Movie Info
Movie Name: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Studio: Morgan Creek Productions
Genre(s): Comedy
Release Date(s): November 10, 1995
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) is trying to recover from a tragic, botched pet rescue by meditating with Tibetan monks. Contacted by Fulton Greenwall (Ian McNeice), Ace learns he must overcome his fear of bats to prevent a tribal war. Someone has stolen the sacred white bat Shikaka of the Wachati tribe and Shikaka is meant as dowry for the marriage of the princess for the Wachootoo. War is coming between the Wachati and the Wachootoo, and only Ace can stop it!
Directed by Steve Oedenkerk, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is the follow-up to the hit film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective from 1994. The bigger budget movie received less favorable reviews than the previous entry but was a box office success. The film was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Remake or Sequel.
I liked Ace Ventura: Pet Detective but didn’t love it. Just one year later, Ace Ventura was already wearing thin. Much like something like Austin Powers, everyone seemed to be quoting it and throwing out catchphrases…leading me to not even really want to see this film.
The movie tries to be slightly more plot based with a story involving Ace’s attempt to stop a war. The addition of more of a plot and more story should lead to less free reign for Carrey, but Carrey continues to act like a madman as Ace…which doesn’t really fit into the context of the story as well as it did the first movie.

The shot-for-shot recreation of Cliffhanger is awesome (though dated)
Ace just comes off as annoying. Ace just randomly says stuff throughout the movie and it is like throwing up a bunch of catchphrases to see if anything new will stick. The movie loses the decent supporting cast from the first film (though I do like that Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome vet Bruce Spence appears as one of the hunters).
The movie does have a bigger budget, but it doesn’t really help the film. The movie has some fun moments, but for the most part, it feels like more of the same from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective…though not quite as fun. A little Ace goes a long way. Ace Ventura continued in an animated series that ran from 1995 to 1997 and a straight-to-video sequel Ace Ventura, Jr.: Pet Detective in 2009.
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