The Mask – Arrow

Director: Chuck Russell
Screenplay: Mike Werb
Based on: The Mask by John Arcudi, Doug Mahnke and Mike Richardson
Starring: Jim Carrey, Peter Riegert, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Jeni, Orestes Matacena, Tim Bagley, Nancy Fish, Reginald E. Cathey, Jim Doughan, Denis Forest, Cameron Diaz
Country: United States
Running time: 101 min
Year: 1994
BBFC certificate: PG

In the mid-1990s, actor Jim Carrey was at the peak of his powers, with a run of huge box office hits. Three of these would come out in 1994 alone, beginning with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, continuing with the subject of this review The Mask, and concluding with Dumb and Dumber.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and a role as villain The Riddler in Batman Forever would follow a year later, cementing Carrey’s box office status and allowing him to command £20 million for a role by the time he made The Cable Guy in 1996.

Carrey continued starring in successful comedies like Liar Liar (1997) but also went on to perform some highly acclaimed roles in the likes of The Truman Show (1998), Man on the Moon (1999) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

Modern young audiences perhaps know him best for his role as Doctor Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of films, based on the classic Sega video game character.

But for me, outside of those dramatic roles, my favourite Carrey performance is probably still as insecure bank teller Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask, a role he got as a relative unknown, outside of a US TV series. The Mask was made before the first Ace Ventura film, Carrey’s breakout hit, was released, before his superstardom could have been imagined.

Based on a limited-edition comic book series of the same name which was published in 1991, the film follows Stanley who is ridiculed by pretty much everyone he meets, including colleagues, his landlady and others. His luck slowly starts to pick up when he falls for singer Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz) when she walks into the bank where he works, in an iconic slow-motion introduction.

Tina is scouting out the bank for her gangster boyfriend Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene) who works for club owner Niko (Orestes Matacena), but hasn’t told his boss about his plans for a bank heist.

Stanley and his co-worker Charlie (Richard Jeni), the only seemingly nice colleague he has, go to Niko’s Coco Bongo club for a night out, but Stanley is refused entry. On his way home, Stanley’s car breaks down on a bridge and he spots what he thinks is a person in a river, but in reality is a strange wooden mask.

Stanley puts on the mask when he returns home, to find it has special powers and turns him into superhero-like The Mask. As this character he can change himself and his surroundings at will, giving Stanley a newfound confidence in life, a chance with Tina, and allowing him to confront her thug boyfriend and his gang of goons.

To complicate matters, the police, led by Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway (Peter Riegert) try to track down The Mask, and journalist Peggy Brandt (Amy Yasbeck) is investigating the mysterious happenings. Stanley, though, isn’t alone and is aided by his marvellous, brave and mischievous Jack Russell terrier Milo.

First and foremost, this is an outstanding showcase for the fantastic physical comedy of Jim Carrey. I could imagine him as a silent era performer, his physical performance is so expressive and exaggerated. Yet he’s also touching as Stanley, perfectly balancing the need for the audience to sympathise with him and want to see him in full-blown Mask mode.

And what an entertaining character The Mask turns out to be. The first transformation sequence sets up the character in style in a fabulous and surreal sequence, which shows the audience all bets are off when Stanley wears the mask: anything can happen and the world becomes like a Looney Tunes cartoon.

He first spins around the room like Taz, the Tasmanian Devil, while later his eyes pop out of his head like a character in one of the classic Tex Avery screwball cartoons Stanley watches just before his first transformation.

A couple of dance numbers are also a joy; one in the club with Cameron Diaz’s Tina, and the other a bravura sequence where The Mask performs Cuban Pete in front of a load of police officers who begin to join in the dancing. Cuban Pete is a true earwig of a song.

The Mask character gives the filmmakers a magical canvas to play with for some very inventive, inspired sequences that also play homage to classic cartoon shorts. It also gives Carrey some colourful costume changes.

Future superstar Diaz is a revelation in her first onscreen role as Tina. She oozes sex appeal, commanding attention whenever she appears and looking at ease on the big screen. She has some great chemistry with Carrey, too, and more than holds her own alongside him.

The supporting cast play their parts well, but special mention for Max the dog as Milo. He’s a candidate for the most intelligent dog in a movie ever and, for me, is the hero of the film. He helps Stanley get out of numerous predicaments, even briefly donning the mask for a funny sequence as part of the finale.

The script zings with some inspired sequences and some memorable dialogue and, most importantly, it’s frequently funny and often laugh-out loud hilarious. It’s a very entertaining film that still stands up well.

The effects also pass muster in 2025, despite the film being over 40 years old. The Mask makeup looks great and there’s some clever use of CGI throughout which still looks good, probably helped by its cartoonish style.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best visual effects, but would lose out, with the Oscar going to Forrest Gump, but would prove a huge hit at the box office, making around $352 million.

Whilst I mostly enjoyed the film I can’t shy away from its dated elements, mainly in its treatment of women both in a lecherous Pepé Le Pew inspired sequence and in general characterisations. None of the female characters, outside of Diaz, have much to do or are anything more than caricatures. Diaz shines, though, despite the Tina character being a relatively under-written role.

In closing, I had a really fun time with The Mask on what was my umpteenth viewing of a childhood favourite. Carrey is at the top of his game in a masterclass of physical comedy, alongside Diaz who makes an iconic big screen debut. The film is frequently funny, features excellent Oscar-nominated effects, a fun story and one of my favourite big screen performances by a dog ever.

Film:

The Mask is released on separate limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray by Arrow Video on 10th November 2025. I reviewed the 4K edition. The 4K restoration looks very good with strong detail and allows the colour scheme to shine. It’s very sharp and the new transfer is supported by excellent audio.

4K Ultra HD limited edition special features.

4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Chuck Russell

4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)

Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, lossless stereo audio and a brand new Dolby Atmos mix

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Archive audio commentary with Chuck Russell

Archive audio commentary with Chuck Russell, New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye, screenwriter Mike Werb, executive producer Mike Richardson, producer Bob Engelman, ILM VFX supervisor Scott Squires, animation supervisor Tom Bertino and cinematographer John R. Leonetti

The Man Behind the Mask, a newly filmed interview with Chuck Russell

From Strip to Screen, a newly filmed interview with Mike Richardson, Mike Werb and Mark Verheiden

Green Faces Blue Screens, a newly filmed interview with visual effects supervisor Scott Squires

Sssssssplicin’!, a newly filmed interview with editor Arthur Coburn

Ask Peggy, a newly filmed interview with actor Amy Yasbeck

Toeing the Conga Line, a newly filmed interview with choreographer Jerry Evans featuring never-before-seen rehearsal footage

Terriermania, a new video essay by critic Elizabeth Purchell on canine sidekick Milo

Archival featurettes Return to Edge City, Introducing Cameron Diaz, Cartoon Logic, What Makes Fido Run, The Making Of, on-set interview bites with the cast and director and B-Roll footage

Deleted scenes, with optional commentary by director Chuck Russell

Theatrical trailer

Image gallery

Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options

Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and original production notes

Double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artwork options

Six postcard-sized reproduction art cards

The first archive audio commentary features director Chuck Russell, who provides a really great overview of the production of the film, casting, and plenty more, with insight on some of the sequences. The second archive audio commentary features Russell alongside New Line Cinema co-chairman Bob Shaye, screenwriter Mike Werb, executive producer Mike Richardson, producer Bob Engelman, ILM VFX supervisor Scott Squires, animation supervisor Tom Bertino and cinematographer John R. Leonetti and is also a good listen.

The new interview with director Russell runs for 20 minutes and is great fun, with the director sharing how he got into the industry, including his first film as a director, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, one of my favourites in the horror series. Russell talks fondly about Carrey, the process of creating the film and plenty more besides. I particularly enjoyed his comments about how Carrey’s physical performance and skills were not lost to the makeup and CGI of the effects. It’s a very fun interview.

The new interview with creator and executive producer Mike Richardson and screenwriters Mike Werb and Mark Verheiden is 19 minutes long. It covers the context in which the film was made, particularly the comics industry, and the creation of the character of The Mask and how this was turned into a film. There are some interesting insights into the differences between the much more violent comic book and the family-friendly film. The interviewees also provide some honest insight about the lack of depth to the Tina Carlyle character, which ultimately didn’t matter because of Diaz’s fantastic performance, as well as commenting on test screenings and the original opening and ending. It’s another great piece.

The 14-minute interview with visual effects supervisor Scott Squires gives further great insight both into his career and the creation of the fantastic effects in The Mask, which still stand up well today. It’s a fine interview.

The new interview with editor Arthur Coburn runs for seven minutes and sees him give a brief overview of how he got into editing, working with director Russell and reflections on The Mask. It’s a brief but good listen.

Amy Yasbeck, who plays journalist Peggy Brandt in the film, talks for 13 minutes about the role, the character, and her 1994, the year the film came out. She gives some good insight into the audition and filmmaking process. She also shares the original payoff for her character’s arc, which is seen in the on-disc deleted scenes.

The interview with choreographer Jerry Evans is a good 20-minute piece, that includes some rehearsal footage of one of the dance numbers. Evans shares insights to the rehearsal period and the dance numbers. He talks very warmly about working on the film.

Critic Elizabeth Purchell provides a very entertaining video essay about the film, as well as the love the Jack Russell Terrier breed of dog gets in the United States. It runs for ten minutes and highlights Milo, one of my favourite characters in the film. It covers other films and TV shows featuring Jack Russell Terriers and how this pop culture impact led to the breed being a popular choice in America.

An archival section features six older features. First, Return To Edge City, a behind the scenes look at the film’s comic book roots, casting, visual effects and makeup. The 27-minute making of features a number of talking heads who talk very positively about the making of the film and its enduring popularity. It gives some decent background to the film’s comic book origins and the making of the movie. I particularly enjoyed hearing about alternative actor choices for the Tina Carlyle character, and how Russell backed Diaz who, even in casting, had great chemistry with Carrey.

The ‘making of’ is a three-minute promotional piece with a little bit of behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with both Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz, and there’s more of this in almost five minutes of interview soundbites.

A 13-minute piece glows about Cameron Diaz’s debut performance, giving background to the character and her casting with a variety of talking heads involved in the making of the film. It’s a good and insightful piece.

Another highlight of the archive features is a 23-minute look at Tex Avery and the cartoons he made, which were a clear inspiration on some of the elements of The Mask. I really enjoyed this one.

The archive section concludes with a neat 11-minute look at the training of Max, the dog who played Milo in the film. I adored the Milo character and found this a lot of fun and very interesting.

Two deleted sequences, referenced in the archival extras, are included. First is the two-minute ‘Viking scene’, essentially a prologue which is interesting but very different in tone to the finished film. Secondly, we get a sequence showing the death of the character of Peggy, which again feels very tonally different to the final product. This is two minutes long, though the actual deleted element runs for just under a minute, as we see where it would have featured in the film. It plays after Dorian puts on the mask for the first time. Both include optional commentary with director Russell.

Six minutes of b-roll footage is included, showing some behind-the-scenes footage of several sequences.

The two-minute trailer does a good job of showing that the film would be fun and fantastical.

A gallery of over 400 production photos, and separate gallery of 16 stills, which include publicity shots, conclude the on-disc extras.

I wasn’t provided with the booklet or other physical extras, so am unable to comment on these.

In conclusion, Arrow have provided a fabulous selection of new and archival extras for 1990s box office smash The Mask. The new interviews and video essays are the highlight and, best of all, the film gets a strong audio-visual presentation, headlined by a new 4K restoration by Arrow.

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