Revisiting the famous 1994 comedy film "Stranger in Disguise" at home during the New Year's Day holiday, I have to say that Kim Carey is indeed a comedic genius. There are many good comedians in Hollywood, but to be honest, there is only one who can support the whole movie by one person, and even change the tone of the entire film.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > original</h1>
"The Mask" is adapted from The Mask, a dark horse company's comic of the same name, which coincided with the release of Tim Bolton's "Batman" in 1989, setting off a wave of superhero craze in Hollywood, major film companies are planning to launch their own comic adaptations, and the weaker New Line Pictures has taken a fancy to Dark Horse's "Mask" in the remaining comic works selected by many big guys.
Born in 1987, Mask was originally an artistic vision created by Dark Horse owner Mike Richardson and Marvel comic book artist Mark Baigie, who fantasized about a mask with supernatural abilities that could attach to a human face and turn it into an impeccable killing machine. Yes, in the comics, people wearing masks become extremely cruel and bloodthirsty, not at all as mischievous and funny as Kim Carey in the movies.
Richardson later admitted that the inspiration for the "mask" actually came from the face-hugging worm in Alien.
The style of the whole comic can be said to be quite dark and bloody, full of violence and pornographic storyboarding, and the plot is not very brilliant, so it is not recommended for everyone to watch. However, the reason why New Line Pictures chose this comic as their investment direction is mainly for two reasons, one is that the price of dark horses is low enough, and the other is that they want to find a different and darker villain super British movie.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > adaptation plan</h1>
The original strategy of the new line actually has their own reason, and the misplaced competition can avoid the advantages of other large manufacturers in terms of capital and production strength to a certain extent. So the original "Stranger in Disguise" script is very different from what we see today, basically continuing the style of the comic, the protagonist was born a non-committal Loser, but after wearing a mask, his temperament changed greatly and he began his own killing journey.
They even added a zombie section to the play, so that after the protagonist wears a mask, he can peel off the skin of the corpse and wear it on the faces of others, turning them into ghouls and becoming his vassals.
The actor first considered Nicholas Cage (I don't know if he really starred in the end), but due to scheduling reasons, it was not negotiated. So the producers decided to hire a new person, and since the role needed to be able to make many exaggerated expressions and body movements after wearing a mask, director Drock Russell believed that their protagonist should be a comedian, and the richer the facial expression, the better.
When the producers noticed Kim Carey, he was also an obscure stand-up comedian who had only played supporting roles in a few unknown films (at the time, filming of his other blockbuster, Detective Airplanehead, had not yet started). However, director Drock Russell had seen King's single-player talk show and thought that his facial expressions were rich enough and his line skills were solid enough to try it out, so the fledgling Kim Carey became the protagonist of the film, and it was a horror movie he had never acted in before.
However, the effect presented by Kim Carey after coming to the crew was not expected by everyone, and he used his own unique way to interpret the character of "Weird Jie", which looked very pompous on the surface, but it was relaxed, but it brought a touch of brightness to this dark movie.
So when Kim Carey's audition short was sent to new line film headquarters, they agreed that they needed to rewrite the script for him, reversing the original bloody horror style to a more relaxed hunting and funny.
The decision proved to be brilliant, and the new script was tailored for Kim Carey, making the violent "weird" more vivid and concrete. Although like the comics, the protagonist wearing the mask can have superpowers that ordinary people cannot imagine, but the mask also amplifies his inner desires, so that an originally timid and cowardly bank clerk becomes a very attractive and unrestrained "weird".
This contrast of movement and silence reflects Kim Carey's acting skills to the fullest, coupled with the exaggerated special effects in the later stage, almost every "weird" shot is a perfect meme.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > heroine</h1>
"I can't ignore Cameron in this film, she's just too dazzling!" — Kim Carey
Regarding the casting of the heroine, Drock Russell did not care too much at first, he only hoped for a standard blonde and a "completely unpredictable relationship" between himself and the "weird". Many graphic models (and even playboys) were tried on this issue, but these models always gave Drock Russell a sense of rigidity, unable to interact with the exaggerated "weirdo" until the economic company recommended him a new person, Cameron Diaz, who was 19 at the time.
At that time, Cameron was just a recently debuted graphic model, had never acted in a movie, and she even agreed to participate in the interview of "Stranger in Disguise" just to return the affection of her agent. So when it came to the audition scene, the young Cameron acted very relaxed (she had no intention of taking on the film at all), and was immediately designated by Drjoker Russell as the best candidate for the heroine, but he did not expect that Cameron Diaz did not bird him at all, and threw down the next sentence, "I am still in a hurry to go to Paris for fashion week", and left.
The crew has never seen anyone who voluntarily gives up the opportunity of the heroine of the movie, and is confused for a while. After interviewing a few more other actors, Drok Russell lost patience and called Cameron's agent to make sure she had to meet again. When they met for the second time, the crew signed Cameron Diaz to have the amazing heroine Tina in the film.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > Melo</h1>
However, the actor who spends the most money in this movie is not Kim Carey or Cameron Diaz, but the male protagonist Stanley's pet dog, Melo.
In order to add comedy effects, the director decided to make the pet dog McLough also wear a mask to become a "weird master" (there is no such character as McLough in the comics). But some of the shots that real people can do with facial expressions are another matter entirely, and they have to spend $2 million on animation and CG effects that were not yet mature at the time (the budget for the entire film was only 18 million).
For The sake of McLough, Drock Russell also had a big fight with the producers, who thought it was crazy to spend so much money on a dog, but it turned out that Drock Russell was right.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > a great success</h1>
In this way, New Line Pictures spent an unprecedented high budget and launched a comic book movie with a script changed and starring two unknown actors. The film combines curiosity, romance, and even song and dance elements, and to be honest, New Line Pictures itself has never had high expectations for this movie, as long as it does not lose money, thank God.
Unexpectedly, "Stranger in Disguise" was actually a hit after its release, with a total box office of 470 million US dollars, which was unimaginable for the comic films of that era (and the fact is that the audience's taste is indeed elusive). And Kim Carey also won a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy category for this film, and with the release of his later films "Detective Plane Head" and "Dumb and Agua", the stand-up comedian from Canada almost instantly jumped to the top actor in Hollywood.
94 is indeed a miracle year for Hollywood, one god film after another, and even this comic adaptation is very good.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > sequel</h1>
Few viewers know that "Stranger In Disguise" has a sequel, but this 2005 "Stranger In Disguise 2" is really bad (probably the sequel I have seen so far with the biggest gap with the previous game). For various reasons, New Line did not start production of a sequel immediately after the first fire, and Kim Carey's exit led to the crew having to find another famous comedian to take his place.
It is obvious that the sequel actor James Kennedy is very hard to recreate the exaggerated performance of Kim Carey, but there is a huge gap between the expression management and the line skills of the latter, and I am embarrassed to see that I have committed cancer. It turns out that this kind of comedy movie is really not something that everyone can control.
In order to make up for the lack of actors in performance, the crew could only increase investment in post-effects, but unexpectedly, the post-production of the film also became a rollover scene, and the special effects after 2000 were not as good as the level of the 1980s. The most important "weird" face was made into a "plastic dummy", there was no change in facial expression in sight, and no one else knew why they added plastic hair with such a poor texture to the "weird".
In short, this "Stranger in Disguise 2" that made people sick to their stomachs at the thought of it quickly disappeared, and the series was also hidden by New Line Pictures. However, I recently heard that they have plans to restart the series, and if they want to continue the comedic style of the past, I don't know if they can find a talented actor like Kim Carey.
#Original##Comedy Movie##变相怪杰 #