Having never played the SEGA games growing up, I was never gung-ho on the idea of a Sonic the Hedgehog-based film franchise. The character never caught my attention, and the live-action/cgi hybrid did even less to catch my interest. I had fun with the first two films in the franchise, but I never felt overly enthusiastic about either of them. With Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I garnered a newfound appreciation for the characters and story, and it is mostly due to Jim Carrey. 

Jim Carrey delivers his best performance since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Dr. Robotnik. While the film finds him continuing on his wacky caricatures introduced in the prior films, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 sees him at his most bizarre and goofy. Here he plays two roles, as both Robotnik and Robotnik’s father, giving him limitless potential and ambition to stretch himself as an actor, and he fully goes for it. From his dance choreography to his physicality, Carrey gives one of the best comedic performances I’ve seen in a family movie.

Whenever the film cuts away from Carrey and his antics, it immediately loses energy, but it’s not necessarily the fault of any of the other performers. Carrey is operating on such a high that it is hard for any other aspect of the film to match his energy. Thankfully there is a solid attempt at building character and story in Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington’s screenplay that makes up for whenever Carrey is absent.

I never cared about the motivations of characters in this franchise, but Sonic the Hedgehog 3 does the best job so far at developing the protagonists. Sonic (voiced again by Ben Schwartz) is an incredibly egotistical character, and this film challenges this trait by delving into ideas of family and rage. For a movie centered toward a younger audience, I was surprised to see the characters have a mature internal struggle throughout the film, especially for a video game movie. 

Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves) is the best antagonist in the series so far. Not only does he have a dangerous presence, but his motivation is incredibly empathetic. His backstory is heavily covered in the film, conveying many of the emotional beats while pushing the pace forward in a timely manner. Despite its time jumps, the film successfully manages to pull at the heart strings while building an evil persona for the protagonists to combat.

Shadow’s presence not only upped the emotional value of the film, but raised the stakes significantly. In a film made for kids, it is difficult to build a sense of fear, but Shadow is surprisingly effective in this sense. This aspect made for many tense sequences where I didn’t know if the characters would make it out alive, which is incredibly refreshing in a movie like this. 

Thankfully, the film spends much less time on the human characters. Although James Marsden and Tika Sumpter are respectful in their roles, they never added anything to the overall story outside the idea that it takes place on Earth. Newcomer Krysten Ritter plays a generic army officer with absolutely nothing to do, but does not drag the film down due to her limited screen time. Though it is annoying that it took three films to realize the weakness that the human characters bring, I am just happy that series director Jeff Fowler realized it at all.

Where Sonic the Hedgehog 3 lacks most is in its dialogue. Much of the film’s plot points are pointed out through lazy exposition. Even though the film funnily points out this flaw, it’s still lazy at the end of the day. The central themes are spoken directly from the character’s dialogue, which lessened the emotional value of the story. The film was much stronger when it told its story through the visuals, particularly with Shadow, but sadly there are many moments where the characters explicitly say what the audience is supposed to get out of the movie. 

I came out of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with a massive grin on my face. It delivers on everything that worked about the previous two films while improving on many of the aspects that fell flat. Not only was I shocked with the overall experience, but I was in awe of the all-time performance Jim Carrey gives in this film. Whether you’re a fan of the video game, starved for family entertainment at the theater, or are simply there to see Jim Carrey on the big screen again, I can’t imagine many people being disappointed in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is in theaters nationwide on December 20.

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