humor that we have gotten used to with the first two movies, but Sonic 3 also delivers on Shadow’s backstory with Maria and Gerald Robotnik. Speaking of the Robotniks, audiences are in for a treat as Jim Carrey tears it up playing two roles, Ivo and Gerald Robotnik, giving us the gift of not one, but two zany performances.
For fans of Sonic’s adopted family, Tom and Maddie, played once again by the returning James Marsden and Tika Sumpter, this may be where you are a little disappointed, as this story does involve them a little less. I happened to also see the film with a friend whose all-time favorite Sonic character is Knuckles, and he was left with a desire for more of his character involvement in the movie as well, but with the growing cast of characters in the Sonic universe, it’s hard to really find too much fault in the film. Again, what really makes this movie payoff are the fierce battles between Shadow and Sonic. They made me feel much the same as I did when watching the battles between Superman and Zod in Superman II while growing up.
That being said, the film is well-balanced between family fun and incredible action sequences that you will enjoy with friends and kids alike.
The Verdict: Sonic 3 is going to be a huge holiday hit and I’m still letting it settle, but this just might be the best of the trilogy.
A Cute Film Addictive Rating: 7.9/10
Setting the Stage for the fourth installment
Before I even got into the theater for the Blue Blur’s third adventure, it was announced that Paramount Pictures was moving forward with a fourth installment of the beloved franchise, and it is slated for an early 2027 release. Once you see the Sonic the Hedgehog 3, this will completely make sense, as the film features two post-credit sequences, both of which set up future stories.
No plot details have been revealed, but the post-credit scenes will give audiences some idea on on what direction they’ll be going with the fourth live-action chapter of the storied video game series turned blockbuster movie franchise.
What movies will you be seeing over the holiday week? Just drop a line in the comments below.
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