"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

New adventure. New rival.

​

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Theatrical Release: December 20, 2024
Rated PG for action, some violence, rude humor, thematic elements and mild language.
Directed By: Jeff Fowler
Written By: Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington
Cast: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Keanu Reeves, James Marsden, Krysten Ritter, Adam Pally, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Alyla Browne, Tom Butler

Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the big screen this holiday season in his most thrilling adventure yet. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.

Discuss Sonic the Hedgehog 3 right here!

Related Threads:
-Sonic the Hedgehog Talkback (Spoilers)
-Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Talkback (Spoilers)
-Knuckles the Echidna Talkback (Spoilers)
-Sonic the Hedgehog 3 News and Discussion
-Sonic the Hedgehog 4 News and Discussion

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Saw Sonic 3 today and I had a lot of fun watching it, especially with that Keanu Reeves aced it as Shadow and I quite liked the fourth wall break relating to the fact that Jim Carrey plays both Robotnik and his grandfather.

That said, I was happy to see Amy making her first appearance in the Paramount universe by appearing in the mid-credits scene taking down a fleet of Mecha Sonics.

 

[Classic Speedy]

As I said in the Movies You Saw in Theaters thread, this was the best of the three Sonic movies so far. Less focus on the human characters (Sonic 2 really drug whenever they focused on the wedding shenanigans), good character development/motivations for all involved, and probably the highest stakes yet. It wasn't the most original plot in the world but they executed it really well.

Only problems I had with it were my usual complaint about using pop songs (I rolled my eyes when "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" started up- and "99 Red Balloons" in 2024? I guess it now counts as nostalgic?), and once again because it took place in the real world it didn't have many environments that evoked the classic Sonic feel, though the Tokyo battle towards the start did evoke images of the Adventure games, and at least the Death Egg in the climax sort of felt like the last level of the S&K game.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

(Blah blah long rambly review below)

You know Sega must either be really good at banking on fan hype or they were just so impressed by test screenings that they feel justified in betting before something is out because we're already getting talk of Sonic 4 now before 3 even came out. Then again this isn't a new thing as the first movie had an obvious teaser for the next that obviously paid off right before the world shut down and yeah before the sequel came out, there was talks of the Knuckles show AND a third Sonic being made. I remember in fact a lot of people knowing the second would focus on Knuckles and Tails split on what the third movie would be about; some thought it would be some sort of take on Sonic CD. Hoping that after the failure at using Knuckles and with the Death Egg Robot, Robotnick would built his ultimate creation Metal Sonic and the new featured character would wind up being Amy Rose. I want to go on record saying I never believed in that feeling that a third movie after the second would feature the next most popular character in the canon, Shadow The Hedgehog because his whole story feels tailor made to be the plot of a movie. And I figured "look sooner or later Jim Carey isn't going to want to keep playing Robotnick so if you are going to have one more movie about egghead it needs to feature the juiciest story involving his own grandfather who Carey could also play and have him go out on a more big epic grand scale note". Granted for awhile seemed like Carey was going to finish his actor run with the second movie but was convinced (more like given a huge amount of cash but potato po tat o) to come back for this film which yup not only featured Shadow but my dream casting of Keanu Reeves. And quite honestly this movie actually did have a lot of what I did want to see in it... some stuff I felt could have been expanded on or been done better but honestly I do feel this is a very solid third outing for the franchise and works really well as the next part of this franchise.

Something that doesn't really work for me when thinking about is I don't really get the point of the Rockwell character. I mean get it from a screenwriter's perspective; they want to have a scene of Team Sonic infiltrating GUN's headquarters and have a fight with the Goons over one of the keycards as a way to eventually allow Shadow to grab after this big back and forth scuffle but I don't get it from a larger narrative stand point. I think that's because though thankfully the movies do have some edge and it's not like they are totally gutting and pacifying the characters and world, some of the bits from the games still aren't allow to be fully presented as they were there originally. Like yeah in the film series GUN is still allowed to be sketchy but like not nearly as sketchy as it was and like apparently now we're suppose to actually like Walters and feel bad he's taken out of commission even though he was the one helping chasing down Sonic and crew in the other movies and even knew about project Shadow but was like more against the idea of being so cold to Shadow and Maria in the past so maybe like you could say he feels bad about it now but it doesn't really connect well. Like seriously in the games though Gerald is portrayed as a Madman it is also really clear how GUN's desires to obtain his weaponry and technology and going over blown against retribution was their fault as well but they have to sort of soften the edges here on GUN's involvement which sort of hurts the point. Like imagine if the reason that Rockwell had actually planned on the idea the Gerald and Robotnick as well as sonic and co had broken in and wanted both key cards so she could have used the weapon to eliminate "the aliens and their supporters" being one of those extremists. Like even if we didn't see a fight with her building her up as another opponent as well as an example of why Shadow would feel more need to go to such direct extremes would make sense but like they aren't willing to portray her like that so makes her scenes feel kind of pointless in retrospect. They aren't bad scenes but like it is clear there is a scrambled feel of the character. Same could be said with Gerald who yeah there is some stuff I do really like with him and Ivo together who do have some good amusing bonding moments but to me, they really should have made Gerald especially when his full plan was revealed to be a more full on serious foe. They never really explain how he's still around other then "oh I was locked away for 50 years and am like 110" (which okay I don't need a big explanation but would have liked something) but my big problem with him is even in the finale battle he's still portrayed as a nutbar which is not who Gerald should be. It makes sense Robotnick/Eggman is silly that's something that's been with him throughout but Gerald especially since his whole scheme even here is taking out earth and the human race for what happened to him and Maria should be this more bitter and heartless individual. A big reason I wanted Gerald to be portrayed by Carey as well is for Carey to show off his range; he can still have Robotnick be out there and manic but have Gerald have this more dignity to him. And as amusing as like mantis vs Scorpion mecha powers were shouldn't they of just had Gerald merge with a variant of the Bio Lizard and have that be the big foe? I guess you could argue even more CGI but come on that's part of the over the top spectacle that would work in this sort of final boss rush. Plus honestly I feel the comedy in the final act would have been better if Robotnick was still silly but Gerald was more serious annoyed at wonky Ivo was still acting. Like in Sonic Generations it was really funny seeing Eggman so over the top while the older Robotnick was like "wow am I really going to be like that" which this could have played more with but no just have both of them being over the top which doesn't really work as much for me.

Here are some more nitpicky things I feel could have been vastly improved; upping a lot of the big fanservicy moments and fights and music cues then we got. I am glad that unlike the last two movies we are getting more examples of Sonic music then just Green Hill Zone as we did actually get a small snippet of the EGGMAN theme and yeah Live and Learn played... for 40 seconds. I will grant that they at least had more then the 2017 power Rangers theme and actually had that play DURING a bit of the actual fight instead of right before but come on that's a splendor moment you could have easily milked at least two minutes out of. Seriously you had Gerald and Ivo had a big silly 2 minute dance sequence you could of given time for more of the actual song cues us game fans have been clamoring for. You know what they also needed much more of? Super Sonic vs Super Shadow. Okay I will get more to the positives of liking how the Super was used as a last ditch resort sort of thing and feel that was constructed well but like the spectacle and actual battling is a big reason why we see these fights. And come on actually having BOTH Supers fighting one another in such a way was actually really cool seeing them punch and kick one another throughout the planet that easily could have been also like two minutes as well. Like I didn't complain about the lack of Spectacle in Knuckles (that series had a lot of problems but spectacle actually wasn't one of them) because that's a show that doesn't need to have so much bombast but this is the big giant movie featuring these sort of epic clashes. Especially if you weren't going to have like a Final Hazard for them to go off on as well. And though I am glad that they must have gotten and listened to some of the complaints from the last movie about over relying on some of the human cast and limiting their roles a lot more, those bits could have been better handled. I actually do like the idea of Tom and Maddie disguising themselves as Randall and Rachel for the whole infilitrate GUN plan so you only see like a minute of "Rachel" going off (I still think the director thinks Natasha Rothwell ranting is funnier then it is but having Maddie admit how much she enjoys getting to let loose like that is funny) but that could have still been better foreshadowed. I mean there's a reference early in the beginning of Maddie pointing out how messed up Tom's competition is with his brothers and Tom could have mentioned how rowdy Rachel can be with Maddie like admitting she wishes she could show off that fire once would have segwayed well here. Also I am glad that Wade has honestly much less a role here then in the second movie just being the one who Knuckles let guard the Master Emerald. I wish we saw more reference to the Knuckles show of like Wade having power (cause he did go on that Echidna vision quest and does have power) and maybe still doesn't have mastery of it and like accidentally broke something and then Sonic took the emerald. Would have worked better then "oh Wade still sucks and can't do anything right and it was just easily taken from him."

But yeah that's a lot of what I didn't like about the movie but honestly the rest of it was really good. For example I do actually really like how they handled Shadow's arc. Yeah how it was set up by Walters was a bit overly dry but I do feel the movie fully clicked when we actually got the flashback to actually SEE Maria and Shadow's relationship. And you know though I crack on how the games did Gerald better, I am going to say that quite honestly the movie may be the best use I've seen of Maria in like any adaptation. Like Maria is suppose to be the pure innocence and free spirit whose death at first made Shadow wish for vengeance before seeing the better way but it's usually shown in Shadow monologing or just at the very end Maria saying "please protect them Shadow." What I really like here is that we see Maria actually befriending and actually making a connection WITH Shadow. Like actually drawing the scary furrow brow face on the tube as a joke and then actually skating around the building with him and watching movies and even taking him out of tests just to stargaze and remind him "you do have a friend here me" and telling him about the light of a star is actually a very nice scene. Quite honestly I find this build up an even better way of generating a connection if we're now talking Keanu Reeves movies then John Wick had with his wife and first dog honestly as it's also Shadow questioning himself. I really like the idea too that instead of just having Shadow as a creation of Gerald (which wouldn't make sense in this continuity because in the games Shadow is based on Super Sonic's design because of Gerald basing him and the Bio Lizard off the stone tablet battle of Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos and yeah the movies don't have Chaos in them) he is just another alien who landed on earth who they ran tests and tried using and Shadow having no idea where he came from. Like that's a big theme for his character especially in the Shadow The Hedgehog game so like having it much more open ended means it can be answered later without feeling as much of a retcon plus allow him to worry about his purpose and then have Maria be one who believes in him until you know her death. And you know though they don't show her directly getting shot (which again happened more in Shadow The Hedgehog in Sonic Adventure 2 that was more implied anyway) they do show it as the result of GUN wanting to tear Shadow away from the Robotnicks that resulted in her loss. And though they do goofy Gerald sometimes too much I will say him wanting vengeance for what happening and being the one to get Shadow to see that as the plan makes sense then yeah it being some secret plan that Gerald and Shadow I guess had more independently. I also like that because it means Shadow at first didn't have a purpose and did just want to be alone before Gerald pushing him in that direction. And you know I was worried this film was going to pull a Sonic X and have one of the human characters do that big scene in SA2 of Amy being the one to convince Shadow to give people a chance which yeah never liked that in X. Like the only reason in X that isn't totally horrid is that scene also contains Shadow being up Chris Thorndyke and... I am not going to rant here how much I hate Chris Thorndyke that's a whole other topic. Here though it works a lot better because of how Shadow assaulted Tom for having the card and thinking he was Walters and.. okay I guess it was clear Tom wasn't going to die here but I do like this because of how much it enrages and gets in Sonic's mind. I do also like the idea of Sonic Tails and Knuckles never wanting to use the Master Emerald Power like that again for how potentially dangerous it is especially since it does react to their emotions and because of the fact Sonic was using it pursuing vengeance it was also allowed to be so easily tapped into by Shadow thus why he was able to find a way to transform using the power. But yeah Sonic getting in a position to kill Shadow and you know Shadow actually welcoming it realizing what he did to Tom probably felt to Sonic like what was done to Maria and feeling "we're all going to die so why not let you get your vengeance" and Sonic going against it pointing out how pointless revenge is and ultimately learning to get over loss and sadness through making other connections. I do actually quite like the idea of Sonic being the one to connect to his own experiences and actually talk through with Shadow getting him to get over his desire to destroy earth. Honestly in the games at least more at the time they wouldn't Sonic be that open and vulnerable in his connections but I am glad that isn't the case ih the movie universe and it honestly makes their connections even as rivals mean more. I guess granted it does mean it makes Shadow's attempt at sacrifice feel a lot less meaningful because it makes it more obvious he will be back as yeah the ending teaser shows that's the case but eh at this point you do have like 20+ years of games Shadow was in to realize "yeah this won't be his only appearance" so I'm fine with them going that direction. Plus the idea of him helping push away the Colony as it explodes feels honestly like a better explanation for him supposedly "dying" then even what the games did thinking about it.

There was also just a lot of fun and amusing bits in this movie. Think the biggest laugh I had was in Gerald and Ivo's fight Gerald pulls out a nanite fist and Ivo goes "I haven't seen one of those since I hate watched Green Lantern in 2011." Man Green Lantern movie jokes are still funny (granted I still sort of like that movie but I get why not everyone did). But there were still a lot of other solid bits; The opening race with the holo copies with Sonic being glad they were holos which means he still officially won and trying to play off not being surprised about the happy "earth day" celebration, actually managing to work in the opening "talk about a boring flight no food or movies" bit from the SA2 Opener, Sonic asking why Shadow looks just like him (you know as much as the faker stuff was good in the game I am glad that this film didn't have anyone even in GUN stupid enough to confuse Sonic for Shadow which you know in theory in this world where there are more three only known aliens would have made more sense to do but yeah wouldn't work in this sort of film), Stone being the one to unhijack the drones and Eggman's disgust at someone out hacking his equipment, Knuckles fear of ghosts coming form of all things the 1995 Casper movie and saying there's no such thing as a friendly ghost, "You need to work on your trust issues" "oh yeah it's my fault I don't want to work with the guy who tried to kill me twice!", Tails talking to Stone and Stone realizing how Robotnick never call him his friend, the holo montage of Ivo and Gerald bonding (again I feel would have worked if you had Gerald play more goofy to appease Ivo and then show he was more sinister later but that's just me), Tom and Maddie being perfectly fine going along with the plan being bored at home and Tom's creepy little puppet (I will say jokes like that with the two work and again I don't mind them in this sort of continuity just make sure they aren't taking up too much time), Knuckles being amped for wanting to break the glass and Sonic having to classify for emergencies (I am also glad that Tails and Knuckles still have a role in most aspects of the story and aren't just forgotten about at all), Sonic speeding through London and seeing the various little pranks he pulls like imitating the Beatles and switching around the clothes of one of the Buckingham guards before Tails helps him get into GUN's headquarters, the gravity control flailing around little fight and Ivo annoyed how it ended (I guess also Ivo and Gerald's dance in the laser proof clothes. I do feel they should have done it to more a cover of "I am the Eggman" but again that's fan griping really), Knuckles barging in and even punching away one of the guards during that part of the fight, even Shadow getting into the telenovela that Robotnick was watching (that's one of those jokes that isn't funny at first but like the more people it wraps in it goes around to actually being funny), "I have one last thing to say to you?" "What was it going to be you love me?" "Uh well I'm not going to tell you what it is now!", Tails and Knuckles saving Robotnick with a warp ring and how Ivo took out Gerald, and you know I will say I did say that really if Carey is going to retire it should be with THIS movie and he should make the choice to have Ivo be the one to wind up saving the world and making it this big spectacle. SO you know him doing so and having this goodbye to Stone the only one who liked him was good and you know if this is the end of Robotnick in this movies this is the right note to end it on and I also like Tails and then Knuckles winding up saving Sonic from falling in space... part of me feels "really should have had tails just do it" but I guess the whole thing is it's a big team work moment and also the idea that this time around the Moon piece is destroyed accidentially is funny. Also do really like the sort of cliff hanger ending tag of the next race taking Sonic to New York coming across an army of Metal Sonics and being saved by the mysterious hooded appearance of Amy. Though a part of me is glad these movies take the time to establish these characters first and really get them and don't just force like dozens or so in it is sad it will only be the 4th film when Amy becomes a featured character. Hope that she still has more a crush on Sonic and this more just Sonic Team trying to back track on that part of her character.

Anyway good movie. I admit if it went for some of the more fanservicy bits it'd get a higher grade and yeah there are still some problems with characters like Rockwell and even Gerald but I still enjoyed this one very much.

 

[Pooky]

Pretty much in line with everyone else, here and elsewhere; the best of the series, and when you stop and think about it, it's pretty remarkable that the film focusing on Shadow the Hedgehog, a character who was basically a joke for a decade or so, and which takes him pretty seriously, seems like it'll end up being the most successful (so far) commercially, and even, by some way, critically. Then again Shadow is a character who kids have always loved, and we are probably at the point now that the core Sonic nostalgics were weaned more on the Gamecube/GBA/PS2 and even PS3/Xbox360/Wii-era games than the original trilogy.

 

[TheGuy]

Late to this as I honestly didn’t even know the talkback thread was already here but considering that you probably heard what everyone else thinks I’m not gonna waste my or your time: it’s peak (so hyped for Sonic 4 too)

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Took forever to find time in my schedule for this, but I managed to fit in a trip to the theater today. They've learned a lot from the previous two films and have tightened things up -- most of Sonic's lines worked this time and even the David and Maddie parts were great.

I wondered how they were going to tell the Maria story in a take on Sonic that's so unabashedly silly. They didn't alter it much, but we never see her dead body. Hearing the SA2 theme kick in during Sonic and Shadow's teamup scene was a real fistpump moment. Also, they kept the part where Robotnik blows up the moon, sort of....LOL.

 

[Frontier]

They had one job: play Live and Learn during the final battle and after Sonic and Shadow go Super and have Eggman blow up the moon.

And they succeeded .

I also love how we actually got to see Shadow pull off the "punch the Chaos Emeralds out" from the classic games .

 

[MatthewP]

ngl considering who shows up in the post-credits of said movie, what do you think the sequel's gonna be called?

are they gonna keep the numbering system, or are gonna name it after some kinda technology thing, like a DVD?

 

[Frontier]

ngl considering who shows up in the post-credits of said movie, what do you think the sequel's gonna be called?

are they gonna keep the numbering system, or are gonna name it after some kinda technology thing, like a DVD?

If it's not "Sonic 4" I will be surprised.

 

[RoyalRubble]

The movie will be available on Digital starting January 21st. (tomorrow!) The physical home-media release date is April 15th.

 

[wonderfly]

The News Team's Grant White has a new review up on the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"At this point the Sonic movie train shows no signs of slowing down (handy if you’re headed for the Mystic Ruins). After two enjoyable theatrical outings and a…controversial Knuckles streaming show, the world waited expectantly for Sonic 3.

After their previous adventure, Sonic and his found family have been enjoying the peace. This ends when sabotage awakens the mysterious Shadow the Hedgehog from his fifty year slumber. More than a match for Sonic, Shadow nurses unresolved trauma from a ill fated secret project GUN operated decades ago. And he’s not the only one as the mastermind of his escape is soon revealed to be Gerald, Robotnik’s equally brilliant long lost grandfather. A long held vendetta is about to threaten the entire planet.

When the mid-credits scene of the previous film revealed 3 would be an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2, fans the world over had one question- “How?”. SA2 is easily one of the darkest games in the Sonic series, extending to conspiracies, terrorism and most infamously the murder of a child. How was this story going to fit in with a very family friendly film series?"

Read the full review here.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Paramount+ premiere date is February 18th (tomorrow).