A year ago, Jim Carrey announced his retirement from acting, and when asked if there was a chance he’d ever come back, stated the following:
It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break.
A few months later, Carrey received this script from the angels, written in gold ink, and it came in the form of “Sonic The Hedgehog 3.”
Carrey is indeed reprising his role as mad scientist Dr. Robotnik in this third ‘Sonic,’ but he’s now being super honest about why he took on the role. It turns out, he didn’t choose to come back for ‘Sonic 3’ because the film had a script from the angels, but rather because he got payed a boatload of cash:
I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And, you know, it's just... I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly.
The first two ‘Sonic’ movies made over $800M at the worldwide box office for Paramount. It kickstarted the latest Hollywood trend of video game adaptations which came to a peak with last year’s “Super Mario Bros Movie.” Jeff Fowler, who directed the first two ‘Sonic’ movies, is returning for the sequel which will open in theaters on December 20.
This will again be a supporting turn for Carrey who hasn't had a “lead” role since his misbegotten 2016 thriller “Hard Crimes.” Regardless, Carrey has also not made a great film since 2004's “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Sure, I guess, 2008’s "I Love You Phillip Morris" was a watchable venture for the actor, but it’s already been forgotten.
Carrey had this incredible stretch of films in the ‘90s and aughts, which started in 1994 with three highly popular comedies ("The Mask," "Ace Ventura," "Dumb and Dumber"), and then he starred in three high-quality dramas ("The Truman Show," "Man on the Moon," and ‘Eternal Sunshine’).
It’s been wasted potential ever since — a real shame since Carrey is very talented and, if given the right script, can really hit it out of the ballpark. Nowadays, he’s just lazy, and uninspired by the craft.