Well, this brings back memories. I started working at a movie theater the summer of 1994 so every 1994 movie is special to me, even Baby’s Day Out and North. The Mask actually played at our sister theater at the mall, but I was still allowed to go to movies there.
Watching it now on 4K, the CGI holds up largely because it wasn’t trying to be realistic. It’s supposed to turn Jim Carrey into a cartoon so it still does. But don’t overlook what Carrey does as Stanley Ipkiss. Even though he’s the everyman, Carrey does impeccable expressions and physical comedy.
It’s also fun to think if Ace Ventura hadn’t worked, he already had this in the can. But both did and so did Dumb and Dumber, all in 1994.
As an early comic book movie, the film’s Edge City also looks largely like New York but heightened enough to be a comic book. 4K brings out some of the deep shadows under the bridge when Ipkiss finds the mask.
I didn’t hear a lot of surround sound effects, but there are some wooshes behind you when The Mask moves at impossible speeds.
Director Chuck Russell gives a new interview covering the film’s early comic book adaptation, visual effects and Carrey’s breakthrough. Most interesting are his memories of character actor Peter Greene, later to be seen in Pulp Fiction. Apparently, Greene wore his mask makeup home and it gets more vague after that.
Mike Richardson, Mike Werb and Mark Verheiden include some fun ideas that didn’t make it and alternate casting. Scott Squires walks through the then pioneering effects. Editor Arthur Coburn gets technical.
Amy Yasbeck has a copy of the novelization and reminisces sharing scripts with her husband, John Ritter. She also discusses her deleted death scene and they show it here, though it’s also included in the deleted scenes. Choreographer Jerry Evans includes rehearsal videos of the dance scenes.
A very smart video essay explores dogs in film and TV in the ‘90s. Max the dog is in good company with Beethoven and Moose from Frasier.