Review: The Mask – 30th Anniversary

With Jim Carrey riding high in popularity at the beginning of 1994, thanks to his appearance in the adventure comedy, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, it would have been easy for the actor to sit back and watch the dollars role in. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was a big hit, it took a lot of money, and would eventually go on to spawn sequels and a cartoon series.

But there was no time for Carrey to rest, because a few months after Ace Ventura: Pet Detective made its debut, he appeared in his second big movie of the year – the comic book comedy, The Mask. Directed by Chuck Russell, the film was released in July 1994, it starred Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, and Peter Riegert, and it told the story of a mild mannered bank clerk who becomes a super hero.

In the movie, Carrey plays eternally down-on-his-luck bank employee, Stanley Ipkiss. Stanley is a likeable guy, who simply wants a nice life, but no matter what he does someone is always out to take advantage of him.

One night, after Stanley has had a disastrous evening trying to get into hit night club, the Coco Bongo, he sees what he believes is someone drowning in the river. But after wading into the water in an attempt to save them, Stanley discovers it is not a person at all and merely a pile of floating garbage, as well as a wooden mask.

Upon returning home with the mask, Stanley feels compelled to put the object to his face. As soon as he does, he undergoes a startling transformation, turning him into an unrecognisable figure with a green complexion and a yellow zoot-suit.

While decked out in this new guise, Stanley becomes a different person. His personality is boisterous, he has a confidence like never before, and he is granted reality altering abilities.

However, Stanley’s newfound powers soon makes him a target when he crosses paths with local gangster, Dorian Tyrell. Stanley also finds himself at odds with the local police captain, who believes he may share a connection to this mysterious new character known as the Mask.

In a world filled with comic book movies, with the majority of the top titles being Marvel pictures, it’s easy to overlook a superhero comedy from the 1990s which is based on a Dark Horse Comic. However, if you have forgotten how much fun The Mask is, simply because you’ve not watched it in a while, now is the perfect time to revisit the movie and remind yourself of what a gem it truly is.

The Mask combines imaginative special effects, a great balance of action and comedy, and one excellent performance from Jim Carrey. It’s a performance which blends together Carrey’s signature hyperactivity, with a more measured turn, and it highlights his skills as an actor.

When portraying Ipkiss, Carrey plays things straight, resisting (almost) every urge in his body to let loose. But when playing Stanley’s alter-ego, the Mask, the restraints come off, and he becomes the living embodiment of a cartoon character.

It’s completely crazy, yet it works. It’s Carrey doing what he does best, but fine tuning it, and he finds a way to perfectly mix reality with fantasy.

Sure, his performance may be enhanced by prosthetic make-up and visual wizardry, but it would be nothing without his natural ability to entertain, and with the exception of the late Robin Williams, there’s no other actor who could have pulled this off back in ‘94. No one.

In fact, this became pretty evident in 2005, when Jamie Kennedy starred in the ill-conceived sequel Son of the Mask, which was just bloody awful. The film was dire, as was Kennedy’s performance, and this further highlights how important Carrey’s involvement in The Mask is.

Outside of Carrey, The Mask benefits from some slick direction by Chuck Russell, as well as a good story by Michael Fallon and Mark Verheiden, and a lively screenplay by Mike Werb. The movie flows effortlessly from start to finish, and has a vibrant energy with plenty of gags thrown into the mix.

The visual effects are also a lot of fun, and while some of them don’t quite stand up to scrutiny these days, they were state-of-the art thirty years ago. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Dream Quest Images were responsible for all of the CGI in the film and they designed various effects around Carrey’s rehearsal performances alone.

However, one of the film’s most memorable scenes doesn’t revolve around Carrey at all, and is instead a comical sequence in which Stanley Ipkiss’ dog, Milo, transforms into the Mask. The effects may look a bit ropey today, but the scene is still a heap of fun and totally in keeping with the spirit of the film.

And then there is Cameron Diaz, who gets no computer-generated razzle dazzle, but does get to put in a memorable entrance scene as Stanley’s love interest, Tina Carlyle. The Mask marked Diaz’s debut as a film actress, and while not all of her scenes land, she has a great screen presence.

From top to bottom, The Mask is a thoroughly enjoyable film, and arguably one of the best comic book movies of the 1990s. At the time of its release the film proved there was more to Jim Carrey than just gurning, even if his rubber-faced antics are a big part of the movie, and his more restrained approach to Stanley Ipkiss paved the way for some of his more serious roles in films such as The Truman Show (1998) and The Majestic (2001).

Perhaps most important of all, thirty years on the film still has the power to entertain. From the set design and costuming, to the lighting, music, and performances, The Mask has it all and then some, and out of Carrey’s trio of breakthrough films in 1994 (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber being the other two), it takes the top spot.

Should you wish to revisit The Mask, the film is currently available on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital.

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Reviewer/man behind the mask

Alex Wiggan

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