Ssssmokin'!
"It's party time! P-A-R-T. Why? Because I gotta!"
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 Decay: Depending on who you ask. Your Mileage May Vary.
- Adaptation Displacement: All adaptions since have at least used some inspiration from this film, despite the comics being very different.
- Ass Shove: Stanley uses the mask's powers to get back at his shady car mechanics by shoving exhaust pipes up their asses.
- 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.
- Big Lipped Alligator Moment: It's a very popular scene, but the Crowd Song listed below does kinda come right outta nowhere, and no one ever speaks of it again.
- Not exactly, after Calloway is chewed-out by Da Chief, Doyle mentions that the SWAT Team got an offer to open in Vegas.
- Not only that, it was foreshadowed — Calloway specifically requested the SWAT Team because, "If he's half as bad as they say, we'll have a full dance card."
- Clothes Make The Superman.
- Crowd Song: The Mask magics the entire Edge City police force into singing "Cuban Pete" with him.
- 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??
- Deal With The Devil: In the cartoon version. 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."
- Eye Pop: Three times in the movie: once in his apartment building
, once in the Coco Bongo club (at about 2:00), and finally when confronted by a lot of cops with guns at 1:00.
- Face Heel Turn: Peggy, after turning Stanley over to Tyrell.
- Fridge Logic: The Mask is capable of pulling anything he wants out of his pockets (see elsewhere on this page). So why does he need to rob a bank in order to get money?
- Fun Personified: The normally shy Stanley turns into this with the Mask (mostly).
- Getting Crap Past The Radar: The cartoon had this mostly (though some people will argue the movie did too. The only reason I'm not counting the movie is because the movie is PG-13 in America [your country may vary] and PG-13 stuff is catered to teenagers), particularly in the season 2 episode, "Flight as a Feather". Here's a blog review for those who really wanna know what the episode got away with [1]
- Groin Attack: Tina does this to The Mask while they're in the park.
- Hammerspace: Where everything the Mask uses comes from. Repeatedly lampshaded in the comic, where those people who manage to maintain their own personalities while wearing the Mask frequently wonder where the weapons are coming from.
- 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 Always Wanted To Say That: Stanley's friend Charlie after he says "Officers, arrest those men!"
- 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.
- Mask Of Power
- Memetic Mutation: SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMOKIN'!
- New Powers As The Plot Demands: Used constantly for comedic effect. The Rule Of Fun greatly applies here.
- Nightmare Fuel: Stanley in Mask persona is goofy looking but not exactly scary. However, when his faithful dog Milo manages to plunge his face into the thing during the final fight....
- 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.
- Pistol Whipping
- Romantic Plot Tumor: Your Mileage May Vary as there wouldn't be much plot without it.
- Rummage Fail: The gold standard.
- 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.
- Star Making Role: For Cameron Diaz
- Time Bomb: Disposed of in a rather...unique fashion.
- Timmy In A Well: Milo
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Mask himself, along with other objects (turning a balloon-tommygun into a real one, for example).
- What Do You Mean Its Not For Kids: The original comic book.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: Peggy the reporter to Dorian Tyrell, re: Stanley Ipkiss.
