New Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Trailer Lightens Things Up
Sonic is letting the humans join the fun this time. Yesterday, Paramount released a new trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the latest installment in the franchise that kicked off the current video game adaptation craze (or almost a craze; it’ll probably be a craze soon) that The Super Mario Bros. Movie capitalized on so well. This time, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles must face Dr. Robotnik and his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, as well as their new creation, a dark hedgehog named Shadow. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 reunites the voice cast from the past two films, with Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Colleen O’Shaughnessy as Tails, and Idris Elba as Knuckles; Keanu Reeves joins them as the voice of Shadow. As for the live-action actors, Jim Carrey once again plays Dr. Robotnik, as well as his grandfather; James Marsden and Tika Sumpter return as Tom and Maddie Wachowski, Sonic’s human pals. Directed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 zooms into theaters on December 20, 2024; you can see the new trailer below:
I know people love this series, but the new Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer doesn’t do much for me. The humor is corny, and the addition of the human characters feels like it dilutes what would be better as an all-animated movie, with the possible exception of Dr. Robotnik. And he doesn’t seem all that interesting either, despite being played by Jim Carrey. (How is Sonic still calling him “Eggman”? Isn’t the point of that nickname that Robotnik is shaped like an egg? Maybe Danny DeVito would have been a better choice for the role.) And now that I can hear him talk, I can tell that Ben Schwartz is voicing Sonic; it fits pretty well, much like fellow TV nerd Jaleel White did in the 90s. I like that they got Colleen O’Shaughnessy, the voice of Tails in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games from 2014 on, to play him in the movies as well; that’s nice for fans of the games. (O’Shaughnessy was also the voice of the Wasp in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which is an excellent show.) Idris Elba’s Knuckles reminds me of Venom’s voice in the movies, which isn’t great. Keanu Reeves sounds like he’ll be appropriately menacing as Shadow.
For that reason, I think the first Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer was better than this one. In that trailer, you got a better sense of what an imposing threat Shadow is. There’s a little of that this time, but it’s mixed in with so many other elements, most of them goofy, like Robotnik making his groaner jokes. I like the shades of humanity they’re hinting at for Shadow, though, like his clear affection for that girl. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the first two movies (I may have to do a crash course if I end up reviewing this one like I did with the Venom films), but I struggle to understand what two human allies will contribute to Sonic fighting a villain like Shadow; are they going to throw a net on him or something? I appreciated The Super Mario Bros. Movie not doing this and just letting the animated video game characters do their thing, trusting viewers to get it. But at the end of the day, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 isn’t really for me; it’s for kids and people who are huge fans of the video games. I used to be into Sonic the Hedgehog when the Sega Genesis first came out, but it’s not really my thing anymore. So, I’m happy people who love the games and the characters seem to enjoy the movies, and I hope this is another good one made just for them. We all deserve a good adaptation of at least one thing we love, and those are fewer and further between these days.
Let us know what you thought of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer in the comments!
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