Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

So for fifty years, "GUN" have kept "Shadow" in a gloopy state of stasis deep underground in a top secret facility. All of a sudden he awakens, punches himself out of the place and that means that the director (Krysten Ritter) has to disrupt a family barbecue to engage the services of "Team Sonic". Our eponymous blue hedgehog, his best pals "Tails" and "Knuckles" have settled down to a peaceable life with "Tom" (James Marsden) and "Maddie" (Tika Sumpter) but realise they have to rise to the occasion so off they go. Imagine their shock, though, when they discover that their new super-fast and super-strong nemesis is another (not quite so blue) hedgehog! Who is he? What's going on? Why does he seem to loath mankind, so? Well that all becomes clear when his puppet-master turns out to be the grand-daddy of all baddies. The ultimate "Robotnik" - only with a slightly more rotund belly. Matched, even out-matched, it falls to our intrepid team to try and form an alliance of their own, but how will that endure in the face of such terrible odds? Well don't go looking for any jeopardy here, indeed what starts off as quite a fun series of thwack and pow escapades showing off the skills of the rivals cannot resist turning into the cul-de-sac of sentimentality as the inevitable plot lines grab hold of the characters and turn them into cheesy mush. I always like a good antagonist, but sadly we just know that however dastardly and evil he - in this case the ultra-hammy Jim Carrey - can be, no writer or director is ever going to let him win, and that's pretty efficiently telegraphed right from the start of this sequel that's going to be a prequel too, no doubt. Some of the writing is quite fun, with plenty of contemporary and quite sarcastic references to raise a smile, and there are homages paid aplenty to just about everyone from "007" and the "Fantastic Four" to the "Avengers" - but in the end it's all just a little too shiny and predicable. It looks great on the big screen though and passes a couple of hours easily enough for a Christmas release, but it's all just a bit too derivative for me, sorry.