"...Jimmy, a Mask named Jim Carrey!"

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2008)

This film is a cult classic. Those six words are enough to describe the movie itself from my view.
I never really got into it when I was younger (maybe cause I never SAW it!) But then early this year, since I am a HUGE cartoon fan, I decided to check it out. And boy, did I miss out on a lot of fun, which I was finally able to be part of! For starters, THIS is the film where Jim Carrey's zany/goofy antics are absolutely perfect and in time with the movie he is starring in. This movie even made me like Jim Carrey a bit more (I previously saw him in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which was actually kinda good IMO). And it gave me my first glimpse of Cameron Diaz, which was appropriate since it was her debut film role as the beautiful miss Tina Carlyle. And was she ever sexy! Combine the Girl of "Red Hot Riding Hood," Jessica Rabbit, and Daphne from "Scooby-Doo," and you've got a great character with a great actress! Ben Stein was also great, too. I get a kick out of hearing his "boring" voice! The plot is one I can identify with. A social misfit that loves cartoons... almost kinda like ME! (Though I'm a bit more socially successful than Stanley Ipkiss was). And after a terrible day, he finds the ancient mask that transforms him into... THE MASK! From here on, it's classic cartoon bouncy/zany stuff whenever The Mask is lurking! Unfortunately, he is only the Mask for 30 minutes of the film, maybe because this was produced in 1994 and they didn't want to blow a lot of money with extensive use of CGI animation (Remember, CGI was state-of-the-art for its time back in 1994!) The Mask is able to whirl like the Tasmanian Devil, seduce like a Pepe Le Pew clone, carry many things up his sleeve, and just put a smile on your face.
The Mask's cartoony antics are very similar to (and reminiscent of) some of the great super-cartoony classics, such as the Tex Avery cartoons, some of Bob Clampett's best works, and "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo!" (Great show, BTW!) The CGI animation is state-of-the-art for its time (Shame this film didn't win the Oscar for best special effects!) Some of my favorite bits include the lines "It's party time! P-A-R-T... Y? Because I GOTTA!" and "I believe my friends are (on the guest list for the Coco Bongo club), perhaps you know them... Franklin, Grant and Jackson!" and "Let's ROCK THIS JOINT!" I also loved it when The Mask squeezed that little horn at the car, but the horn lets out a long verbal "AAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGAH!" as loud as a Chrysler air raid siren, as well as when he is asked by a punk if he's got the time, The Mask gets out a ticking clock and says "Look at THAT! It's exactly two seconds before I honk your nose and pull your underwear over your head!" This then results in The Mask's first wedgie! And his little balloon animal show... "For you sir... a French Poodle!" *BANG! Sputter...* "Sorry son, the dog was rabid, had to put it down!" And what about the Hey Pachuco musical number, and The Mask's "Oscar-winning performance" (complete with an animated applauding audience silhouette!) Personally, my all-time favorite part in this movie is when The Mask goes to the Coco Bongo nightclub, and among seeing the sexy Tina Carlyle, he bugs his eyes out, unfurls his tongue on the ground, pounds his heart through his chest, and then he MORPHS INTO A 'TOON WOLF AND HOWLS AT HER, THEN WOLF-WHISTLES AND BANGS HIS HEAD WITH A MALLET! That wolf scene is a thousand times better than any werewolf transformation I have ever seen on film!
Whew... glad I got all that out. Anyways, one of the best movies ever made. In the words of the green-faced living 'toon himself, The Mask is 'SSSSSSSSMOKIN!!!