Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
| Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls | |
|---|---|
| File:Ace ventura when nature calls.jpg | |
| Directed by | Steve Oedekerk |
| Written by | Jack Bernstein (characters) Steve Oedekerk |
| Produced by | Gary Barber Bob Israel Andrew G. La Marca James G. Robinson |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Ian McNeice Simon Callow Maynard Eziashi Bob Gunton Sophie Okonedo Tommy Davidson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | 10 November, 1995 |
Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) is the sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). Jim Carrey reprises his role as the title character Ace Ventura, a detective who specializes in cases involving animals. Ian McNeice, Simon Callow, and Sophie Okonedo costar and Tommy Davidson, who co-starred with Carrey on TV's In Living Color program, has a cameo.
It was written and directed by Steve Oedekerk, who had also collaborated in the making of the earlier movie. As with the original, this movie is a wacky comedy and has large amounts of silly, toilet humor (the movie title, itself, is a double entendre).
Plot summary
After failing the rescue attempt of a raccoon in the Himalayas (a reference to the film Cliffhanger), Ace Ventura has an emotional breakdown and goes on a personal soul-searching quest by becoming a Tibetan monk. However, he is soon approached by Fulton Greenwall, an African missionary working for a provincial consulate, supposedly in the country of Namibia. Greenwall asks Ventura to take a special case to find a sacred animal, Shikaka, which has become a point of contention between two tribes (the peaceful Wachati and the belligerent Wachootoo). This great white bat is a sacred animal for both the Wachati and Wachootoo tribes of Nobia (a fictional yet steriotypical African country similar to South Africa). Whenever its name is spoken, the tribesmen must bow. Its name is presumably a contraction of two slang terms for feces, "shit" and "caca". The bat's guano plays a prominent role in the plot of the film. With his faithful capuchin monkey, Spike, Ace travels to Africa and returns to his pet detective work.
After arriving in Nobia and meeting with the head of the consulate, Vincent Cadby, Ace begins learning about his case as well as the possible suspects. However, when he travels to the sacred caves which had been the home of Shikaka, he discovers it is actually a rare white bat. Ace, unfortunately, has a severe case of chiroptophobia and hates bats with a passion. However, he reluctantly takes the case anyway. He then travels to the Wachati tribe village and meets the chief where he finds a further complication - Shikaka is meant as a wedding present from the Wachati Princess who is set to wed the Wachootoo Prince. If the bat is not returned in time, the Wachootoo will declare war on the Wachati tribe and no doubt destroy their peaceful neighbors. After eliminating various suspects and enduring the problems of dealing with the Wachati and the Wachootoo he finally discovers that the head of the consulate has actually taken the bat and hired Ace as his cover story. He plans to let the tribes destroy each other and take possession of their land, using the numerous bat caves containing guano to sell as fertilizer. Ace manages to thwart Cadby's plans and returns the bat to the tribes, where it is discovered to the tribes displeasure that the young bride is no longer a virgin, apparently due to Ace.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- The film introduces two new "Ace" catchphrases: "Spank you" (in place of "Thank you") and "Bumblebee Tuna" (his intentional mispronunciation of a tribal greeting).
- Aside from Carrey and his pet monkey Spike, no other actors or characters from the first film appear (or are even mentioned).
- When Ace drives the monster truck after Cadby, he emits a screech similar to that emitted by Carrey in The Mask.
- The opening scene was a spoof of the opening scene of Cliffhanger.
- Tommy Davidson has a small role as a tribal warrior Ace fights. Davidson and Carrey previously appeared together on In Living Color.
- Director Tom DeCerchio left after shooting began, to be replaced by writer Steve Oedekerk. DeCerchio and Carrey had severe creative differences, prompting the lead actor to lock himself in his trailer until DeCerchio was replaced.
- When aired in syndication, there is an alternate version of the rhino scene in which Ace stands up (after falling out the rhino) and shouts "Man was I lost!".
- Ace references two Dick Van Dyke films' songs - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's title song and Mary Poppins' Chim Chim Cher-ee.
- This is the only sequel to a movie starring Jim Carrey, other than Batman Forever to be successful, as well as the only one where Carrey reprised the role of a character.
- In the scene where Ace invades the consulate he recites Scarface's famous line "Say hello to my stinky little friend." Adding stinky in reference to a skunk he is holding.
- In the scene where Ace reveals who stole the bat at the consulate, Cadby is playing a game of Chess, and during a short switch of camera angle, the chesspieces disappear from the board.
Box office
- Opening weekend U.S. gross: $37,804,076
- Total U.S. box office gross: $108,360,063
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