They say if you let a thousand monkeys type at a thousand typewriters for a thousand years they will eventually recreate Shakespeare. Having said that, \Son of the Mask"" is a so-so first draft for 18 monkeys given about 45 minutes apiece. And shame on whoever's handling those monkeys for not having them write something more productive.
The original ""Mask"" was a very notable movie. It cemented Jim Carrey as a master of physical humor, it was the first movie role for Cameron Diaz and was ground-breaking in the field of computer animation. There is nothing redeeming about this droll sequel. This time around, Jamie Kennedy plays the meek mortal who is turned all-id by the mysterious mask. Only this time (it's a sequel, so you know there's a twist) his infant son is given the same cartoon-like powers. Norse god Loki (Alan Cumming), creator of the mask, is also on Earth looking to take it back.
The only notable thing about this film is that it could be the only time anyone ever utters the phrase ""Didn't we learn anything from 'Dumb and Dumberer'?"" This is yet another warning to filmmakers about the pitfalls of making a Jim Carrey vehicle without Carrey in it. The original was able to pull off a somewhat-ridiculous story only because it had superior talents who were able to sell the premise and gave the characters just the right amount of eccentricity and heart.
But instead of Carrey and Diaz, we are given Cumming and Kennedy, whose distinguished r??sum??s include ""Malibu's Most Wanted,"" ""Spice World"" and ""Josie and the Pussycats."" We are given a director, Lawrence Guterman, who has only one other major release: the dismal ""Cats & Dogs."" Surely this was a recipe for failure from the beginning.
The movie attempts to compare itself to the first film by replicating the frantic pace of the original and adding the cartoon references which made it so enjoyable. The only problem with these ploys is that everything the film tries to compare itself to is so much better than it is. Don't bother ripping off the ""Merry Melodies"" cartoons of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones if you can't add on what they did, or at the least, reproduce it faithfully. Same goes for Carrey's ""Mask.""
You'd think that the same mask which let Carrey's Stanley Ipkiss have so much fun would inspire something less vanilla from Jamie Kennedy's Tim Avery, but, then again, sometimes even the best predictions turn out to be false. Maybe some people's wildest urges are just wilder than others'. Kennedy looks like he is simply going through the motions. Alan Cumming has the same problem, but it's difficult to tell whether he's bored or horrified at the lines he is forced to read for the sake of the movie. Either way, the movie as a whole lacks the enthusiasm needed to make the implausible believable.
No one was expecting much from this sequel, and do they ever get it. There's probably an audience that finds a movie full of fart jokes and CG babies funny, but even they'd agree that it gets tiresome long before ""Son of the Mask"" stops it. Before all is said and done there will be toilet humor galore and Jamie Kennedy counseling Norse gods through father-child relations. What's not to love?
A parting word of advice to those monkeys: once you produce this script, tear it up and keep on writing. It wasn't worth using the first time.
