Ranking the Sonic the Hedgehog Films: Which Movie Takes the Top Spot?

With the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I wanted to share my thoughts and ranking of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The franchise consists of three movies and one mini-series spin-off. I have had a lot of fun with the Sonic franchise. I wasn't a huge player of the games but I still dabbled here and there. Video game movies don't usually have a lot of success so to get a franchise that is fun is a bit relief. With all that said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the Sonic franchise.

4. Knuckles

Knuckles is easily the worst installment in the franchise and was overall just a big miss. The show centers around Knuckles as he attempts to find his place in the world. There are some fun elements here. Knuckles as a character has this Drax the Destroyer vibe to him where he takes things too literally that was a lot of fun. We also got more of Wade who was a humorous character in the show. The weird thing about this show is while it is called Knuckles, it is really about Wade and his father's issues. This goes so far to where there are whole episodes that Knuckles is hardly in. If you call a show Knuckles, it should be about Knuckles. I also felt that the show had no driving force to the plot. Many of the episodes meander so much and the finale is just so lackluster and rushed. The final fight was cut away to instead show Wade's bowling match against his Dad. I was hoping this show would be fun but it just didn't have much of anything going for it. Overall, this was a show that had the potential to be entertaining but ended up a huge disappointment.

Score: 5/10 Grade: C

3. Sonic the Hedgehog

This was the film that kickstarted the whole franchise and was a surprise to me with how good it was. The history of the movie started a bit rough with the original look of Sonic upsetting so many fans that the studio delayed the film just to redo the appearance of Sonic. In general, I found this movie to be very entertaining. Sonic is so much a fan as a character. He brings a high energy to the film but doesn't overdo it. Jim Carey is as great as Dr. Robotnik. Somehow he manages to match the tone and energy of the CGI Sonic, but somehow it still works. The main thing holding this film back was the direction the story went. The whole premise with Sonic is that he is extremely fast, so naturally, the movie has to be a road trip story with Sonic unable to use his powers. It seems like a really weird idea to take the first story of this character. People want to see Sonic run fast in Green Hills, not ride in a car with James Marsden. In the end, while the story is a really weird choice, I think the fun of the movie outweighs any of the story issues.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 built on the fun energy of the first film and included more characters that people love. I found this movie to be a lot more fun than the first film as well as had a better story. While the first movie makes the weird decision to be a road trip movie, this movie goes with the better option of being a treasure-hunting movie. The movie is focused on finding the emerald gem which is a major part of the Sonic games. This movie also introduces Knuckles and Tails, both of whom are a lot of fun. Knuckles' Drax the Destroyer vibe plays well with Sonic's high energy and makes for some very funny moments. Seeing all of these characters together makes the movie great for me. The movie also does a good job of building out the Sonic world with all of these new characters and ideas. The big issue with this film was the whole human subplot. The whole wedding plot lot feels unnecessary and just slows the movie down. The movie thought James Marsden needed something to do, so it sent him on a trip to Hawaii. They could have cut that part out of the movie and it would have made no difference. Overall, this is a very fun sequel that continues to build out the world but has an unnecessary subplot that keeps it from being better.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is easily the best film in the Sonic franchise. This movie has all of the stuff that worked for the previous films and none of the things that didn't. I thought that Shadow was a solid addition to the franchise and story. He is the one character in the franchise that isn't written to be funny. Because of this, he makes the movie have a much darker tone which works well for the story the movie is trying to tell. I also thought that Shadow had a very emotional story and helped cement the ideas of grief and revenge as the main topics of the movie. Jim Carey is also a lot of fun in this movie. He plays two characters in this movie and somehow can have a great energy playing off of himself. I also liked how this movie had a very streamlined plot. It doesn't get bogged down with human subplots like the previous films do. It starts right away with Sonic and his friends on their adventure and doesn't stray from that for the entire runtime. Finally, I liked how much emotion was in the film. Shadow is key to most of the emotional scenes but Robotnik and Sonic both get in there some too. In the end, this was a great third film in the Sonic trilogy that delivered on everything people love about the franchise.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-