TheRetroCritic

Jim Carrey burst onto the Hollywood scene in a big way in 1994 with the likes of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Dumb & Dumber and The Mask . The latter stood out for many thanks to its mischievous cartoon vibe and its impressive special effects. Based on the Dark Horse comic books, The Mask saw Jim Carrey play mild-mannered banker Stanley Ipkiss, an overly nice, unlucky loser who gets stepped on by everyone around him and just kinda lets it happen. Until one day he finds some strange wooden mask which basically turns him into a superhero. Or, rather, a green-headed Tex Avery-infused freak who travels by tornado, spouts out catchphrases and wears bright and colourful suits. He becomes everything he's not and has a ball being The Mask until this seemingly unlimited power backfires and Ipkiss' life gets out of control. Before all this, he meets Cameron Diaz's femme fatale, a dancer at the "Coco Bongo Club" and the villain Dorian's (an intimidating Peter G

Not really a fan of Ridley Scott's recent non-sci-fi works, I nevertheless give the odd interesting-looking one a go. Matchstick Men , American Gangster all had fun elements to them. Now, with The Counselor , you've got a star-studded cast and talented novelist Cormac McCarthy, responsible for No Country For Old Men , writing the script. Sounded promising. Yet, from the very first scene, it's pretty clear that this is one of those Ridley Scott projects that tries very hard, maybe a little too hard to be arty and "modern" in its approach, like A Good Year . While not as insufferable as the latter, The Counselor still has its overly pretentious scenes, most of which could be cut without it the film losing anything. This being McCarthy's first time writing a feature film of that type, it was always going to be a bit wordier than it should be but all those awkward conversations which characters have constantly in this movie just drag its pace down to a sta

Whenever a project is this delayed, usually we get something like The Wolfman : full of ideas, style and potential but ultimately a mess which just doesn't work. And although The Green Hornet is a bit of a mess at times, I'm happy to report that most of it actually does work. Most of it. The opening scene sets the tone for the rest of film perfectly as James Franco's petty gangster taunts main villain Christoph Waltz until, of course, the latter snaps. The jokes come thick and fast, the feel is playful, silly and fun. Then we meet Seth Rogen's Billionaire jerk, a character who is dangerously close to being entirely dislikable but Rogen just about keeps him afloat. Things get interesting when he meets Jay Chou's Kato and although the latter's English isn't exactly perfect, he is as cool as it gets and pulls off Bruce Lee's old character brilliantly. The pair work well together and make a good anti-hero duo. Cue awesome car, wacky gadgets, exciting