The Mask

What a wasted opportunity this movie is. Tons of style, great soundtrack and Carey Mulligan, all three things are totally wasted on a script that is utterly void of an interesting plot. The opening sequence is pretty stunning, with minimal dialogue yet plenty of tension, which raised my expectations quite a bit. From there, it was mostly downhill and the movie never moves beyond the style to any sort of substance. I wasn't bored by any means but I just kept waiting for something to happen till the end, and it never did.

The lack of plot is compounded by the fact that I had no clue about the motivations of the main character - the driver. He's two-dimensional and is not developed either as the movie progresses. While the lack of dialogue and the tension makes for reasonable viewing, to be truly engrossed in the movie, I have to empathise with the characters to an extent. The wonderful Carey Mulligan engaged me a little better better with her fluid and expressive face, but unfortunately she didn't have much too work with. As for the driver, in a few scenes he's wearing a mask, and the mask managed to do a better job than Ryan Gosling.

All in all, an absolutely wasted opportunity to pull off something spectacular. Instead, all we got it a mediocre action thriller with a dash of unexpected blood and gore.

6/10