Sonic The Hedgehog 3

This being a second sequel to a film adaptation of a videogame franchise with something around a hundred entries, it is no surprise that Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is far from original. That said, despite no small measure of repetition and fan service, it is enjoyable.

Like any number of other toy or game properties adapted to film there's a depth of reference and continuity to plunder. The Chaos are adorable mascots of their eponymous café as contrast to product placement for Starbucks, and also a tamagotchi like element based on the SEGA Dreamcast's visual memory cards. There's an homage to Akira, one so often copied that one could assign them values on a sliding scale. There's an extended sequence whose ludicrous power levels and colour palettes are lifted (and then punched) straight from Dragon Ball. There's a bit of fourth-wall breaking metahumour based on how certain characters were achieved that is less subtle than a reference to the Sonic sprite's idle animation that'd have some feet tapping along more readily than the music.

That's with some of the franchise's classic tunes present, including several that are among elements taken wholecloth from Sonic Adventure 2. That game, released in 2001 to mark the series' tenth anniversary, was the introduction of Shadow The Hedgehog. Those who stayed after the credits for Sonic The Hedgehog 2 will have anticipated his arrival, but he's at least slightly more exciting an opposite than, say, Poe Dameron's T-70.

Voiced by Keanu Reeves, Shadow's videogame history as antagonist and deuteragonist and unlockable mini-boss and what have you is at least as complicated in its relationship to Sonic as any Spider-Man villain. Unlike Kraven The Hunter those involved have at least realised that while the adventure might stand alone the character doesn't. Sega's involvement is potentially visible in a few places, this third Sonic adventure draws heavily from Sonic Adventure 2 with details of setpieces and especially plot.

Even if you haven't played the Dreamcast game you'll be familiar with the story. Some of that is repetition of age-old tropes, and some of that is literal repetition. There's more than one scene where theme is outright stated. Though it is a kids movie to have the moral of the story delivered more than once by actors presumably emoting at tennis balls or off-set in voice-recording studios is a little jarring.

Expository dialogue abounds, and with frequent flashbacks among the flashes and bangs it's likely that distracted viewers won't lose their way. While cinema audiences can and will enjoy this and despite sequences that seem itching for transfer to 3-D it does feel pitched at folk who will watch this in instalments before bedtime or while popping in to check that siblings haven't opened interdimensional rifts.

Patrick Casey and Josh Miller return to writing duties, having penned the previous two outings and some of their spin-offs. They're joined here by John Whittington who helped with Sonic 2 and contributed to the Lego Batman and Ninjago movies, as well as penning the Knuckles TV series. Director Jeff Fowler made his feature debut with the franchise, and it now seems that three years of wrangling hedgehogs and Jim Carrey has earned him a shot at a Pink Panther adaptation involving Eddie Murphy.

There are plenty of returning cast members. Idris Elba always seems to be having fun as Knuckles and Colleen O'Shaughnessy has been voicing Tails across multiple media for more than a decade. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter are reassuringly solid as the adoptive adults to the anthropomorphic antics, and Ben Schwartz continues to build a CV that ensures he can get a signing table at almost any fan convention. Those who enjoy Carrey's turn as Dr Robotnik will possibly get more for their money than the producers did. Those who really enjoy Lee Majdoub's turn as Robotnik's Renfield will feel their ship has come in.

Despite some quite heavy themes, in particular around grief and other forms of loss and loneliness, it is bright and entertaining. Unlike many adaptions it does want to have fun, worrying less about being pixel-perfect or po-faced than propulsive plotting. "Gotta go fast," after all. Though sometimes that speed isn't in a straight line but a loop.

It wasn't a console or arcade title but 1993's animated series The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog that established the blue hedgehog's fondness for chili dogs. That's a hot dog, topped with chili. Much like this third outing, it's a couple of familiar entities that are somewhat messily put together. While a comfort to some, it could be found cloying, and while undeniably meaty in places quality and quantity might make it too much for others. It could probably be cheesier, but sometimes the ties that bind are family not fromage.