The Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy is a pretty decent trilogy, as the third film in the franchise debuted this weekend.

I liked this movie, although, to be fair, it felt very much like the last one, with the arrival of Knuckles. This time, we get Shadow and the beats are similar to the previous film.

According to IMDB, “Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.“

Shadow is voiced by Keanu Reaves and he does a solid job as the villain. The film does take a different step at first with the use of Doctor Robotnik, played once again by the amazing and manic Jim Carrey, who also plays Robotnik’s grandpa, Gerald Robotnik. Carrey feels as if he is always having the time of his life playing this character as he has a free and compelling flow to everything he does as Robotnik.

The action and the CGI are all top notch, and the final act of the film was filled with tension and unexpected action. It is just that everything seemed very familiar leading up to it.

Since I am not familiar with the video game or Sonic’s general world, watching the post credit scenes did nothing for me. I bet this is the way that others feel at the end of Marvel Studios movies when I am flipping out over some reveal of a character. Both post credit scenes were definitely designed for fans of the video game. That is okay.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is better than it had a right to be. It was fun, had a lot of humor and was an exciting family friendly adventure with a good message. Jim Carrey is outstanding as always and the rest of the returning actors feel comfortable and confident in their roles.

3.75 stars