Review of The Mask (1994) by Roddersj04 — 27 Mar 2011

My favourite Jim Carrey movie of all time. The Mask tells the tale of Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey), the typical nice guy who, unfortunately, always finishes last. He then finds a mythical mask and when he puts it on, he is transformed into a love-lorn, confident, zoot-suited, green faced maniac who performs extraordinary feats, all obviously influenced by cartoons.

This film is filled with such a number of iconic scenes ("The Mask and Tina dancing in Club Congo Bongo", "The Mask and the cops having a full out dancing session") and is packed to the brim with briilliant references and gags.

The truly best jokes occur when Jim Carrey is The Mask. The film isn't just full of comedy or of cartoon gags, theres also character progression, as the more Stanley is the Mask persona, the more confident he becomes when he's himself, especially when he stands up to his spoilt heir of a boss.

The beginning of when Stanley first realises his power he declares he could do the dreamed thing and be a superhero, but rather does the human thing: he uses the powers to solve his problems. He gets revenge on the rip-off car repairmen by shoving huge car exhaust pipes up their asses, he uses his Mask persona to woo Cameron Diaz (come on men, who of us wouldn't?) and robs a bank (the last one was more of a heat of the moment thing) Stanleys dog, Milo, is definately the best dog I have seen on TV and film.

He manages to follow his kidnapped owner to the police station, even helping him to escape, he manages to escape from a cop car when the Detective cannot and even wears the mask at one point to help his owner best the gangsters.

By the end of the film, you'll want a dog just like Milo. Detective Kellerman is a great antagonist for Stanley, investigating into the Mask. He's the kind of antagonist who manages to be a serious character and, whilst being serious, manages to make the audience laugh (with the help of dimwitted partner Doyle) The effects really hold up well nowadays, not looking cheap or too computer generated.

The Masked Milo looks a tad on the cheap side, but you'll get over it. The Mask is a fun film which takes it's influences from cartoons and is not afraid to show that off. Even if you're not a Jim Carrey fan, you must admit, there's no one more perfect for this role than Jim himself.