The mask
Year of release : 1994
Run time : 1h37min
Genre : Comedy / Fantasy
Cast : Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck
The Mask is adapted from the comic book series of the same name, created by Mike Richardson, developed by Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1991, the character making its first appearance in 1987. In the comics he was a dark character, who, when he puts the mask on,gets his vengeance on people.
Stanley Ipkiss is a bank clerk. He is trying to get a date from his co-worker, but she's just using him to get concert tickets.
The day the movie starts, he meets femme fatale Tina Carlyle, who is pretending to be interested in opening a new account at the bank,only to film the safe for her boyfriend,who is trying to steal his boss' business and run the town.
Stanley is a very nice guy,he is such a nice guy,people walk all over him,like the mechanics he gave his car to, to change its oil, and now they are trying to charge him for a new transmission, in order to get more money from him.
As he needs to go with his friend to the club Tina is singing at, they give him 'the loner', a mess of a car.
At the club he fails to get in, and ends up on a bridge,his 'loner' car breaking down. He thinks he sees a man in the water, and jumps in to save him, but finds a mask in his place.
Stanley loves Looney Tunes (this becomes the inspiration for the Mask's antics), cartoons he watches every night. Turning the cartoons off, he listens to an interview about masks.. building up to the scenes to come.
He ends up putting the mask on,which glues to his face and becomes part of his face. As the Mask, he wrecks the hallway,fighting with his building manager, is being picked on by criminals he puts in their place,and.. teaches the mechanics a lesson.
In the morning, the police knock on his door and he realizes it was not a dream. So he throws the mask out the window, but it comes back.
Later on,the same day, he is being visited by his favorite columnist, -who tells him hundreds of women are looking for a guy like him,her included- while trying to write a piece on what happened at the car repair shop.
Dreaming about Tina, Stanley puts the mask on again. And..robs the bank he works at,as he has no money. Just as he leaves, he runs into her boyfriend's men who were trying to rob it too.
He makes an appearance at the club throwing money at people,and dances with Tina.
Afraid he's losing his mind, he goes to a man specialized in masks,the one who's interview he watched at the beginning of the movie. He tells him the mask seems to be of Scandinavian origin,and might belong to the Norse night god of mischief, Loki.
He tells the man the truth, but the man thinks he suffers from delusions,telling him he doesn't work with "really sick people".
He goes on a date with Tina,as the Mask, and is caught by the police,who thinks he is the villain of the story,which,let's face it, he robbed the bank, destroyed his building..,he kinda is.
The Mask has some pretty cool super powers,as it can create things out of thin air, it can make people do its bidding (see the dance scene with the cops),and..it can swallow bombs.
It can turn introverts like Stanley into wild men, and maniacs like Dorian into evil beings.
The movie was funny,and fun,it was like a cool,great,summer movie.
The actors were good, Jim Carrey was the best,acting just like a cartoon character. If he was the one dancing, he was also a great dancer.
I liked Cameron Diaz's outfits,and the dog.
The visual effects stand the test of time.
The soundtrack was good.
The movie received positive reviews from critics, and was a blockbuster, grossing 351.6 million dollars against a budget of about 23 million,being the 4th highest grossing movie of 1994, and the 2nd highest grossing superhero movie of all time, after Batman,being surpassed by Joker in 2019!
The audiences gave it a B+ on an A+ to F scale.
Jim Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe for the part (but also a Razzie Award for Worst New Star), and the movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The creators had Robin Williams and Martin Short in mind, in the early stages of movie development, until they were sent a tape of Jim Carrey. If he declined the offer, the creators had Nicolas Cage and Matthew Broderick in mind, as second best options.
The first choice for Tina was Anna Nicole Smith, who backed out to play in "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The final insult".
The Mask is for free with ads on Tubi, is streaming on Netflix, and is for rent / buy on Amazon, AppleTv, Fandango at Home.
Rating : It's so money !