Those of us who were there in 1989 when Tim Burton’s Batman showed what was possible with comic book adaptations can tell you how influential 120+ minutes truly were.
Homing in on the equally Gothic and hard-boiled aesthetic that propelled Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (in comic books) – an older Batman comes out of retirement to take up his vigilanteism again – to unimagined heights, Burton brought the caped crusader, his city, and even that one unique corner of the entire DC Universe to life in ways that had generally been reserved for animation. Darks grew darker, and pervasive light was snuffed out in favor of shadows. Villains turned more than a bit obtuse and wacky. The cinematography was a bit off-center, rendering Gotham City as some kind of baroque nightmare plucked from the frames of film noir. And – most importantly – Batman, the Batmobile, the Batwing, and a plethora of Bat-gadgets were impressively designed to fit uniquely into this landscape, bringing an all-new aesthetic to the world of crime-fighting the audiences hadn’t seen before and Hollywood would attempt to recreate in like-minded features for about a decade after.
It's this domain in which 1994’s The Mask tried to loosely recapture that magic but with a more family-friendly vibe. Directed by Chuck Russell (1987’s A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and 1988’s The Blob remake), The Mask was only loosely based on the mythology as originally crafted Mike Richardson for Dark Horse Comics. The film script shows attributed to Michael Fallon, Mark Verheiden, and Mike Werb. Though New Line Cinema originally saw the picture as a possible Horror franchise – something much more akin with the tone of the books – director Russell has long been credited with pushing the project in the direction of the superhero comedy, something inspired by the Tex Avery cartoons of his youth. Up-and-coming comedian Jim Carrey was cast as the lead, and there was no doubt that the actor’s physicality would lend itself greatly to cartoonish passion required to bring all of this to life.
The result?
Well, Wikipedia.org reports that The Mask’s global box office haul nearly caught up with aforementioned Batman feature. Its profitability – based entirely on cost versus returns – kept the fondly-remembered Carrey project as one of the most successful comic-to-film adaptations ever. That, in itself, speaks volumes; and The Mask rightfully deserves its place in film history, never quite slowing down once it hits high gear.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
Homing in on the equally Gothic and hard-boiled aesthetic that propelled Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (in comic books) – an older Batman comes out of retirement to take up his vigilanteism again – to unimagined heights, Burton brought the caped crusader, his city, and even that one unique corner of the entire DC Universe to life in ways that had generally been reserved for animation. Darks grew darker, and pervasive light was snuffed out in favor of shadows. Villains turned more than a bit obtuse and wacky. The cinematography was a bit off-center, rendering Gotham City as some kind of baroque nightmare plucked from the frames of film noir. And – most importantly – Batman, the Batmobile, the Batwing, and a plethora of Bat-gadgets were impressively designed to fit uniquely into this landscape, bringing an all-new aesthetic to the world of crime-fighting the audiences hadn’t seen before and Hollywood would attempt to recreate in like-minded features for about a decade after.
It's this domain in which 1994’s The Mask tried to loosely recapture that magic but with a more family-friendly vibe. Directed by Chuck Russell (1987’s A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and 1988’s The Blob remake), The Mask was only loosely based on the mythology as originally crafted Mike Richardson for Dark Horse Comics. The film script shows attributed to Michael Fallon, Mark Verheiden, and Mike Werb. Though New Line Cinema originally saw the picture as a possible Horror franchise – something much more akin with the tone of the books – director Russell has long been credited with pushing the project in the direction of the superhero comedy, something inspired by the Tex Avery cartoons of his youth. Up-and-coming comedian Jim Carrey was cast as the lead, and there was no doubt that the actor’s physicality would lend itself greatly to cartoonish passion required to bring all of this to life.
The result?
Well, Wikipedia.org reports that The Mask’s global box office haul nearly caught up with aforementioned Batman feature. Its profitability – based entirely on cost versus returns – kept the fondly-remembered Carrey project as one of the most successful comic-to-film adaptations ever. That, in itself, speaks volumes; and The Mask rightfully deserves its place in film history, never quite slowing down once it hits high gear.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask.”
Undoubtedly, 1994 was the year of Jim Carrey.
In rather spectacular fashion – the kind which audiences don’t see that often – the actor headlined three big projects. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective set the stage for what was to follow, with The Mask giving him an opportunity to really get ‘smokin’,’ and Dumb And Dumber rounded out the triple threat with sheer, unbridled lunacy. He followed those up the very next year taking on the role of The Riddler in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever – the franchise that inspired a great deal of The Mask’s original look – and it looked like the funny man was sitting on top of the world. Indeed, the decade the followed was very good to the talent; and – as was said above – rarely does any genius get this good an introduction to audiences.
For what it’s worth, I’ve always found The Mask the weakest of the three films.
Honestly, this is no fault of Carrey’s because I think his work in it is probably as good as could be expected. Comedy is one of the toughest genres for any man or woman to be consistently entertaining in, more so because times change and what audiences find funny today isn’t necessarily what they found mildly hilarious one, two, or three decades earlier. Some jokes don’t resonate as well because they’re written in some kind of wider chronology, and the effectiveness of some punchlines rely too much on the ‘here’ and ‘now.’ This isn’t the case to any great degree with Mask, and I credit the screenwriters and director Russell for keeping much of the humor tied more to the film’s characters and immediate circumstances. It’s grounded in its own reality, and that almost always works.
Where Mask fails for me is that it never quite universally embraces its preferred aesthetics. Some of the settings and plot points are very reminiscent of what Warren Beatty did to greater affect in Dick Tracy (1990) where the actor and director chose to ground everything in the 1930’s and 1940’s art deco milieu. Every single detail – from costumes set design to handheld props – had to fit keenly within this framework, making it downright exhausting for critics to detect so much as a hiccup artistically from what Beatty and his staff assembled. Clearly, this was the direction that Russell intended; and yet the script gets sidetracked with things that just don’t mesh as well in key development spots. It may seem small, but a gang of street toughs dressed like a bike club stands out like a sore thumb against this backdrop, as do the idiotic garage mechanics which only have a minute or two of screen time. Small choices like this inevitably break what works so well within Mask’s spell, and Russell should’ve known better.
“Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask.”
Undoubtedly, 1994 was the year of Jim Carrey.
In rather spectacular fashion – the kind which audiences don’t see that often – the actor headlined three big projects. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective set the stage for what was to follow, with The Mask giving him an opportunity to really get ‘smokin’,’ and Dumb And Dumber rounded out the triple threat with sheer, unbridled lunacy. He followed those up the very next year taking on the role of The Riddler in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever – the franchise that inspired a great deal of The Mask’s original look – and it looked like the funny man was sitting on top of the world. Indeed, the decade the followed was very good to the talent; and – as was said above – rarely does any genius get this good an introduction to audiences.
For what it’s worth, I’ve always found The Mask the weakest of the three films.
Honestly, this is no fault of Carrey’s because I think his work in it is probably as good as could be expected. Comedy is one of the toughest genres for any man or woman to be consistently entertaining in, more so because times change and what audiences find funny today isn’t necessarily what they found mildly hilarious one, two, or three decades earlier. Some jokes don’t resonate as well because they’re written in some kind of wider chronology, and the effectiveness of some punchlines rely too much on the ‘here’ and ‘now.’ This isn’t the case to any great degree with Mask, and I credit the screenwriters and director Russell for keeping much of the humor tied more to the film’s characters and immediate circumstances. It’s grounded in its own reality, and that almost always works.
Where Mask fails for me is that it never quite universally embraces its preferred aesthetics. Some of the settings and plot points are very reminiscent of what Warren Beatty did to greater affect in Dick Tracy (1990) where the actor and director chose to ground everything in the 1930’s and 1940’s art deco milieu. Every single detail – from costumes set design to handheld props – had to fit keenly within this framework, making it downright exhausting for critics to detect so much as a hiccup artistically from what Beatty and his staff assembled. Clearly, this was the direction that Russell intended; and yet the script gets sidetracked with things that just don’t mesh as well in key development spots. It may seem small, but a gang of street toughs dressed like a bike club stands out like a sore thumb against this backdrop, as do the idiotic garage mechanics which only have a minute or two of screen time. Small choices like this inevitably break what works so well within Mask’s spell, and Russell should’ve known better.
In a world wherein everything looks like it was either (A) drawn from the 1930’s or (B) plucked from a cartoon sequence, minor distractions should and must be eliminated. Perhaps over budgetary constraints or simple oversight, Russell and company let a few blemishes get in the way; and, yes, these do cheapen what otherwise could’ve been about as devilish a comic diversion that’s ever come to life. Their film is still good – damn good in spots – but I’ll always wish for more just as did Stanley Ipkiss when he caught himself looking deep into Cameron Diaz’s eyes.
The Mask (1994) was produced by New Line Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights and sounds to this 4K restoration to be just plain fabulous: the audio is particularly impressive given how well all of it has to sync with what’s happening visually, and this is not something I usually notice. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? My goodness, Arrow Films doesn’t disappoint as the disc has two commentary tracks along with an exhaustive assortment of shorts (including a deleted opening that’s kinda spiffy, if you ask me) so plan to spend a fair amount of time with this one. (FYI: Russell’s commentary is great, but it drags in the middle a bit. Just a mention.)
Recommended.
At best, The Mask (1994) is an oddity, a kinda/sorta superhero story heavily geared for children that the tone never quite works exclusively. At worst? Well, it’s an occasionally interesting bit of live action slapstick that works well enough to entertain just about anyone who shows up for a viewing. Made during Carrey’s breakout era, it’s still a surprisingly reserved performance – given the onscreen antics the comedian-turned-actor would achieve over time – and probably set the standard for his ongoing association with family fare. Despite a few unique bits, the end result is still forgettable because the director, cast, and material never quite coalesced to the point of theatrical perfection, fusing the art deco settings, the highs and lows of violence, and the manic intensity of cartoonish overkill into one accomplished whole. But all of it rests on Carrey’s capable shoulders … and what an incredible introduction to his career it remains!
In the interest of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The Mask (1994) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
The Mask (1994) was produced by New Line Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights and sounds to this 4K restoration to be just plain fabulous: the audio is particularly impressive given how well all of it has to sync with what’s happening visually, and this is not something I usually notice. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? My goodness, Arrow Films doesn’t disappoint as the disc has two commentary tracks along with an exhaustive assortment of shorts (including a deleted opening that’s kinda spiffy, if you ask me) so plan to spend a fair amount of time with this one. (FYI: Russell’s commentary is great, but it drags in the middle a bit. Just a mention.)
Recommended.
At best, The Mask (1994) is an oddity, a kinda/sorta superhero story heavily geared for children that the tone never quite works exclusively. At worst? Well, it’s an occasionally interesting bit of live action slapstick that works well enough to entertain just about anyone who shows up for a viewing. Made during Carrey’s breakout era, it’s still a surprisingly reserved performance – given the onscreen antics the comedian-turned-actor would achieve over time – and probably set the standard for his ongoing association with family fare. Despite a few unique bits, the end result is still forgettable because the director, cast, and material never quite coalesced to the point of theatrical perfection, fusing the art deco settings, the highs and lows of violence, and the manic intensity of cartoonish overkill into one accomplished whole. But all of it rests on Carrey’s capable shoulders … and what an incredible introduction to his career it remains!
In the interest of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The Mask (1994) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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