These movies are nothing if they’re not fun, and Jim Carrey understands that better than anyone. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 gives us two of him.
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 One thing is true: these films are much more fun when people are involved. Video game fans will certainly devour any shenanigans that involve sarcastic CGI critters racing through space and fighting each other – as is their right – but these films tend to have a lot more heart and unpredictable energy when these characters are involved interact with real people. The first film was propelled by the discovery of a new earthly home by the alien hedgehog Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz), with Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter), then correct with the arrival of the alien hedgehog The insane Dr. came to life Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey in a revival of his 90s Wild Man energy. The second film was a bit of a mess, occasionally enlivened by Carrey’s return as Eggman. This time, Carrey gets to play both Eggman and his own grandfather, the even more insane Gerald Robotnik – and by this point, director Jeff Fowler and his team already know enough to step back and let the actor go to town while he screams, plans and fights with himself.

The Sonic films have built their success on mixing a light dose of Gen-X nostalgia with shiny, glittery, fast-paced CGI action, and this new entry has that in spades. But for all their speed, the fights and chases in these pictures usually have a given quality; It can sometimes feel like watching someone else play a video game. That’s why it helps to give the characters some shading. The new film’s main antihero is Shadow the Hedgehog, one of the Sonic-Verse’s most beloved characters, who awakens from a 50-year cryo-sleep on a Japanese prison island filled with murderous rage at a world that has claimed his own loved ones. Keanu Reeves voices him in the film, giving him a subtle, gravelly remorse that conveys anger. With his red, Sauron-like irises, Shadow provides an effective counterpoint to Sonic’s blue-eyed sweetness – although, of course, they’re both goofy, adorable animated hedgehogs. (The filmmakers could have considered giving Shadow the scary teeth they originally gave Sonic before fan backlash led to a redesign.)

These films are nothing if they’re not fun, and Carrey probably understands that better than anyone. In the new film, Eggman and Sonic reluctantly agree to work together to stop Shadow, who is generating his own weird energy. And when Eggman meets his even more psychotic grandpa and the two Robotniks get going, Sonic3 pretty much becomes a high quality buddy comedy that could probably be turned into its own series. “The resemblance is amazing,” exclaim the two Carreys. “It’s like we’re two characters in a movie played by the same actor!” It’s a stupid, obvious line, but Jim Carrey is the master of selling stupid, obvious lines; His specialty is not wit, but half-witted persuasion. Watch him act out the deliciously idiotic spectacle of the two Robotniks viciously pulling each other’s giant mustaches.

I’m not a video game guy, which means I’m not really a Sonic guy, but the first movie won me over with its exuberant energy and genuine heart. This latest entry mostly leaves out Marsden and Sumpter, but makes up for it by giving us more Carrey. And all of these films display a defined, charming sensibility, throwing a million gags at the wall to see what sticks; Most of the time it’s a victory, even if only a few do it. And the resurrection of Carrey as his old, plastic, spastic, motor self is key to the overall impact of these films. The actor stands a little above the fray with his tongue-in-cheek dialogue and ridiculous physical comedy; His self-aware, mocking shtick is a blatantly comical version of what the goofy action scenes themselves are trying to achieve, with their repurposed one-liners and too-fast-for-human-eye pacing. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is still just a product, but at least it knows what it is.