'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' Review Thread

I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Certified Fresh

Critics Consensus: With a double helping of Jim Carrey's antics and a quicksilver pace befitting its hero, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the best entry in this amiable series yet.

Metacritic: 59 (26 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Owen Gleiberman, Variety - “Sonic 3” gives hyperactivity a good name. Jeff Fowler, who directed all three of these movies, is a quicker and wittier flimflam magician of energy than he was when he made the first “Sonic” in 2020.

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter - It certainly possesses enough of the requisite frenetic action sequences and silly jokes to keep small fry entertained while not boring their adult chaperones.

Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service - "loud, chaotic and often corny, with a visual style that can only be described as “retina-searing,” but the script by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington is funny, punny and doesn’t take itself too seriously.” 2.5/4

Glenn Kenny, New York Times - Get ready for the sight of two Jim Carreys engaging in sanctioned buffoonery.

Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post - That life-and-death dilemma of director Jeff Fowler’s film adds unlikely stakes to a story that would otherwise be, well, extremely stupid. 2.5/4

Zaki Hasan, San Francisco Chronicle - While “Sonic 3” continues to steadily build out the game mythology, this time the big moments are bigger and the small moments are fewer.

Adam Graham, Detroit News - It's all gone in a blue blur, but the blur is fun while it lasts. B

Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle - There’s no coherence here, each scene sitting in disjointed discomfort with the next. 1.5/5

Andrew Pulver, Guardian - While no one could deny the cash-grab fan-service underpinning to the entire project … well, it’s actually a not unenjoyable experience, even if you are someone on whom the intricacies of early-00s game narrative are lost. 3/5

Linda Marric, The Sun (UK) - it delivers exactly what it promises, largely thanks to Carey’s anarchic style and hilarious physical comedy. 3/5

Donald Clarke, Irish Times - The rest of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is fine in its breathless way. One could complain about the product placement and the cheap sentiment, but worse things have emerged from the mid-1990s console boom. Much, much worse. 3/5

Jake Wilson, The Age (Australia) - It’s the kind of cross-cultural mash-up that might be intriguingly baffling if it wasn’t more or less the norm in present-day Hollywood. 2/5

Ian Freer, Empire Magazine - The MVP of the first two films, Carrey dials down the physical comedy in both his roles, amping up punning (“Dorkupine!”) to hit-and-miss effect. For all the actor’s gurning and the film’s visual busyness, few images pop or lodge in the memory. 2/5

Tim Grierson, Screen International - This new picture still feels like little more than a derivative, frantic spectacle borrowing from decades of bygone blockbusters. Sonic 3 has a lot of heart and energy, but not enough new ideas to run with.

A.A. Dowd, IGN Movies - Against all odds, the Sonic the Hedgehog movies appear to be getting better as they go. 6/10

Christian Zilko, indieWire - It might be enough to entertain young children or diehard SEGA loyalists, but the rest of us are left to lament that the running time isn’t as fast as its blue protagonist. D

Jordan Hoffman, The Daily Beast - This is a movie you take your 9-year-old nephew to when he won’t shut up about Pokémon and you need something to occupy him for a few hours before you lose your mind.

Matt Donato, AV Club - Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is an action-packed blast from start to finish that should please even the prickliest Green Hill Zone groupies. B+

Justin Clark, Slant Magazine - The hedgehogs are the stars here, and after three delightfully breezy good times at the theater, it’s no longer a surprise as to why that is. 2.5/4

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com - "Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is way better than it has a right to be: as a video game adaptation, as a threequel, as a family-friendly movie coming out on the cusp of Christmas. 2.5/4

SYNOPSIS:

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.

CAST:

• Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik / Eggman and Professor Gerald Robotnik
• Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog
• Krysten Ritter as Director Rockwell
• Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone
• Natasha Rothwell as Rachel
• Adam Pally as Wade Whipple
• Shemar Moore as Randall Handel
• Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Miles "Tails" Prower
• Alyla Browne as Maria Robotnik
• James Marsden as Tom Wachowski
• Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski
• Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna
• Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog

DIRECTED BY: Jeff Fowler

SCREENPLAY BY: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington

STORY BY: Pat Casey, Josh Miller

BASED ON SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BY: Sega

PRODUCED BY: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, Hitoshi Okuno

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jeff Fowler, Tommy Gormley, Tim Miller, Haruki Satomi, Shuji Utsumi

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Brandon Trost

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Luke Freeborn

EDITED BY: Al LeVine

COSTUME DESIGNER: Eleanor Baker

MUSIC BY: Tom Holkenborg

CASTING BY: Sophie Holland

RUNTIME: 109 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: December 20, 2024