The third and most recent installment of the Sonic franchise is concluding its theatrical run soon as a box office, critical, and audience success. The film was even grossing more than Mufasa: The Lion King for several weekends, and parents and children alike seem to enjoy these new Sonic movies. But how does this installment compare to the previous films, and has the franchise run out of steam?

Jeff Fowler’s third Sonic film follows Sonic (Ben Schwartz) on his quest to stop Shadow (Keanu Reeves) from destroying the planet. Sonic enlists the help of his friends Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), as well as an unlikely ally, to defeat their new mutual enemy. For fans of the Sonic franchise, seeing Shadow brought to the big screen was an exciting prospect, and the film did not disappoint in its handling of Shadow. As the antagonist, he is given a proper backstory to mirror Sonic’s, posing an interesting question as to how two beings who were put in similar situations could end up with such different perspectives on life.

The film genuinely rests with both Sonic and Shadow’s grief in the middle of all the action, making the tone of the film more balanced and the characters more developed. After three movies, it is easy for a franchise to feel stale, but Sonic is a main character who constantly faces new developments, challenging him, his morality, and his connection with his new Earth family.

Unfortunately, not every character gets the same amount of development, since the film possibly has too many. New characters continue to be added with each installment, and if the post-credits scene is to be believed, then that will continue to be the case for the fourth movie. However, this pushes characters such as Tails and Knuckles further into the background for the sake of having more jokes with Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). The rapidly increasing number of fan-favorite characters being added to the franchise allows the movie less time to focus on the characters already present in the story, leading their individual side storylines to feel half-baked. If Knuckles cannot even be the main character of his series, then why is he not allotted more screen time and development in these movies? While the focus should remain on Sonic and whoever is being added, I think the franchise needs to commit to getting rid of some of their more beloved characters if they aim to develop their characters because there is currently too much to tackle in a 110-minute runtime.

Nevertheless, the film contains many positive characteristics. Probably the most important for this children’s movie is that it is indeed genuinely funny, for the parents as well as the kids. There are many humorous moments and comedic beats, especially with Robotnik’s character, that land and create an enjoyable theatrical experience for families watching. Furthermore, the action sequences are cool and well-choreographed, especially with Shadow, to the point where they are probably the best ones out of the three movies.

There is constant improvement being made to this franchise, and it is clear that the people working on these movies genuinely care about Sonic as an IP and want to feature as many fan-favorite characters as possible. Sonic has a clear arc throughout these three movies, and the setup for his character in the fourth movie was well done at the end of this one. This franchise has direction, and each movie improves upon the last. The fourth movie is excitingly anticipated, and for good reason. Rating: 3/5