In Theaters Over 30 Years Ago Today, an Iconic Comic Book Movie Changed Jim Carrey’s Career Before the Sequel Killed the Franchise

One superhero movie from almost 40 years ago shaped Jim Carrey’s blockbuster career, while its sequel proved that the star truly is irreplaceable just over a decade later. As the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe proves, some comic book movies operate on the strength of their source material rather than a commanding central performance from one superstar. However, just as often, a stellar central turn can make or break a comic book movie.

Whether it is the critical acclaim lavished on Christian Bale’s inimitable performance as Batman or the scorn that met Jared Leto’s performance in the title role of Morbius, major stars can be pivotal to a comic book movie’s success or failure. This is doubly true when the movie’s source material isn’t all that well known, as was the case with 1994’s slapstick comedy masterpiece The Mask. Directed by A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors director Chuck Russell, this Jim Carrey vehicle lived and died by the chaotic performer’s utterly unique performance.

The Mask Made Jim Carrey A Blockbuster Star

Loosely based on a Dark Horse comic of the same name that began in 1991, The Mask was a darkly comedic superhero thriller that saw Carrey’s meek bank teller Stanley Ipkiss inadvertently become a gurning green-faced superhero after donning the titular cursed mask. In the source comics, the mask is an explicitly malevolent force of nature, but Russell’s movie leaves its moral leanings a little more ambiguous. Ipkiss’s decision to don the mask gets him embroiled with a group of villainous gangsters, but also allows him to save the day by contorting reality to his whims.

When The Mask was released in 1994, most major comic book movie blockbusters had followed the Superman franchise’s blueprint, with an unambiguously heroic central superhero like Superman, Michael Keaton’s Batman, or even The Rocketeer as the main character. Thus, Carrey’s chaotic portrayal of The Mask was a shock to the system, an amoral trickster who cartoonishly altered reality to defeat villains, but also just so he could cause trouble for the fun of it.

As vaguely menacing as he was absurdly funny, Carrey’s take on The Mask was a shot in the arm for superhero cinema. Although the success of In Living Color had already launched Carrey’s small screen career a few years earlier, the release of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, and The Mask in quick succession made the actor a bona fide box office megastar almost overnight in 1994.

Son of the Mask Proved Just How Irreplaceable Jim Carrey Was

In the years that followed, Carrey almost immediately began to diversify his screen roles, balancing broad comedies like Liar Liar, Me, Myself & Irene, and Bruce Almighty with ambitious dramas like The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. However, the belated sequel to The Mask proved 11 years later that, while Carrey didn’t need blockbuster comedy to succeed, the franchise clearly needed him for its formula to work.

Starring the Scream franchise’s breakout star Jamie Kennedy as the would-be cartoonist/slacker Tim Avery, Son of the Mask was a risible collection of fart jokes and obnoxious sound effects that couldn’t muster a lone laugh despite the involvement of stars like Alan Cumming, Kal Penn, and Bob Hoskins. Frequently listed as one of the worst movies of all time, Son of the Mask earned less than $60 million on a budget of over $80 million, proving the success of The Mask was most certainly down to Jim Carrey’s unique appeal and star power.