K2nsl3r

The previous two Sonic movies were alright. The third one is the best one yet. Jim Carrey gives a legendary performance here as (double) Robotnik. Every second of screen time with him is sheer joy. The second highlight is Shadow itself. His backstory and character arc raise the stakes for the narrative. The game character cast keeps expanding, with Tails, Knuckles, and now Shadow. Thankfully, this means we get less of the soapy human drama this time around (although still too much to my liking). Sonic 3 knows that Sonic is all about the power of friendship and the epic battle between fantasy characters and evil robots. Going forward, I hope that the series moves even more in the direction of videogame fantasy instead of Michael Bay action comedy. Even though Sonic 3 inherits some of the flaws of its predecessors, including hammy dialogue and reliance on predictable Hollywood tropes, Sonic 3 should appeal to all ages and audiences looking for a good time.

Al Pacino gives us one of his classic performances, full of intensity, versatility, and passion. The movie proceeds with clever dexterity and undeniable craft to show the escalating series of events that led to the harrowing scene shown at the beginning. What is really great about the movie is how it highlights the hopelessness of individual struggle in the face of a behemoth. It showcases a police system where corruption is widespread, silence is golden, and integrity is an inconvenient luxury you leave at the door. Even when nothing much happens, there is rarely a boring moment in the movie. Much of this is thanks to Al Pacino's tremendous performance, but the rest of the cast contribute to a really thrilling ride. It seems hard to believe that the level of corruption was so widespread and open as shown in the movie, but even if it is a little exaggerated, it comes off as very believable given what we know today about corrupt institutions. As a film, the movie reaches pretty epic and thrilling proportions, but it is ultimately an intimate movie about frustration, integrity, and the high cost of truth-telling. Although I think that the movie is perhaps a bit too straightforward in its storytelling, and its cinematography and editing plays it quite safe, it is a deserved procedural classic.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. As a prequel that tells the rise of Mufasa, Simba's father, it is very formulaic and predictable. But it is also beautifully animated, quite funny, and emotionally well-balanced between adventure, drama, humour, and tragedy. For a prequel, it plays it sometimes too safe, but that is fine to me since the audience knows the conclusion of the story. The upside of playing it safe is that the movie thankfully avoids any major distractions or side characters that could have taken away from the meat of the film. My only major gripes are that the soundtrack is forgettable compared to the Elton John classics, and some of the plot development proceeds too quickly at numerous points in the story, which takes away from its intended emotional impact.

Nonetheless, let me repeat that I am surprised by how much I liked this film. I could not be bothered by the previous CGI adaptation at all. But as far as big studio prequels are concerned, this is one of the better ones. Sure, they clearly made the film for easy money, but miraculously it respects the Lion King fanbase and oozes love for the source material. Graphically, it is well-composed and it manages to find good use for CGI that gets close to the beauty of the original animation. And although it adds little to the story, it provides enough new context and meat to make the original story shine even brighter. Nothing can beat the 1995 original masterpiece, and this one obviously pales in comparison, but I am glad that they are treating the franchise with respect.