One of the interesting takeaways for me from Sonic The Hedgehog 3 has to be the characterization that boasts of diabolically opposite characters of the similar fray. While you are well acquainted with Sonic and his journey to earth while living with the pain of losing his loved one Longclaws, you are also briefly acquainted with the backstory of Shadow, a lookalike of Sonic who traverses a similar fate as him while losing out on the love of his life Maria, in an apparent shootout. But the trajectories of the two characters are different – Sonic has met with his fate of love and respect as provided by Tom and Maddie over the years, while Shadow is realigned to a prison for over 50 years. The bitterness embedded in Shadow is evident even as you join forces with an evil entity to destroy the earth – that had been unkind to him while taking away the love of his life.

On the other hand, you are also acquainted with a familiar nemesis of Sonic, Robotnik (Jim Carrey) with whom he has to reluctantly join hands with. Yet, the character of Robotnik has a hilarious reference to Jim Carrey’s other flick Dumb and Dumber when the viewers are introduced to a mustachio and elder version of himself Robotnik Senior, who is told to be his grandfather. Clearly, the writing wishes to extract the eccentricity of the character by invariably exposing the viewers to two of them – both similar looking Robotniks with different colour of moustaches, incidently of contrasting colours to their personas. Robotnik Sr. is evil possessing a white mustachio while Robotnik Jr. has a brownish one, that incidently is reflective of his previous mischievious antics. The lines of morality are nicely laid out amidst surface-level conflicts and some interesting meta-references that collectively contribute to a fun watch.

There is a definitely arc that is in play with respect to the protagonist who isn’t entirely showcased as white, while showcasing several bouts of grey when being witness to his loved ones being harmed. But the events as a followup to that are funny and exciting even as the group hatches a plan to gain control over one of the keys which would change the fate of the planet forever. The proceedings are deviced to be frivolous while implicitly catering to the age demographic of under 10 years, something that is reflective in the frivolous nature of the conflicts coupled with simplistic solutions that aren’t ground-breaking in any way (and they don’t need to be as well). This, even as the drama takes a backseat with respect to the humour while also imparting pearls of wisdom that acts as a journey of reflection both for the protagonist and the antagonist. The ballistic finale with mildly high stakes is a testimony to the fact that it accounts for a fun watch wherein the screenplay has its moments to shine.