I recently saw a video of an old TV news report from around Christmastime 1999.
A young Brian Williams asks a market analyst to predict how long a recent toy craze would last.
The analyst predicts about another “year, year and a half.”
The toys in question?
Pokemon.
From what I can tell, 25 years later and the craze is still going strong.
It’s always fun to peek into the past and see just how wrong we were as we tried to gaze into our collective crystal balls.
Even I, as someone who spends far too much time thinking about cartoons and pop culture, am often surprised to see what wacky new things pop up and just how long some of them can last.
But there’s one relic of the ‘90s that always surprises me to see it still sticking around decades later: Sonic the Hedgehog.
Last week saw the release of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” in theaters, the latest in the speedy blue hedgehog’s big screen adventures.
I’m right there with the other millennials and Gen X’ers in remembering the glory days of Mr. Hedgehog, back when playgrounds at recess were divided between Mario fans and Sonic fans.
“Sega does what Nintendon’t”, as the saying went.
Truth be told, I was a firm Nintendo kid back in those days. But then “Sonic Adventure 2: Battle” was released in 2002 and I quickly changed camps.
This month’s movie sees that game’s storyline adapted for the silver screen.
The original game that the movie is based on has a rabid and dedicated fanbase and that dedication even managed to help the film beat the latest “Lion King” movie in box office returns.
And after seeing the film I can easily say that I’m one happy Sonic fan.
“Sonic 3” sees the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog, a sort of dark, brooding ‘Mirror Sonic.’
Arriving in a meteor on Earth in the 1960s, Shadow was seized by the government and forced to use his incredible speed as an experimental power source.
Where Sonic’s childhood was filled with fun and caring, Shadow’s was filled with pain and isolation.
Awakening in 2024, Shadow now seeks revenge against the government forces that wronged him and Sonic and his friends Tails and Knuckles have to put a stop to his plan and save the world.
Keanu Reeves voices Shadow, one of only a handful of voiceover roles the iconic actor has performed.
In promotional interviews for the film, Reeves has adorably shared his excitement for the role as only someone as sweet as him can.
But voiceover acting is a very different beast than on-screen acting, and voicing dark, brooding characters is even harder still.
Just look at Batman. Many actors have tried to find a “Batman voice.” Few have succeeded.
While I think a few of Reeves’ deliveries fell flatter than he intended, I do think that he was the right choice with that uniquely dark but warm tone that lent depth to characters like Neo, John Wick and now Shadow.
But then there’s Jim Carrey.
Returning for a third time as evil scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Carrey makes the role soar once again.
Overall, “Sonic 3” is a schmaltzy, wacky, Saturday-morning cartoon of an adventure that knows exactly what kind of movie it is.
It knows that if you’re going to be weird, go all in.
And still no living actor today can do that better than Carrey.
And as someone who grew up with “Smokin’!” and “Well, alrighty then!”, I love thinking that one last generation will get a chance to see pure Carrey zanyness on screen.
And this film has plenty of zanyness. It’s one of those movies that you can’t stop smiling through, whether it’s from an eye-rolling pun, a wacky gag or a deep-cut reference.
In the end, I think I ended up liking this movie even more than I liked last year’s Mario movie.
While that movie was fun enough, it comes off feeling too ‘safe’ compared to this one.
Watching the live-action actors on screen realizing how ridiculous the movie is, you can see them trying to keep from cracking up and you can feel on screen just how much fun everyone involved was having making this movie.
It’s the sort of movie where you can just see someone making a ridiculous suggestion like: “Okay, but what if a Japanese version of a Jackson 5 song was playing in the background of this scene?”
And the director saying: “…sure, why not?”
It’s fun, fast-paced and wild. And what more do you need for a good Sonic the Hedgehog movie than that?
I give “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” 4 stars out of 4.
Have you seen “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”? What did you think? Email Ben Rowe at browe@pressrepublican.com with your thoughts and takeaways.