The Mask (film)
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Categories: 1994 films | American films | Comedy films | English-language films | Fantasy-comedy films | Films based on comics | Independent films | Superhero films | New Line Cinema films | Norse mythology in popular culture
The Mask is an action comedy film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres in 1994. The film stars Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss (also known as The Mask), who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role; and Cameron Diaz, in her film debut as Tina Carlyle. The movie received one Oscar nomination, for visual effects. This movie is rated PG-13 by the MPAA.
PlotEdge City bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is a shy, luckless romantic who is regularly bullied by nearly everyone around him: his boss, landlady, and even car mechanics; his only friends are his cocky but good-natured co-worker Charlie and his small but heroic dog Milo. Dorian Tyrell is a gangster who runs the exclusive Coco Bongo nightclub, while plotting the overthrow of his crimelord boss Niko. Tyrell sends his singer girlfriend Tina Carlyle into Stanley's bank with a hidden camera, as part of Tyrell's plan to rob the establishment. Stanley is smitten by Tina and she seems possibly interested in him, but this is the only good thing to happen during this particularly miserable day; after being ejected from the Coco Bongo, Stanley ends up at the city's filthy harbor, where he finds a mysterious wooden mask. When he takes the object home and puts it on, it wraps itself around his head, and brings forth the repressed side of his personality: a wackily-suited green-skinned wildman, "The Mask", who cheerfully gets revenge on some of Stanley's tormenters, along with turning the tables on an unfortunate street gang which attempts to terrorize him. The next morning Stanley has a run in with world-weary Edge City policeman Lieutenant Kellaway and hustling newspaper reporter Peggy Brandt, both of whom are investigating the Mask's activities of the previous night. Despite these threats, the temptation to again use the mask is overwhelming, and he puts it back on. Needing money to attend one of Tina's performances at the Coco Bongo, the Mask noisily interrupts Tyrell's bank robbery and make off with the cash; Tyrell's pointman on the job is shot dead by police responding to the disturbance. The Mask uses the money to buy entry into the Coco Bongo, where he "rocks the joint", exuberantly dancing with Tina in front of the cheering clientele before being confronted by Tyrell. The Mask literally bounces away, while Tyrell is temporarily arrested for the bank robbery by Kellaway, who also finds a piece of Stanley's distinctive pajamas left behind at the scene. The next day Stanley consults an expert on masks, who tells him the object is a depiction of Loki, the Norse god of darkness and mischief (and thus only works at night.) Despite this, and with both Tyrell and Kellaway hunting down his trail, a more confident Stanley stands up to his boss and arranges for Tina to meet his friend, the Mask, at the local Landfill Park. The meeting goes badly, with Tina being scared away by the Mask's overly-forward advances and Kellaway appearing to arrest Stanley. The Mask toys with the enraged officer before zooming out of the park and enchanting a large chunk of the Edge City police force into joining him in a mass-performance of the song Cuban Pete. Peggy helps Stanley escape, but turns him over to Tyrell for a briefcase of reward money. Tyrell forces Stanley to explain how the mask works and then tries it on, becoming a demonic troll-figure. Stanley is dumped in Kellaway's lap with a cheap green mask and is thrown into jail. Tina sympathetically visits Stanley in his cell, where he urges her to flee the city. She attempts to do so, but is captured by Tyrell and dragged along on his raid on a big charity ball at the Coco Bongo, hosted by Niko and attended by the city's elite. Niko is killed, and Mask-Tyrell prepares to blow up both the club and Tina. With Milo's help, Stanley breaks out of jail and goes to the club. After brief initial success with the assistance of Charlie, he is captured. Tina tricks Tyrell into taking off the mask, which gets kicked into the air. Milo sticks his head into the artifact, and the resulting pitbull assists maskless Stanley in successfully beating down Tyrell and his henchmen. Stanley retrieves the mask and wears it one last time, swallowing the bomb and literally flushing Tyrell down the drain of the club's ornamental fountain. The city's mayor, witnessing most of this, thinks that Tyrell was the Mask all along, and calls off Kellaway. As the sun rises, Stanley, Tina, Milo and Charlie take the mask back down to the harbor, where Stanley and Tina toss the object into the water. As they kiss, Charlie jumps in after it, only to find Milo swimming away with it. Cast
CharactersStanley Ipkiss/The MaskThe main protagonist of the film, Stanley is a banker who, on a particular messy day finds a mysterious wooden mask. When Ipkiss puts on the Mask, he becomes a whacky, zoot-suited, suave man. Ipkiss falls in love with Tina Carlyle, the dancer at the Coco Bongo and girlfriend of local mobster Dorian Tyrell. Ipkiss is later betrayed by his associate Peggy Brandt, who sells him out to Dorian and his men in return for money. Ipkiss is arrested by police detectives Lt. Mitch Kellaway and his partner Doyle. He manages to break free with the help of his dog and sidekick, Milo, along with a reluctant Kellaway. Ipkiss sets out to rescue Tina and many other lives from Tyrell (as the Mask) who was plotting to overthrow his boss, Niko. Ipkiss sneaks into the casino, only to be captured by Tyrell's henchman, Orlando. Tina tricks Dorian into removing the Mask, kicking it into the air, where it caught by Milo. Stanley and Dorian fight, until Ipkiss gains the strength and courage, knocking out Tyrell. Ipkiss scares away Tyrell's men (as the Mask) and swallows the bomb. He then proceeds to flush Dorian down the drain using a magical paintbrush. Stanley, his close friend Charlie, Tina and Milo throw the Mask into the river. Dorian Tyrell/The MaskThe main antagonist of the film, Dorian is the right-hand-man of local mafia kingpin, Niko. Dorian sends his mole, Tina Carlyle into the bank in a bid for himself and his henchmen to ascend to mafia top and overthrow Niko. Niko's men discover his plot, and is assaulted and given a week to flee Edge City. Dorian places a bounty on Stanley Ipkiss (as the Mask) due to the death of his close friend and henchman, Freeze. Dorian steals the Mask, with the help of Stanley's treacherous associate Peggy Brandt and becomes a truly demonic figure. Dorian botches the charity ball, barging into the club with his armed bodyguards, killing Niko and his Cuban bodyguards, unaware that Ipkiss has managed to get into the club with aid of his dog Milo and Detective Kellaway. Dorian and Ipkiss fight, which ends with Ipkiss briefly knocking him out. Tyrell is then flushed down the drain by Ipkiss (as the Mask). Tina CarlyleThe girlfriend of mobster Dorian Tyrell, who remains a love-interest and ally to Stanley Ipkiss throughout the film. Tina is unhappy as the moll of Tyrell, and believes herself to be a "party-favor" to him. Tina is sent into Stanley's bank with surveillance so Dorian and his crew can plot to overthrow mafia chieftain Niko. Tina begins to fall in love with Ipkiss, who is also smitten with her. Tina is also present when Ipkiss is thrown out of the club by one of Tyrell's bodyguards and Bobby the Bouncer. Tina is dancing at the Coco Bongo Club, serving as a dancer, when Ipkiss, having become the Mask dances with her. She is forced out of the club by Dorian, as Dorian's henchmen force the patrons out at gunpoint, due to the death of Tyrell's trusted henchman Freeze. Tina meets Ipkiss at the bank and the park. When Ipkiss (as the Mask) makes too many advances she runs off, but later visits him in jail, after he was betrayed by Peggy Brandt and Tyrell placed a bounty on Ipkiss/the Mask, allowing him to get a hold of the mask. Tina, after informing him of Tyrell's plan to rob the casino, kill Niko, and take over Edge and possibly more, she is chased by Tyrell and his men into an alley, where she is forced to accompany Dorian to the charity ball, where she along with many other innocents will be killed. Ipkiss is aided by Lieutanant Kellaway to the Coco Bongo and his sidekick Milo the Dog. Stanley attempts to sneak closer to Tyrell but is captured by Orlando. Tina tricks Dorian into removing the mask, kicking it into the air, in which Milo succeeds in catching it. Ipkiss and Dorian engage in a physical confrontation, until Ipkiss knocks him out. Ipkiss wears the mask and saves the day by swallowing the bomb. As Dorian attempts to kill from behind with a penknife, Stanley (The Mask) flushes him down the casino's pool. Stanley and Tina, along with Stanley's best friend Charlie, and Milo throw the Mask into the river and kiss. NikoThe mafia boss of Edge City and owner of the Coco Bongo Club, Niko has been targeted by Lieutenant Kellaway for a long time, and is now targeted by his former employee Dorian Tyrell. When Niko and his men find out Tyrell's plans, they assault him and gives him one week to flee Edge City. Dorian continues his plot, and wearing the mask, kills Niko at the charity ball. Bobby the BouncerA bouncer working at the Coco Bongo Club/Casino. He is seen at the beginning of the film checking Tyrell's list. As Stanley Ipkiss attempts to follow his friend Charlie, (also the scene implies Bobby is a friend of Charlie's.), an unknowing Bobby and one of Tyrell's thugs throw Ipkiss out of the club. Ipkiss (wearing the Mask) returns to the club, giving away money and letting himself in. Bobby then decides "nobody else is getting in." Bobby is last seen at the end of the film when Ipkiss, accompanied by LT.Kelloway attempts to sneak into the club, guarding one of the exits under orders from Tyrell. Ipkiss whistles, attracting Bobby to the back where Ipkiss knocks him out and steals his pistol, handing it to Charlie. Bobby is later arrested by the police, along with all of Tyrell's hoods. ReactionThe movie was a box-office success, grossing over 350 million dollars worldwide.[1] Critics also approved of the movie,[2] including Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times which gave the film 3 stars, noting Jim Carrey for his "joyful performance.".[3] The Mask is one of three films featuring Carrey (the others being Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber) released in 1994 that helped launch the actor to superstardom. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 67th Academy Awards, but lost to Forrest Gump. In addition, Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe. It currently holds a 75% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Cultural and literary allusionsStanley decorates his apartment with items featuring characters from Looney Tunes cartoons, and when he turns into The Mask, he tends to imitate said characters: Bugs Bunny (dying in the arms of the mobster, kissing someone in the lips, fooling people, and cracking jokes), Daffy Duck (bouncing and yelling uncontrollably), the Road Runner (the jabbering The Mask does after saying a joke and before fleeing from the scene at super-speed sounds pretty much like the "beep, beep" produced by the Road Runner), Pepe le Pew (the scene where he romances Tina), and Taz (spinning in a tornado). His reaction to Tina's singing in the Coco Bongo is the same as the character of the wolf in the cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood, which Stanley is seen watching earlier on. Many of the imitations come from those shorts directed by Tex Avery. The laugh performed by "The Mask" toward the end of the movie (after revealing his guns were loaded with nothing more than signs reading "Bang!"), is reminiscent of Carrey's Fire Marshal Bill character from In Living Color. In the same scene, "The Mask" performs a famous line by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry by saying "Now, you got to ask yourself one question. 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punks?". Carrey routinely performed impressions of Eastwood in his stand-up comedy routines and appeared in bit parts in Eastwood-headlined flicks Pink Cadillac and The Dead Pool, the latter of which was a Dirty Harry film. Carrey would also impersonate Eastwood momentarily in the film Bruce Almighty. The song "Cuban Pete" was originally performed by Desi Arnaz in the 1946 movie of the same name. It was later also performed by Arnaz and Lucille Ball on an episode of the classic 1950s television show I Love Lucy. While being arrested in the park, The Mask's joking claim that "it was the one-armed man" is a reference to the villain in the TV series (and later movie) The Fugitive. This could also be a reference to Twin Peaks, where a character called one-armed man was also seen. In Season 5 of USA's Dancing with the Stars, eventual winners Helio Castroneves and his partner Julianne Hough performed a quickstep routine very similar to the Coco Bongo dance scene to the song "Hey Pachuco" by the band Royal Crown Revue, who was featured in the movie. Castroneves wore an extravagant yellow suit while Hough wore a gold dress. SequelNot long after the release of The Mask, it was announced in Nintendo Power magazine that Carrey would be returning in a sequel. The magazine held a contest, with the winner being an extra in the film, but the project never came to fruition. A Carrey-less sequel, Son of the Mask, was released in theaters in 2005 to very poor box office performance and critical disapproval. Soundtrack
The Mask: Music From The Motion Picture
References
External linksWikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
de:Die Maske (1994) es:La máscara fr:The Mask (film) hr:Maska (1994) it:The Mask - Da zero a mito nl:The Mask (film) ja:マスク (1994年の映画) pl:Maska (film) pt:The Mask ru:Маска (фильм, 1994) sr:Маска (филм) fi:The Mask – naamio sv:The Mask (film) tr:Maske (film, 1994) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
