"Sonic The Hedgehog 3" another hit from SEGA.

While I've never been the biggest fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, I've always found myself appreciating the way its film adaptations have handled the character, especially considering the course correction the studio had to take after all the backlash it received in 2019 when the trailer for the first film was released featuring the design of the original Sonic (better known as ugly Sonic).

Source

And while the films have never been works of art (nor do they claim to be), there is something extremely pleasing about the way SEGA's mascot has been treated, respecting those elements most representative of its lore, but at the same time readjusting everything to make it work better in a feature-length format.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is no exception, and I dare say that it is the entry in the trilogy that has the most successes, leaving behind those bitter aspects of parts 1 and 2 (the excessive weight of humans in the central plot, for example), and bringing to the big screen one of the most beloved characters of the entire fandom: Shadow the Hedgehog, an icon of the edgelord culture of the 2000s that has remained incredibly relevant today and who ends up having several of the best moments of the entire film.

The result? An action movie for the whole family that mixes very well the moments of pure entertainment with those more emotional, predictable but fun, and with a satisfactory ending that at the same time leaves the doors open for the sequels that will inevitably come.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 follows the trend seen in other video game adaptations like The Super Mario Bros Movie or Detective Pikachu, which, far from feeling ashamed of their origins, know how to lovingly embrace what elevated them to the top of popular culture, and, in the same way, end up being access bridges for new potential fans.

Keanu Reeves does an excellent job as Shadow, and joins a cast of great actors like Jim Carrey and Idris Elba, who know how to perfectly convey the nature of their characters.

Is it perfect? Of course not, the script has several moments with jokes that don't land well, there are a couple of moments with holes in the plot and the direction of some specific action sequences could be better, however, I'm glad to see that they are still solid blockbusters, and I appreciate that they have confidence in themselves.

Score taken from my Letterboxd account.