Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (also known as Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls) is a 1995 American detective comedy film and the sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), and the second installment of Ace Ventura franchise. Jim Carrey reprises his role as the title character Ace Ventura, a detective who specializes in retrieval of tame and captive animals, and has been summoned to Africa to locate a missing bat. Ian McNeice, Simon Callow, and Sophie Okonedo co-star. Tommy Davidson, who co-starred with Carrey on the show In Living Color, makes a cameo appearance in the film. The film was written and directed by Carrey’s close friend Steve Oedekerk, who had also collaborated in the production and as a character consultant for the first film.

In the Himalayas, after a failed rescue mission results in a raccoon falling to its death (a parody of Cliffhanger), Ace Ventura succumbs to severe depression and joins a Tibetan monastery. Once he has recovered, he is approached by Fulton Greenwall, an English correspondent working for the consulate of Bonai Province in the fictional African country of Nibia. Because Ace is a liability for the monastery, the Grand Abbot gives Ace excuses to justify his departure, and sends him off with Greenwall.

Greenwall is subjected to Ventura’s questionable behavior when he starts mimicking different mating calls, and his reckless driving when they head along to Africa, warning him about the hostility of eastern lowland gorillas, as it is mating season. Greenwall wants Ventura to find the Great White bat ‘Shikaka’, a sacred animal of the native Wachati tribe, which disappeared shortly after being offered as dowry of the Wachati Princess, who is set to wed the Wachootoo Prince in a marriage of state. After arriving in Nibia and meeting with consul Vincent Cadby, Ace begins his investigation, but must overcome his fear of bats in order to succeed.

Accompanied by his pet capuchin monkey Spike, Ace begins his search for the missing bat. He eventually befriends the tribe’s princess, who tries to seduce Ace. However, Ace admits his oath to clerical celibacy. Ace also befriends the tribal prince, Ouda, who assists Ace. Ace’s investigation involves eliminating obvious suspects—animal traders, poachers, and a safari park owner among others—and enduring the growing escalations of threat between the Wachati and the Wachootoo. After being attacked with drugged blow-darts, Ace suspects the medicine-man of the Wachootoo of taking the bat, as he strongly disapproves of the wedding.

He and Ouda sneak into the Wachootoo tribal village with hopes of finding the bat, and are soon captured. The Wachootoo mistake Ace as the “White Devil“, and after Ouda poorly translates Ace’s words, they are convinced he wants to fight them and have him go through many painful and humiliating challenges to gain their trust. He creatively passes them all, and his final challenge is a ‘Circle of Death’ fight with their toughest warrior—who, although wild, happens to be tiny; Ace disregards him at first but is soon humiliated. In a finishing strike, the warrior throws a spear at Ace’s leg, causing him to wail comically in pain. Ouda throws Ace another spear to help, but it strikes his other leg and causes him further pain; this makes the chief, the entire tribe, and even Ouda laugh uproariously, and the Wachootoo grant Ace their trust and release him.

Despite this, the Wachootoo declare that if the bat is not returned in time, they will declare war on the Wachati tribe. As a parting joke, Ace is shot in the buttock by a non-drugged blow-dart by the Chief to make his people laugh again. As he and Ouda walk back to the village, Ace realizes the dart he was shot with earlier is not the same as the one he was just shot with—meaning that the Wachootoo didn’t take Shikaka. He also determines that the dart which shot him earlier was carved from a rare red fungus-bearing acala. This leads him to find two Australian poachers with the bat, and he distracts them by mimicking a Silverback mating call. Unfortunately, they don’t fall for it and shoot the initial darts into him, take him away and attempt to kill him by tying him to a raft which is sent over a waterfall.

After coming to, Ace survives and wrestles a Nile crocodile. Ace tries to figure out how the poachers are involved with the war between the tribes. Flummoxed by the case, Ace consults the Grand Abbot via astral projection. Advised by the Abbot, Ace deduces that Cadby has taken the bat, having planned to let the tribes destroy each other so that he can then take possession of the numerous bat caves containing guano to sell as fertilizer worth billions. When Ace confronts Cadby, he learns he was hired as Cadby’s alibi once an investigation takes place, and is arrested by tribal security chief Hitu. Ace escapes with help from an Asian elephant who joins him and more jungle animals to raid Cadby’s house. Cadby tries to shoot Ace, but is stopped by Greenwall when he punches him in the face. Cadby escapes with the bat in a Land Rover, but Ace follows him in a monster truck. Ace destroys Cadby’s car, leaving the bat cage lodged in a tree.

Ace, despite his chronic fear of bats, courageously yet dramatically grabs the bat with his bare hands and returns it just as the tribes are about to fight each other on the battlefield. Cadby, watching nearby, is noticed by Ouda, who calls him the “White Devil” and incites both tribes to pursue him, giving Ace more time. After escaping, Cadby encounters an amorous female Silverback eastern lowland gorilla, who mistakes him for a mate. The Wachati Princess is married to the Wachootoo Prince, who is revealed to be the ‘tiny, wild’ warrior who humiliated Ace during the ‘Circle of Death’ tribal challenge earlier. Moments later, it is discovered that the young bride is no longer a virgin, on Ace’s account. Despite this, peace between the once-separate tribes is achieved when the two tribes join together and chase after Ace.

Cast