Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls [PG]

When a sacred white bat is stolen from an African tribe, war is imminent. Never fear for after a tragic setback, Ace Ventura returns to the field of pet detection and is here to save the day on a new adventure with new animals and the same hair. 

This movie is so much better than the first one. The characters are now concrete, the story just fits better, and it harbours a greater number of action and comedic avenues for Jim Carrey to explore. It’s just infinitely better that its predecessor: one of the rare occasions in which a sequel outdoes the first film. 

When a sacred white bat is stolen from an African tribe, war is imminent. Never fear for after a tragic setback, Ace Ventura returns to the field of pet detection and is here to save the day on a new adventure with new animals and the same hair. 

As I mentioned before, the film boasts more avenues for comedic exploration. We have the language barrier, tribal customs, and civilised higher class to make fun of, not to mention the slapstick humour that creeps into the mix with inner-ring combat and tribal warfare. 

I particularly liked the fact that we got to see a more poignant and, although slightly exaggerated, emotional side to the character of Ace. There is a scene where he accosts a woman for wearing a fox fur and then when she says that there is “nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of nature, you should try it some time” he then proceeds to knock out her escort and wear him as a wrap, parading around and completely crashing the upper class party. Following this, there is a scene where he enters a room filled with mounted, stuffed, and poached animals… I can’t describe what the emotion is there, you’ve got to watch it. 

The comedy and the characters, in particular the character of Ace was founded better in this film and all the action sequences and drama added to the sense of danger enforced by the African setting, just worked in its favour. 

Starring Jim Carrey, Ian McNeice, Simon Callow, Bob Gunton, Sophie Okonedo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Andrew Steel, and Bruce Spence, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is a very funny movie, much funnier and just generally better than its predecessor. Filled with action, tribal war, mystery, and plenty of comedy, it’s a good film and a quoter’s film to be sure. All the same classic catchphrases are then as well as few new ones. It’s a compulsive quoter’s dream.