The Mask easily falls into my "Top Ten" of comic adaptations. Starring Jim Carrey in a role he was born to play, and Cameron Diaz in her earliest film (according to IMDB), this film is a hilarious take on the superhero genre. Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, a loser who happens across a mask that has somehow imprisoned the essence of Loki (the Norse god of Mischief). The mask allows him to give vent to his wishes and desires, all the while giving him the invulnerability of a cartoon character. It's this type of character that Carrey falls into easily, and while he plays the Ipkiss character quite well, he plays The Mask character flawlessly.

While I haven't yet delved into the comics, I understand that The Mask comes from more of an action/horror type of genre, originally in the pages of Dark Horse Presents in the late eighties (at first spelled Masque). It left it's more gruesome roots for comedy as it hit the big screen.

			See it if you crave a light-hearted, hilarious comic film, if you are a Jim Carrey fan, or even if you're not. Don't see it if you're expecting an adaptation true to the original comic.

© 2004 Jim Manchester