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Son of the Mask 2 out of 10
Running time: 1:34 MPAA rating: PG (Action, crude and suggestive humor and language.) Peruvian rating: Apta para Todos
Cast:
Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Liam
Falconer, Ryan Falconer, Traylor Howard, Steven Wright, Kal Penn,
Ben Stein and... Bob Hoskins... (why, Bob???)
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Believe it or not, Jim Carrey's original The Mask is one of my favorite movies ever. (It may have to do with the fact that it makes me remember my childhood... well, you know the story.) The film, while definitely not perfect, it's a really entertaining and fun motion picture, featuring amazing - for it's time - special effects, a great performance by Carrey and classic, laugh-out-loud moments. A sequel had been in the talks for years, firstly with Carrey reprising his role and Chuck Russell coming back as director, but none of these ideas ever came through. Twelve years after the release of The Mask, Laurence Guterman - Cats and Dogs - and his team of lackluster and unknown thespians released Son of the Mask, which, without making use of hyperbole, I consider one of the most unwatchable and overall embarrassing films ever released. The film is totally unfunny, the performances make the audience feel bad for the actors, the special effects are terrible, and the film as a whole is an embarrassment for the original cast and crew of the first movie. Really, after watching this film, I just wish the phrase "the mask" wasn't present in the title. The fact that this "sequel" is somehow related with Jim Carrey's hilarious vehicle makes me feel bad for anyone who enjoyed the 1994 movie.
The events in this "film" take place ten years after the adventures of Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) in Edge City. Now, legendary Mask of Loki finds its way into the hands of a would-be cartoonist, Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) whose new baby son named Alvey (the Falconer twins) is born with the Mask's espectacular powers. But trouble begins when Loki (Alan Cumming) himself, the god of mischief, comes to Earth looking for his mask, under command by his father Odin. (freakin' Bob Hoskins.) And he's willing to do whatever it takes to get it back.
Everything that was cool with the original movie has been removed from this installment, and replaced by crap, crap and more crap. The film is totally unfunny - even though it's supposed to be a "family comedy" - and Carrey has been replaced by Jamie Kennedy, who, in this film, at least, seems to have absolutely no acting capabilities. He's accompanied by Traylor Howard, who's suitably cute, but looks confused at being in this dread of a movie. The baby's "acting", I guess, is fine, although half the time the twins are replaced by a really creepy CGI version of themselves which performs weird "wacky" tricks and stuff which are "supposed" to be funny, but only end up looking really stupid. Alan Cumming as Loki the god of mischief is suitably over-the-top, but every time I saw him onscreen I kept asking myself what the hell the man was doing in such a crappy movie like this. (He's proved he has talent in films like X2.) The appearance of Bob Hoskins as Loki's father also made me ask the same question... I mean, the guy is a top-notch actor and, even though he has a really small role in the film, it's a pity to see him surrounded by crappy digital effects and a depressing cast.
Which leads me to something else: the special effects. The effects in the first Mask were revolutionary and used sparingly, only to enhance Jim Carrey's already-comedic performance. They weren't perfect, but nevertheless help to enhance the overall comedic and cartoon-like feel of the movie. On the other hand, the CGI in this film is too over-the-top and used in ridiculous amounts. And since the film is boring, too wacky and completely unfunny, the effects don't enhance anything, because there's nothing to enhance. The CGI is too fake-looking and too obviously computer-generated, and don't serve absolutely any purpose, unless you find creepy CGI dogs or creepy CGI babies something worth a laugh. Additionally, there are tributes to the likes of Tex Avary (in the name of Kennedy's character) and Chuck Jones in the use of "One Froggy Evening" (1955) as a main "aspect" of the movie's "plot." But really, I don't think those two people would want to be connected to this film... they must be rolling in their graves right now.
Son of the Mask is one of the most unwatchable, unfunny and unbearable movies I've ever seen. Granted, it's not as bad as, for instance, Uwe Boll's House of the Dead (here at least we have Bob Hoskins and Alan Cumming), but it's nevertheless a real embarrassment for anyone who appreciates filmmaking. Like I said, The Mask is one of my favorite films ever and, even though I don't think this film has ruined the former's reputation, it just doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Jim Carrey's classic comedy. In fact, it doesn't deserve to be mentioned at all, let alone to be seen by an audience. Son of the Mask is a horrible, horrible movie.
©2007 Sebastián Zavala - GG site