‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ is surprisingly deep

By Sophia Monastra

Let me start off by saying that I’m neither a gamer nor immersed in the Sonic the Hedgehog lore. My knowledge about this speedy blue hedgehog comes from a combination of the IDW comics, previous movies, random clips of “Sonic Boom” pilfered from YouTube and Wikipedia.

With that said, I know enough about Shadow the Hedgehog to have a bit more context for this movie than my companion: my younger sister, who had no exposure to Sonic the Hedgehog in any media form.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” centers around the new character Shadow–a dark, brooding hedgehog who’s been in suspended animation after a devastating lab accident killed his best friend Maria–the daughter of Dr. Gerald Robotnik (grandfather of the Dr. (Ivo) Robotnik of the previous two movies). After breaking out and destroying part of Tokyo, he joins Gerald Robotnik, Ivo Robotnik and Ivo’s recurring henchman/friend Agent Stone in a plan to enact revenge. 

I came into this movie worried that it would be a repeat of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”’s formula, where a franchise-favorite character is introduced, fights with Sonic before being turned to the good side via the power of friendship and then established as part of Team Sonic. I was delightfully wrong. Shadow’s grief and anger are paralleled with Sonic’s, who (after the events of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”) has a happy family in Tom and Maddi Wachowski, Tails and Knuckles. As Shadow wrestles with his inner demons, Sonic has to balance protecting his family and stopping an ultimate life form.

The movie went harder than I expected for a kid’s film about a speedy blue space hedgehog fighting Jim Carrey in a fatsuit. I counted five character deaths, three of which were major characters. 

For a franchise forever marked by a terrifying original CGI design of the main character, the “Sonic” movies balance their CGI characters with live-action actors in a way that is both stylized and natural. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” continues this trend, now with the addition of Shadow and his insane need to attack humanity, an almost-Marvel-level final fight and the destruction of ⅓ of the moon (which seems like it would be more of a catastrophic event than the movie suggests).

Without spoiling anything, certain character reveals were met with as much excitement as a Marvel mid-credits scene. And, were I more well-versed in the trove of media that is the Sonic franchise, I’m sure I would have had even greater appreciation for certain moments and references in the movie. At its heart, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” honors the source material and the fans who love it while also being a fun, exciting and enjoyable action movie.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” is currently showing in theaters.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Sophia Monastra is a Junior Professional Writing and Information Design major.