Back in April, Sega dubbed 2024 the Year of Shadow, in celebration of Sonic’s Adventure 2 nemesis. We’ve had Lego sets, mobile game events, a motorcycle tour, and of course the excellent Shadow campaign in Sonic x Shadow Generations. But it’s all been leading up to this, the main event: Keanu Reeves, as Shadow, in Sonic 3.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is much like Sonic x Shadow Generations, really, in that it’s the best the Sonic film franchise has ever been, but the blue blur has once again been overshadowed. Shadow the Hedgehog is Sonic’s darker, edgier, more mysterious counterpart first introduced in the Dreamcast game sequel. He’s cooler, not only because he’s voiced by Reeves, but because he rides a motorcycle and then does the Akira slide up the side of Tokyo tower. Sonic’s left in the dust eating chilli dogs.
The film’s director Jeff Fowler wastes little time in setting up Shadow as this film’s antagonist. Where the first film established Sonic (Ben Schwartz) as an alien now living in the US town of Green Hills, the second film brought in Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) to follow the original Mega Drive games more closely (namely Sonic 3). Sonic 3 (the film) continues this trajectory as the addition of Shadow brings the film closer still to the world of the games, with a story heavily influenced by Sonic Adventure 2. Tokyo, for instance, makes a fitting alternative to Radical Highway, blurring the line between film and game.
In short, Fowler has properly hit his stride with this third film. Fittingly, the story pacing is fast and concise: Shadow’s a seemingly evil hedgehog who’s escaped from a research facility after 50 years in stasis, and only Sonic and his pals – the Sonic Heroes, if you will – can stop him. Robotnik, or Eggman (Jim Carrey) is back too, despite Carrey previously stating his intention to retire from acting. This particular golden script was obviously enough for him to return and he’s clearly having a lot of fun – he’s in typically outlandish form here, love or hate him, and his newly bald head helps to bring his cartoonish characterisation even closer to the games.