Ah...
The Mask, a fun little
Jim Carrey romp from 1994. It's one of his works from early on in his A-list film career; specifically his first film to arrive in theaters after
Ace Ventura Pet Detective. It's built on
Slapstick comedy, and while nevertheless sometimes possessing Bad Tropes is considered one of his best works by critics. It turned out to be very popular. It is based,
Film Of The Book style, on the
Comic Book of the same name. Sort of...the original is
not harmless slapstick.
The story follows twenty-something Edge City banker Stanley Ipkiss as he finds a magical Mask, an
Artifact Of Doom endowned with the powers of the Norse
Trickster god
Loki. In Stanley's case, this manifests as gaining the
Reality Warper abilities of his beloved classic
Looney Tunes characters (stretching, shapeshifting, bouncing back from
Amusing Injuries, and the like). While not quite reaching
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity levels, he does use it to get back on the people that bullied the shy reserved nice guy Stanley, and to woo nightclub-singer Tina Carlyle. When other less savory individuals get hold of it, the results are not so amusing.
Following the success of this film was an Saturday morning
Animated Adaptation in 1995, which lasted until 1997. Don't forget the Sequel,
Son Of The Mask, made in '05...
better yet,
do.
Examples:
- Adaptation Distillation: Although not loyal to the comics, all adaptions since have at least used some inspiration from this film.
- Adaptation Decay: Depending on who you ask. Your Mileage May Vary.
- Adaptation Displacement
- Bag Of Holding: The Mask's pockets while being frisked by the police.
- Beyond The Impossible: What the titular mask is apparently able to do.
- Dead For Real: No, wait, not anything that happened in the movie. I'm talking about the special flavor of sherbet made by Baskin Robbins as a tie-in to The Mask. Green and yellow and two flavors of delicious. But it's Dead For Real because they won't bring it back and refuse to make public the recipe. Why, cruel world, why??
- Crowd Song: The Mask magics the entire Edge City police force into singing "Cuban Pete" with him.
- Deal With The Devil: Played straight when the devil (under the name Bob) tells offers Stanley a better life. Poor Stanley doesn't read the fine print which states that he will be forced to offer his soul. Luckily, he gets out of it when the Mask beats the devil in a dance contest.
- Ear Worm: "My name is Cuban Pete, I'm the king of the Rumba beat."
- Face Heel Turn: Peggy, after turning Stanley over to Tyrell.
- Fun Personified: The normally shy Stanley turns into this with the Mask (mostly).
- Heroes Love Dogs: And he does!
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Stanley, as the Mask, pulls out a double handful of guns to scare off some punks. Immediately subverted, as they turn out to be "Bang"-flag toy guns. In a more "traditional" scene, he also produces an enormous mallet.
- I Lied: Tyrell, after Peggy sells Stanley out for money.
- I Want Them Alive: Dorian Tyrell puts up fifty thousand dollars to anyone who can bring him The Mask.
- In Name Only: This bears very little resemblance to the Comic Book it was based on, with this featuring more slapstick than what many consider Gorn.
- The Jimmy Hart Version: Jim Carrey's cover of "Cuban Pete" used in the film.
- Lampshade Hanging: The Animated Adaptation featured much lampshade hanging on traditional superhero tropes.
- New Powers As The Plot Demands: Used constantly for comedic effect. The Rule Of Fun greatly applies here.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: Your Mileage May Vary as there wouldn't be much plot without it.
- Sequelitis: Son Of The Mask. It won a Razzie.
- Shallow Love Interest: Cameron Diaz's character of Tina fits this to a t.
- Although subverted when the ultra-sexy bombshell/singer ultimately proves to be a much better person than the "down to earth" female reporter.
- Shout Out: Many examples to classic Tex Avery animations, but one notable Shout Out to a live action movie is to The Untouchables. When the hero is frisked, his Bag Of Holding turns up a whole lot of junk, including a BAZOOKA, to which he calmly says "I have a permit for that.", precisely the same words used in similar circumstances by Frank "the Enforcer" Nitti.
- Time Bomb: Disposed of in a rather...unique fashion.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Mask himself, along with other objects (turning a balloon-tommygun into a real one, for example).
- Non Human Sidekick: Milo the dog, who at first misunderstands the command to "Get the keys", picking up the cheese from the guard's sandwich before bringing the keys Stanley uses to escape from the jail cell.
- What Do You Mean Its Not For Kids: The original comic book.
