SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMOKIN’!
With new versions of Aladdin, Child’s Play, Men In Black and Toy Story all recently released in your local cinema, when it comes to franchises, you might be excused for thinking that you’re still stuck in the ’90s.
On this note, cast your mind back to 1994 and the year of Jim Carrey, when Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber were all released within the space of 12 months.
Nobody from the world of comedy could touch Carrey in mainstream movies at the time and in many ways, The Mask was a perfect mixture of his unique appeal because it combined CGI, memorable gags and Carrey’s own rubber-faced charm.
It also helped that Cameron Diaz had one of the most memorable introductions in cinema history.
It’s almost 25 years since Carrey’s goofy bank clerk, Stanley Ipkiss, transformed into a manic superhero after putting on the mysterious mask of Loki and it appears that the creator wants a new adaptation of the material.
The Mask creator Mike Richardson said that he would be in favour of a female-led reboot of the beloved comedy.
In an interview with Forbes, the Dark House Comics founder said: “I’d like to see a really good physical comedian [in the role]. I have one in mind, but I’m not gonna say her name. We have to do a lot of convincing for this particular actor, but we’ll see… You never know what’s coming in the future. We have some ideas.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that a follow-up to the original film has been made.
2005’s Son of The Mask – which starred Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Kal Penn, and Bob Hoskins – was a commercial and critical flop; currently holding a 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Richardson also said that he’d like the reboot to take a more gritty approach in contrast to the more slapstick tone of Chuck Russell’s beloved film.
“I’d like it to be another character film about a person dealing with absolute power,” he added.
“The whole theme of The Mask was we all say what we would do if we had absolute power, just like Stanley Ipkiss. When we get absolute power, we often resort to the most petty of endeavours and it’s overcoming our human nature and using the power for good.
“Stan Lee said, ‘with great power comes great responsibility,’ but my thing is an older axiom, which is ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’.”
Throughout the history of The Mask comic books, plenty of female characters have worn the eponymous artefact, so this female-led version wouldn’t be without precedent.
As for Carrey’s next big screen outing, you can see him in Sonic the Hedgehog.
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