Reviews of The Mask

The Mask

Posted : 1 month, 4 weeks ago on 12 September 2009 02:58 (A review of The Mask)

I was a fan of the Mask back when hardly anyone knew anything about the comicbook.
So for me, it was kind of surprising when I heard that a movie about this character was going to be released.
Now, since superhero movies were just starting to finally prove to be able to generate attendance from the general public, I knew that there was no way they were going to be able to translate the dark humor & the violent tone of the comic for the silver screen, so I just assumed that out of necessity, Hollywood was just to completely re-invent the character, and Hollywood being Hollywood, would just completely eff it up.
However, they somehow were able to make this reinvention work for the medium of a live action movie. Not perfectly, mind you, but with the bizarre ingredients that were required for the basis of this weird, reality-altering anti-hero, it came off pretty well & pretty consistent. While the Mask doesn't hold the weight of any of its comicbook colleagues of this genre, it held it's own enough to be succesful at the box office & not spawn the ire of nerds like me who, especially at the time, just wanted to see these kinds of films earn a little more respect.



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Funny, but with a message!

Posted : 8 months ago on 10 March 2009 03:31 (A review of The Mask)

"It's party time. P, A, R, T. Why? Because I gotta!"

Nobody seems to bend the human form more than Jim Carrey, an undeniably great actor who could be the love child of Lawrence Olivier and a pot of play-do. The Mask capitalises on Carrey's talents, giving him free rein to do anything he conceivably can with his spaghetti straw of a body..with hilarious results. Scene after scene is delivered through a vehicle of slapstick that lightens your heart, watching Carrey do what Carrey does best. My friend's cannot spend an evening together without reeling off pretty much the entire screen play, one liner after one liner of quotable gold.

However, the other day, I taught an English class, as we discussed Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', I was all of a sudden awakened to the subtle moral messages and wittily parodic nature of 'The Mask'. Like so many before me I was too concerned with the bright lights and smoke that is JC to pay any real attention to the narrative.




The fundamental ideal in this movie discuss that age old, Freudian concern with the clash between id and ego, the turmoil humans face between primal instinct and social constraint. The Mask, is not only a modern interpretation of a canon classic, but a post modern deconstruction of the anguish of modern man. I know this sounds like tripe, but stay with me. Stanley Ipkiss is the archetypal put upon man(Dr Jekyll), fighting every instinct to unleash wroth upon a world that spurns him. The Mask (Mr Hyde) is the instinct and fury personified, a human embodiment of humanity's most primal urges, unconstrained by humanity, because he isn't human. Maybe I'm getting a bit above myself here, I am not saying The Mask is a cultural icon, we wont be putting it in a time capsule for future generations, but I am saying it is to be enjoyed on more than just the level of JC's stunning performance.

It's all very clever, this movie addresses an issue that has never left the consciousness of modern man, however we fail to feel any sense of foreboding, because Jim Carrey dressed as a french man is hysterically funny.

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The Mask review

Posted : 10 months, 1 week ago on 31 December 2008 12:34 (A review of The Mask)

This movie, i grew up on this and three other movies. It was nothing but a fun and hilarious, roll on floor laughinh, piss my pants, kind of comedy. but after a while, it just becomes hilarious. i loved how jim carrey acted with the madk on, it really showed how every one has at least two sides to themselves. i would watch this all the time... i think it was the first jim carrey movie i saw. i used to call jim steve... but anyways, this was a great movie that in my opinion deserves 15/10 stars. i'm not gonna change it and you can't make me.

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funny stuff!!!

Posted : 11 months, 2 weeks ago on 26 November 2008 11:50 (A review of The Mask)

man!! this movie is funny and cool!!!!!!!!!!! this is so funny that i can
watch it over and over and over some more. THIS IS FREAKIN FUNNY!!

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