Being one of the very best Jim Carrey movies, any 20-something cinephile surely holds The Mask in high regard. As the film is now over 26 years old, The Mask is almost like a 1990s time capsule, as it’s the ultimate '90s movie and encompasses everything about filmmaking of that era, both the good and the bad.
The Mask is full of timeless quotes that still make us laugh, but its problem is that there are just as many quotes that would never be uttered in a movie made today. And putting aside its problematic dialogue, the movie’s nonsensical narrative, underdeveloped characters, and offensive stereotypes keeps it from being seen as a classic that it could have been.
10 Charlie Schumaker
Jim Carrey’s performance is one of the ways the original is better than the sequel, as he brings to the table exactly what he always has, goofiness, energy, and physicality. A role like The Mask is Jim Carey’s bread and butter, but that’s also part of the reason why the supporting cast pale in comparison.
However, it isn’t entirely Richard Jeni’s performance as Charlie Schumaker that’s the problem, but the actual character itself. Charlie is weaselly and sniveling, especially when it comes to women. Any woman who walks through the door at his workplace is the subject of many of his terrible jokes.
9 Cameron Diaz Being A Damsel In Distress
Though Cameron Diaz had never acted before, which is one of the crazy behind the scenes facts about the movie, there wasn’t much meat for her to sink her teeth in to with the role of Tina. The character is literally treated like a piece of meat as the Mask sits at a dining table drooling over her. And in her first appearance in the movie, she literally shows up wet from the rain and patting her body down.
8 Spy Camera In The Bag
With Tina really working for the bad guys, which was obvious from the very beginning, she walks into the bank with a handbag that she places in a very specific position on the desk. On the side of the handbag is a spy camera, which is pointed right at the bank vault, but there’s nothing “spy” about it. The camera is huge and could be spotted by anybody. Not only that, but the design is terrible, as it’s easy to see how jaggedly cut the handbag is by the prop crew.
7 Peter Greene’s Hammy Performance
Peter Greene was one of the most underrated actors of the 1990s, as his role in The Usual Suspects is completely overlooked and his performance in Pulp Fiction is intense, but as he keeps that same persona for The Mask, it doesn’t exactly translate well. And when his character gets a hold of the mask, his performance becomes even hammier than Jim Carrey’s, and it’s completely at odds with the tone of the whole movie.
6 Portraying Mechanics As Conmen
As Stanley’s car is in the shop, he encounters two mechanics who don’t even hide the fact that they are trying to rip him off. It’s a cliche and a bad stigma that doesn’t do much for mechanics. And in the end, the mechanics get their comeuppance as the Mask pays them a visit in the middle of the night and shoves two exhaust pipes up their asses. It was a common stereotype in the 1990s, but if the movie was made today, there’s no way the joke would fly.
5 Gun Violence
The slapstick violence is one of the differences from the comic that made it better, and though a lot of the violent gags are the funniest part of the movie, it sets a terrible example for the young audience the movie was trying to attract. The movie seems like the director wanted to make a neo-noir movie, but the studio wanted a family-friendly film. The result is a Deadpool-type children’s movie where the protagonist has no respect for human life.
4 The Street Gangs
Right before he blows them all away with a tommy gun (that he fashioned out of a balloon, of all things), the Mask gets cornered by a gang that makes the gangs in The Warriors look terrifying.
The gang are stereotypically dressed in leather waistcoats and face paint, and one even has a pink Mohawk. It looks like a bunch of kids have played dress up, and there’s no way anybody could ever be jumped by these guys on the street.
3 The Award Scene
The Mask is a mixed bag of self-aware jokes and gags breaking the fourth wall, and they all have varying degrees of success. Most of the gags are great, such as getting flattened by a taxi and the final scene in the Cococabana, but the first time the Mask visits the club, there’s a laborious scene where he gets shot in the chest. It leads to him giving a “heartfelt” final speech followed by him being handed an award with silhouettes clapping. It goes way too far in to self-awareness, and when it gets to the point where the Mask gives a thank you speech, it just becomes awkward.
2 Mitch Kellaway
Given that to be a lieutenant you’d have to have more than a little bit of common sense, Mitch Kellaway has to be one of the dumbest on-screen detectives in history. When he turns up at crime scene he asks all the wrong questions, yet he still treats everybody like a suspect. Actor Peter Riegert clearly doesn’t treat the material seriously and the screenwriters clearly didn't have foggiest clue about how to write detectives.
1 The Park Scene
The park scene takes treating Cameron Diaz like a piece of meat to a whole other level. When the Mask and Tine meet in the park late at night, he starts hitting on her more than she likes, and when she says “no,” the Mask lays it on even thicker, going as far as to pin her down at one point. With the scene lacking any humor, it’s borderline unwatchable, and not even a silly take on Frenchman can save it.
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