Sonic the Hedgehog 3
The live-action Sonic movies have only gotten better the more they’ve integrated Sega’s AMV-bait lore, along with the angsty, emotional highs and lows of the series’ early 2000s peak. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is perhaps the most true adaptation of the series’ best qualities, marrying the wholesome found family story these movies are telling with some of the darker parts of its anthropomorphic cast’s past. Keanu Reeves is an inspired choice to voice Shadow, and he manages to bring edge and grit to the live-action series while perfectly integrating into the ensemble. Now that the series has gotten past needing to onboard the general audience, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 leans hard into the sicko shit that helped Sonic weather tides that would have ended most franchises, and it absolutely rules. — Kenneth Shepard
