This romantic, action comedy involves a mysterious
mask that a meek and mild bank clerk finds in the river. Putting
it on he turns into a wild, extroverted, cartoon-like super hero
character, who has much fun and gets the girl.
"The Mask" is one of the best comic
book type adventure ever put on film. "Batman Forever"
comes close, but "The Mask" is better at capturing the
anything can happen, and does quality of comic book and cartoons.
The dialogue is imaginative, witty, and very entertaining. Mark
Verheiden adapted the screenplay from an old comic book series,
but makes the mask character a crazy super hero type, instead
of a mass murderer, thank goodness.
Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey), who has the reputation
of being a really nice guy, is taken advantage of by pretty girls,
crooked car mechanics, suffers under an insufferable bank manager,
and a landlady from hell, the disagreeable Mrs. Peenman (Nancy
Fish); people who don't give him any respect. After a discouraging
evening, that started with Stanley being thrown out of the line
to the ritzy night club, while his friends went in, and that ends
with the junky loaner car breaking down in the middle of a bridge,
in the middle of a rain storm, Stanley spies what he thinks is
a drowning man. Yelling, "I know CPR!!", he jumps into
the water and finds a weird, ancient mask, depicting Loki, the
Norse night god of mischief, floating with some trash. At home,
in his run-down apartment, he is drawn to the mask and puts it
on, where the mask melds into his face, as it's power seeps into
Stanley's being, with hilarious results. Let's just say, some
of Carrey's tormentors get a unique come-uppence, which doesn't
escape the notice of the police. The power of the mask "brings
all his innermost desires to wild, screaming life!"
The second plot line has a power struggle going
on between an old, evil, reigning mobster, Niko (Orestes Matacena),
who uses golf cruelly to make his point, and his equally slimy
young protege, Dorian Tyrel (Peter Greene I ), who plots to take
over the territory, by first robbing a bank to finance it. Too
bad that the swirling green guy had just robbed the bank that
night, as well as make a move on the young mobster's girlfriend,
Tina Carlyle, played by the luscious Cameron Diaz, a woman that
Stanley greatly admires, but doesn't feel that he has a chance
with. She is a talented singer in the upscale, hard to get into
night club, owned by the old mobster, but managed by Dorian, who
claims her as his property. This was Diaz's first movie.
Because of the mask, Stanley finds himself in
the difficult position of having both the nasty Dorian (Peter
Greene) and the police, lead by Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway (Peter
Riegert), out to trap him, on top of falling in love with Tina.
Thank goodness that he has such a smart little dog, Milo!!
The script, by Mark Verheiden, and direction, by Chuck Russell,
are very inspiring efforts. Chuck Russell also directed Rodney
Dangerfield in "Back to School," so he has had experience
directing talented comedians, and successful comedy films. The
action scenes are well-paced and very well done.
The film offers a great showcase for Carrey's
high energy, rubber face, and contortionist's body. Jerry Lewis
would have loved to play this character in his prime, but he wouldn't
have been as good. His dancing ability also shines as well. A
favorite scene takes place involving Carrey and Cameron Diaz.
Transformed into the wild, cartoon like character, Carrey engages
in a wild choreographed dance scene with Diaz, as wild, drum accented
music.
Carrey's wild brand of humor, adds a lot to the
script. His delivery and timing really punches the comedic moments.
He really makes the script come alive. An added chuckle are his
impersonations of Clark Gable, Sally Field, a western cowboy,
just to name some, which are hilarious.
The FX in this film are amazing. Scenes of Jim
Carrey transforming into a cartoon character, his eyes flying
out of his head, or heart beating hugely through his shirt are
incredible. When inspired, this masked character moves and appears
to be a green tornado. The FX at the park are terrific also, as
the mask character tries to impress Tina, and infuriate Lieutenant
Mitch Kellaway.
This movie is rated PG-13. The bad guys are pretty
mean and scary, especially the last 30 minutes, when Dorian explodes
with evil after putting on the mask. There is one big shoot out
in the club, where Dorian viciously machine guns the old mobster,
Niko (Orestes Matacena) and his cohorts. Stanley and Milo do wind
up rescuing everyone after twists and turns, but it may be too
much for children under 13.
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