Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

December 10, 2024 (Empire Leicester Square)December 20, 2024 (United States)

December 10, 2024 (Empire Leicester Square)
December 20, 2024 (United States)

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 2024 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega. It was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller. Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Idris Elba reprise their roles, with Krysten Ritter and Keanu Reeves joining the cast. In the film, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ally with Dr. Robotnik to defeat a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was announced in February 2022 during ViacomCBS's investor event before the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, filming for animated characters began in July 2023 in Surrey, England, and filming with actors began that November in London. Production ended by March 2024. The plot draws elements from the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Reeves was cast due to the parallels between his performance in the John Wick films and Fowler's vision for Shadow.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premiered at the Empire Leicester Square in London on December 10, 2024, and was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on December 20. It received positive reviews, with praise for Carrey and Reeves' performances. A sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, is scheduled for 2027.

Storyline

In 1974, a meteorite containing the alien hedgehog Shadow crash-lands in Oklahoma and is seized by the U.S. military. Shadow's power is experimented on by Professor Gerald Robotnik at a Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) research facility under the supervision of Captain Walters; Shadow also develops a close friendship with Maria, Gerald's granddaughter. One night, as Gerald, Maria, and Shadow try to escape the facility to prevent Shadow from being taken away, Maria is accidentally killed in an explosion. Walters shuts down the facility, imprisons Gerald, and places Shadow in suspended animation.

In 2024, an unknown individual hacks into a G.U.N. prison facility's system off the coast of Japan and releases a vengeful Shadow. Sonic celebrates the anniversary of his arrival on Earth with Tails, Knuckles, and their adoptive parents Tom and Maddie Wachowski, in Green Hills, Montana. G.U.N. Director Rockwell arrives and recruits Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles (dubbed "Team Sonic") to help apprehend Shadow in Tokyo. However, he overpowers the three and escapes. Team Sonic meets with the now-Commander Walters, who informs them about Shadow's past. Suddenly, Dr. Ivo Robotnik's drones attack and fatally wound Walters, who gives Sonic a keycard before he dies. They decide to search for Shadow without G.U.N.'s help as Rockwell discovers the missing keycard and turns against them. Team Sonic encounters Ivo's assistant, Agent Stone, who denies involvement in the attack; they form an uneasy alliance with Ivo and track the stolen drones to the abandoned G.U.N. facility. As Shadow captures Stone and Team Sonic, Ivo meets Gerald, his long-lost grandfather and the mastermind behind Shadow's escape and the stolen drones. Gerald explains that the keycard is one of two needed to activate the Eclipse Cannon, an orbiting laser space weapon he designed for G.U.N., capable of targeting and destroying any location on Earth. He claims that he plans to use it to destroy G.U.N.'s headquarters in London, and Ivo agrees to join him. Shadow takes the keycard from Tails and activates a black hole to destroy the base as he, the Robotniks, and Stone leave.

Team Sonic escapes using a ring portal and recruits Tom and Maddie to steal the second keycard from G.U.N.'s headquarters, contending with the Robotniks and Rockwell. Tom successfully obtains the keycard by disguising himself as Walters, but Shadow, buying into Tom's disguise and enraged at G.U.N., gravely wounds him, taking the key, allowing the Robotniks to launch the Eclipse Cannon. Enraged, Sonic abandons Tails and Knuckles, steals the Master Emerald, and becomes superpowered using the seven Chaos Emeralds contained within. Sonic confronts Shadow, who also absorbs the Chaos Emeralds' energy to become superpowered. Sonic eventually overpowers Shadow but relents upon realizing he was being consumed by revenge. Sonic tells Shadow about the loss of his guardian Longclaw and that their love for the people they have lost is more important than revenge. Having a change of heart, Shadow agrees to stop the cannon.

Aboard the Eclipse Cannon, Gerald reveals to Ivo his intention to destroy Earth and themselves to avenge Maria's death. A horrified Ivo attempts to abort the firing sequence, preferring to rule over humanity rather than destroy it, but Gerald destroys the command console. Tails and Knuckles arrive, and the three knock Gerald into the reactor core, killing him. Sonic and Shadow block the cannon's beam as Ivo, Tails, and Knuckles steer it away from Earth, accidentally slicing off part of the Moon. Sonic loses his superpowered form and consciousness while blocking the cannon's beam with Shadow and falls back to Earth. Tails and Knuckles save Sonic using a ring portal to Green Hills. When the cannon's core begins to melt down, Ivo makes a final announcement acknowledging Stone as his only friend before he and Shadow sacrifice themselves to move it away from Earth before it explodes. Sonic reconciles with Tails and Knuckles while Tom recovers from his injuries.

During a race with Tails and Knuckles, Sonic accidentally ends up outside of New York, where he is ambushed by an army of Metal Sonic robots and saved by Amy Rose. Elsewhere, Shadow has survived the cannon's destruction.

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