Strill Amazing After 20 Years!

Rating: 9/10 (26 January 2014)

Cameron Diaz (Tina) and Max the Dog (Milo) steal this picture out from under from Jim Carey, who plays "The Mask"! "Tina" was supposed to be a just a live-action "Jessica Rabbit" but she is sexy, cute, funny and smart, and can she dance! Yes, she is the proverbial "girl with the heart-of-gold" but so much more. "Max", I hope, won some kind of animal "Oscar" as the tricks he does are truly amazing. The story of "Loki's Mask" is very simple. Put on the mask and you become just like yourself only more so. If you are shy and romantic (like "Stanley") you become a super-hero "Ricky Ricardo" impervious to bullets and bullies. If you are an evil monster through-and-through (Like Dorian) you become the devil incarnate. Fantastic CGI from ILM and a long way from the primitive CGI used in "Jumanji". The Mask turns into the girl-loving "Wolf" and several other Tex Avery cartoon characters. Bullets can't kill him. He can leap from buildings, dodge bullets and swallow bombs like Superman. In one of the best scenes, Carey becomes "Cuban Pete". Wearing only the green mask, he orchestrates an entire Conga-line dance number with Edge City's Police on his own without much help (if any) from ILM. It's amazing to see. There is a cruel edge to the action, as several thugs are blown away by gunfire in various scenes. Thankfully, also cut, was the Tribune newsgirl's demise (See DVD extras) which wasn't funny at all, but was in early release prints. Fictitious Edge City is only a step away from Gotham City and very "campy" indeed: The giant piggy bank and costumes at the nightclub. Landfill Park, complete with colorful methane gas clouds. Another milestone: It's the first-action comedy from New Line Cinema, which, previous to this, only made "Nightmare on Elm Street" horror films. It's a "9", rated-down due to comic violence.