Disclaimer: The review that you are going to read below is written from the heart of a fan and follower of the blue hedgehog who, with the objectivity and cinephile criteria that I can even hope to have. I hope you enjoy it.
Oh, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. My dear Sonic. More than 30 years have passed since the first time we crossed paths. Me, a little tadpole hanging around some toy store, and you, in a white box with thin black lines forming a grid -Master System 2 reference-, with a challenging look and a confident smile. How many good moments you have given me… and some unpleasant moments too. How can we forget that first trailer for that first big movie adaptation of Sonic with that design that was so… so… so ugly? Things, by name. That ugly Sonic is already canon in popular culture, and even Paramount itself already refers to that design like this (Ugly Sonic), as it later appeared in the brilliant 'Chip and Chop: The Guardian Rescuers' of 2022.
The long-awaited adaptation – at least for me – of Sonic to the big screen seemed doomed to repeat the steps of what, to this day, is possibly still the worst live action that has ever been done: ‘Dragonball Evolution’ (Another saga that I have also loved since I was little). The drama was served.
But something nice happened at that moment. They saw and heard. They lived and learned. AND, like good wise men, they rectified. This is how, a while later than initially planned, it arrived in our theaters SONIC THE HEDGEHOGo 'Sonic: The Movie' as we know it here. I think that, to the surprise of many, it turned out to be a very nice and enjoyable film, easy to watch and enjoy at any time without having to think too much about it.
It was not a completely faithful adaptation to the Sonic universe that we had been seeing in the games, but it did retain all the essence of the character. The bet was not especially risky or innovative: a mix between buddy movie y road movie with the character of Sonic as the central axis. A relatively simple mix, but it worked really well.
Its sequel arrived shortly after, and now, with that first presentation and connection already established with the general public, it was time to start creating something bigger, an adventure that connected everything with many more elements of the game and new characters. And so it was. Everything was bigger and better, except, in my opinionthe tone at various moments in the film. While everything was more epic and more self-referential, the humor became much more childish. NOr is it that the first was, far from it, a movie with adult jokes?but it did feel much more familiar. It is clear that the target The one they were targeting, of course it wasn't me, who already has gray hair – for a long time -, but it was easy to notice an enormous dissonance between the bulk of the main story and the dancing moments. random (although adorable), and above all, the moments in which the protagonism fell excessively on humans. In the first film, having only Sonic, the cast and protagonism of humans felt very meaningful, possibly essential. However, in the sequel, in which we already had Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, known to everyone, and a fully formed villain like the mythical Doctor Robotnik, certain human characters, at times, subtracted more than they contributed.
And we finally arrive at the third installment of the saga: 'Sonic 3: The Movie', which I can easily consider a great example of how a franchise should evolveat the same time as chest out how to execute a live action. In many cases they do not respect the original material. In others, they respect it so much that everything sounds like a rehash that you already know shot by shot. In others, we see how they try to replicate the same recipe over and over again, always seeking the success that was surely the first delivery. But in 'Sonic 3: The Movie' We have a delivery that has lived and learned with each new proposal they have launched. 'Sonic 3: The Movie' It recovers scenes of speed that we saw in the first installment, but that were blurred in the second. Increase the epic view in the second, which we did not have in the first. And it considerably reduces – although does not completely eliminate – the unnecessary participation of human characters, just as the tone does not become so explicitly childish. Or what there is, there is to a lesser extent, or with moments so, but so delirious that even the most grumpy adult in the room is difficult not to end up breaking into a smile (I'm looking at you, double Jim Carrey, going crazy in more for a moment).
'Sonic 3: The Movie' It is also the film that most bets on adapting an arc taken directly from video games. One of my favorites, by the way, and one of the most loved by the fandom in general: “Sonic Adventure 2”. Important: it adapts, not a carbon copy, because, as I said before, this universe established its own rules from the first installment, but it has been respecting more and more all the characters that have arrived and the lore that surrounds them, as is the case from the star of this feature: Shadow.
The character of Shadow and “Sonic Adventure 2” are games with a somewhat more mature tone than one might expect from a Sonic game. Especially if we look back in time, coming from a saga of platform games in the wonderful 16-bit generation, where, no matter how great their games were – which they were and still are – their story was not exactly one of the strong points. But the move to 3D with the two installments of “Sonic Adventure” gave us totally unexpected depth and character to the characters, with moments not only epic, but also with a dramatic tinge, especially with the arrival of the character of Shadow.
All that essence is perfectly captured in this third part that, I would say without fear of being wrong, it is the best and most balanced of the three. Although there are still things to improve, or rather, rough edges to iron out, everything indicates that – luckily – we will have time to see if the franchise follows this path of good work, of living and learning.
The end of this trilogy seems to be the beginning of a much larger universe. And I, as a fan of the charismatic blue hedgehog, hope to be there to celebrate.
By Álex Martín Fernández
@fenometrix @fenofunkopop
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