SON OF THE MASK (Lawrence Guterman, 2005)
Eleven years after Jim Carrey starred in THE MASK comes the connected-in-name-only follow-up SON OF THE MASK. Jamie Kennedy is featured as a wannabe cartoonist who impregnates his wife while wearing the mask of Loki, the Norse god of mischief. The inevitable baby is naturally endowed with the mask’s troublemaking powers.
As a live-action cartoon SON OF THE MASK boasts some well-rendered CGI, although rubberizing the baby looks creepy rather than funny. Nifty technical work aside, SON OF THE MASK is a colossal bore and a soulless exercise in computer effects. There’s no story to speak of, just a string of scenarios usually resulting in everything in sight getting smashed. While THE MASK showcased the ability of special effects to enhance Jim Carrey’s comic talents, SON OF THE MASK is just an excuse to display technical wizardry in ways we’ve already seen. In his one extended scene wearing the mask, Jamie Kennedy demonstrates that he’s not Jim Carrey’s equal in timing or physical comedy. Carrey’s elastic face was a perfect match for the exaggerated effects. Kennedy just musters looks varying between blank and confused. Even as a cash-in on THE MASK, and not a quick one, SON OF THE MASK can’t justify its existence.
Grade: D-
(Review first aired on the March 1, 2005 NOW PLAYING)
This film is a lot worse than the mask. How the hell did that dog get the mask from that lake if Milo from the first film got it from the river which Tina threw it in. The whole thing is a bit ludicrous. 0.5 out of 10 from me!
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