Sonic 3: Twice the Jim Carrey, action star cast… What makes this sequel stronger than the previous films?

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Sonic, Knuckles and Tails find themselves facing a new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious and powerful enemy with new powers. Overwhelmed at every level, Team Sonic will have to form an unlikely alliance to try to stop Shadow and protect our planet.

A bad guy who knows kung fu

Teasing the previous film’s post-credits scene, Shadow is the main attraction of this new opus. And Sonic’s opponent. Created in 2001, it presents itself as the double negative of a hero whose journey is characterized by sadness and loss when the blue hedgehog meets his friends.

“Shadow is a fascinating character”Director Jeff Fowler tells us. “He’s very popular with Sonic fans and has been for a long time. We knew that by integrating him into our story, he would give us exciting new options in terms of tone and texture, as well as allow us to add elements. Our films and Keanu embodied everything we wanted to do with the character.

Because yes, that’s Keanu Reeves joining Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba and Colin O’Shaughnessy in the Sonic 3 voice cast. And it’s probably no coincidence that Shadow knows kung-fu: “This was a dream casting for Sonic fans”– answers the director. “He brought all his talent to this mysterious, cool and haunting character that was the Shadow.

Two Jim Carrey movies for the price

Does this match the title number? Because, to sum it up, there are three antagonists in Sonic 3: Shadow, of course, but also Robotnik. in a square. Ivo, who was lost at the end of the previous opus, returned and we found his grandfather Gerald. Two characters played by Jim Carrey, who nevertheless announced that he wanted to retire in 2022 before changing his mind.

“When you look at the video games, Ivo and Gerald are almost visually identical, except that one has a brown mustache and the other has a white mustache.”– says Jeff Fowler. “Once we saw that he was in the canon and that the fans were used to it, it was obvious to us: Even if we had another Robotnik who looked so much like Ivo, why not have Jim Carrey play him?”

“Luckily he said yes and was very excited about the idea. He immediately made all kinds of suggestions, came up with ways to build the character and gave us something special.” Including a grandfather-grandson sequence worthy of an American family movie, or an absolutely over-the-moon duo when it comes to dodging lasers.

Sonic, episode 3

Despite these new additions, the feature film is not called Shadow – The Movie. Not even Robotnik x 2. But Sonic 3. And Sega’s mascot remains the star of this episode, which has no shortage of characters (Tails and Knuckles are still there, as are Tom and Maddie, James Marsden and Tika Sumpter, respectively).

“With Shadows and Two Robotniks, the stakes in this movie have never been higher.”explains Ben Schwartz, the hero’s voice actor for the third time. “And Sonic’s trajectory of having to learn to be a leader is a big part of that, as well as what we did with My Voice to celebrate his evolution.”

Sonic’s trajectory of having to learn to become a leader is a big part of the film’s challenges.

“If he stays young, we’re dealing with more of a teenager here. So his decisions are less of a child than a teenager. I’m trying to make him evolve that way, so that Sonic can grow as the audience grows. .”

An audience he also found in Episode 4 (in 2026?), which the post-credits scene, which will hit theaters on December 25, gives a big hint.

Comments collected by Maximilien Pierret in Paris on December 11, 2024