The first "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie ended with a hopeful teaser for a sequel. There is another universe, I imagine, were Paramount didn't listen to the fan outrage that followed the disasterous first trailer. The movie subsequently flopped and Tails' mid-credits cameo became nothing but another overly optimistic sequel hook for a would-be franchise that died after one failed installment. In the immediate aftermath of "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and the Marvel Cinematic Universe becoming cultural phenomenon, we saw so many examples of this.
That's not what happened. Instead, Paramount cracked the whips on the poor CGI animators and special effects team, Sonic got redesigned at the last minute, and the first movie became a hit. This created a precedent. "Sonic the Hedgehog" was an actual film series now. Which meant, when "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" ended by revealing Shadow the Hedgehog existed in this cinematic iteration of this world, it was expected to actually pay off in a future film.
That time is nearly upon us. After many months of fans endlessly badgering the production company for any sort of peek at the new sequel, the first full trailer for "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" has been unleashed upon the world. We now have our first look at what Sonic's third cinematic adventure might entail, what Keanu Reeves as Shadow sounds like, and what weird alterations Jeff Fowler's third hedgehog fest will make to the source material.
I naturally have some thoughts on this matter. Before any images came out, I was already deeply skeptical of "Sonic the Hedgehog 3." Even if I liked the first two movies well enough, Paramount's entire endeavor plays fast and loose with all the things I actually care about in this series. I know why Fowler and his team chose to introduce Shadow the Hedgehog in the third movie. He's probably the second or third most popular character in the franchise. From a financial point of view, bringing Shadow in early makes all the sense in the world. From a storytelling perspective though? By the time Shadow debuted in the games, "Sonic" had already built up an elaborate and deeply inconsistent lore. Sonic had an established supporting cast, world, rules, and various relics floating around him. The movies have been extremely choosy about what elements from established material they've incorporated. Paramount's live action "Sonic" series remains a bizarre hybrid of stuff fans are actually interested in and stuff studio executives insist all modern kid movies should include. The point I'm making here: A "Sonic" universe that introduces Shadow before Angel Island? Before a rainbow of different colored Chaos Emeralds? Before Amy Rose and the Chaotix and Metal Sonic and Cucky? What kind of "Sonic" universe is that?!
I guess we're going to find out soon enough. The trailer for "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" is now out, ahead of its December release date. It makes a few things clear: The plot of the third film will involve Shadow going on some sort of villainous rampage, forcing G.U.N. to actively recruit Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to fight him. When the good guys still find themselves overwhelmed, Sonic goes a step further and makes an alliance with Robotnik. In this continuity, Gerald Robotnik is still alive and also being played by Jim Carrey. We only get a glimpse of Shadow's back story, though it seems heavily suggested that the death of Maria will still be the formative experience in the so-called Ultimate Life Form's backstory.
Being the Negative Nancy, the Debbie Downer, I naturally am, let me start by pointing out the things I hate about the trailer. I know Sonic has worked directly with G.U.N. and other government organizations in the games, comics, and cartoons. I still dislike the idea of these guys being superheroes the not-so-secret government agency calls on to do stuff for them. Ya know, ever since they made Sonic's adoptive dad in this series a fucking cop, it's been hard to miss the creepy authoritarian undercurrents of the series. Sonic is free like the wind, baby. He's not a cop, a narc, a fed, a bootlicker, or a corporate stooge. I will not be unmoved on this point.
Applying my political belly-aching to a movie for babies aside, the set-up the trailer hints out also gives me a clear vision of where this story will likely go. Assuming G.U.N. is still responsible for the death of Maria, what will heroic Sonic and friends' reaction to discovering that information will be? They'll probably be upset! They'll probably turn against the organization they've been hired by, teaming up with Shadow instead. As happens any time a good guy and a bad guy team up, Robotnik forming a truce with Sonic will precede a predictable and obvious betrayal. What form this double-cross will take, I can only guess. Some have already speculated that the shot in the trailer of Robotnik grabbing a quill from Sonic might foreshadow him building Metal Sonic. But some fans will always expect Metal Sonic to show up any minute. Regardless, the movie is going to end with Sonic and Shadow putting aside their differences to fight a greater enemy, the superpowered hedgehog learning a little lesson about friendship along the way.
I'm sure all the backstory surrounding Shadow will be very different. I'll be surprised if the ARK appears in the film. Since Gerald is apparently alive, we already know things will be quite different. I don't actually give a shit about Shadow's lore. That has always been the least interesting part of him as a character. The probable outline I laid out above coming to pass, leading to a predictable and dull motion picture, is something I'm much more concerned about.
Alright, so that's my main gripe with the trailer. What do I like about it? First and foremost, the action looks sweet. The second movie represented a serious step-up from the first in terms of its set pieces and combat sequences. Paramount clearly gave Fowler and everyone way more money to play with. Clearly, things will get bigger and better in part three. Shadow's superpowers are already leading to more elaborate action sequences. Fowler's background is in animation and, in the best moments of the "Sonic" movies, you feel that. Hopefully that will be even more evident in this installment.
When it was announced that Keanu Reeves was going to voice Shadow the Hedgehog, I wasn't sure how to feel. My natural inclination is always to be slightly annoyed when a big celebrity is picked to voice a famous cartoon character over a veteran voice actor instead. Idris Elba as Knuckles has done okay and he got better over the course of his whole show. Reeves at least has a little experience voicing cartoons. It was still an odd suggestion to me. Reeves is a fine performer that I enjoy immensely. His physicality and screen presence have a lot more to do with that than his voice. The idea of Keanu voicing Shadow didn't strike me as the slam dunk to me that so many other fans seemed to think it was.
Now, I've actually gotten to hear Reeves as Shadow, has my opinion changed any? The first line he delivers when he saunters up to the good guys, I wasn't too sure about. His delivery sounded flat. Which is, you young'uns might not know, something Keanu was often criticized for early in his career! However, as the trailer progresses, Reeves sounds better to me. If nothing else, it doesn't sound like he's going for laughs. Ben Schwartz' Sonic is always cracking jokes and Elba's Knuckles is an oblivious straight man. Reeves' Shadow, meanwhile, seems to be dead fucking serious. It's good to know the superstar didn't take on this voiceover gig in a kid's movie as an assignment he could half-ass it on. He's putting his whole ass into this iconic character.
As for the rest of the trailer... The reveal that Gerald is alive caught many off-guard. However, the first half of the trailer has Tom Wachowski repeatedly point out to Sonic that he has a family now. A voiceover from Olive Garden Guy points out that Shadow doesn't have that family. Clearly, this "Fast & Furious"-ian concept will be the main theme in the sequel. Robotnik forming a bond with his long-lost grandfather makes more sense in that context. Will Shadow learn the true value of family over the course of this adventure? My magic 8-Ball says "Likely."
Many individuals in the "Sonic" fandom have already overturned and dug into the various images briefly seen in the trailer. This has lead to the typical amount of idle speculation. Many are already pointing out, with annoyance, that his live action "Sonic" trilogy is turning into a sausage-fest. Some have gone so far as to wonder if Amy Rose or Rouge might actually be in the movie, a big surprise being kept for us from now. The Metal Sonic theory above is something much along the same lines. Not to mention people in mascot-like Chao costumes always appeared briefly in the trailer.
Personally, I think Amy or any other Sega characters cropping up in the movie is a long-shot. I expect the Chao cameo to be nothing more than an in-joke. People have always been seizing on a shot of Tom Wachowski laying on the floor, screaming. Some are wondering if Donut Lord is going to get killed off. Would I love it if the film finally cut out the unimportant human protagonist it's been saddled with? Yeah. Do I find it likely? Probably not, even if James Marden getting written out in some way does seem likely.
Lastly, there's the factor of Jim Carrey coming back as Robotnik. After the second film, Carrey announced his retirement. Clearly, that didn't stick. Carrey's hyperactive take on Sonic's archenemy amuses me, even if I don't think it has much to do with the character as he usually exists. The actor's presence certainly added a lot of energy to the last two films, so I'm happy to have him back. The gut he's grown in isolation is another belated attempt to bring the movie version of Robotnik more in line with his rotund video game counterpart. Sure. Whatever. I'm glad the fan girls will have more bait for toxic yaoi fanfics about Robotnik and Agent Stone though.
The special effects look nice. The action seems decent. Shadow does the "Akira" slide. I'm not made of stone. All that stuff is neat. However, I feel an increasing distance from Paramount's "Sonic" films, this sense that these movies and shows will never become the version of "Sonic the Hedgehog" I want them to be. I'm definitely going to see it. I'll probably give it an overly positive review that I then look back on a few months later and I think overdid it. Maybe the movie will really surprise me. Hope springs eternal. Ultimately, I suppose the short version of my response to the "Sonic 3" trailer is that... It's decent. Looks fun. Didn't blow my socks off. Didn't make me shit my pants in rage. Looks about what I expected, truth be told. Sorry to disappoint or underwhelm anyone expecting me to either explode in praise or rage on this one.
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