droidguy1119
02-13-2005, 06:30 PM
Son of the Mask - Review Thread
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Trailers
Trailer http://progressive.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/newline/trailers/SOM/SonOfMask_Trailer1_700_dl.mov
International Trailer http://www.mask2.jp/trailer/mask2_tokuhou_q01.mov
Synopsis
In this follow-up to Jim Carrey's 1994 smash hit, The Mask, Jamie Kennedy plays Tim Avery, a cartoonist who finds his newborn son literally bouncing off the walls after the discovery of an ancient mask that grants the wearer some unearthly powers. But when the Norse gods come looking for it, it's up to Tim to protect his family and keep the Mask from evil.
Official Website
www.sonofthemask.com
February 18th, 2005
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/droidguy1119b/review%20threads/sonmask5.jpg
Son of the Mask
A Review by Tyler Foster
for www.funkdiggityfresh.com
People say Hollywood has no good ideas left. But there are a lot of good ideas in Son of the Mask, and in many of the other movies I've seen that I didn't like. It's just that the studios squish it, mash it, and mold it until there's nowhere left to go but the beaten path. For every bit that The Mask mimicked Tex Avery, Son of the Mask seems to be attempting to evoke old-school Looney Tunes cartoons (some of them are even shown). But the desire to repeat the original, bad ideas, sloppy editing, trend-following and probably budgetary cuts prevents Son of the Mask from taking off, and leaving only a hollow, loud, gross and obnoxious shell of a movie.
Jamie Kennedy plays Tim Avery (hmm), a man who is...well, apparently scared of babies. Or something. The plot isn't very clear on it until the end (he's being selfish). Amidst attempts to develop a network cartoon television show, his dog brings him a strange mask, and when he wears it to a costume party. When he wakes up, his wife is pregnant, he's gotten the opportunity to pitch a show, and the mask has mysteriously vanished. Nine months later, he's got a baby boy, and he's gained some unusual powers, and while Tim searches for the source of his inspiration, the baby and the dog fight it out for the attention of Tim. On top of that, Loki (Alan Cumming) is searching for the mask, in an attempt to prevent it from causing any more trouble.
That's a pretty rotten plot, but it seems to be the result of three separate plots -- Loki, the baby vs. dog rivarly, and the struggling cartoonist -- being mashed together. Separately, with enough time and energy to devote to each one, there could have been a good movie, but unfortunately, only Loki really clicks as a storyline, and even then, through the direction of Lawrence Guterman (Cats & Dogs), it's still sloppy, silly, and rather unfunny. The editing doesn't help either, with an obvious mounds of footage chopped out of the picture. Scene transitions occasionally make no sense, there doesn't seem to be much driving the movie from one place to another, and it becomes useless to try and follow the story.
The performances are uneven. Alan Cumming is the best as Loki, although his character is still forced to indulge in overly goofy sequences now and then. Traylor Howard is very likable as the mother. The rest of the cast, however, fails to connect. Kennedy starts out very strange, flops as the Mask, and then slowly gets better as the movie continues, but he fails to take control. Bob Hoskins plays Odin, who shows up from time to time, but there's not really a character there. And Kal Penn and Ben Stein show up in remarkably trivial roles, neither of which are amusing or useful. The baby and the dog take up most of the movie, and they are usually CGI creations from ILM.
And ILM's work is more than sufficient. Matching their efforts from the original, the visual effects are a blast. Had Son of the Mask been a good movie, the visual effects would have definitely been up-to-par. With four characters being able to use the powers of the Mask, the room for techno-wizardry is definitely there, and it's not entirely wasted. Also good is the production design, which feels nicely in-tune, if a little less gritty and more comical, with the way Edge City looked in the original. There are also a couple of good moments scattered throughout, including a lot of Cumming's stuff, an exorcist joke, part of a musical sequence near the beginning, and a line here or there.
But Son of the Mask can't quite muster the ability to connect the dots it wants to, and falls apart. A mess of editing, botched performances, too many storylines, and a lot of wasted talent, energy, and time, Son of the Mask is unfortunately a dismal failure. Near the middle of the movie, the classic Warner Brothers cartoon "One Froggy Evening," with the famous WB Frog is shown, and Son of the Mask tries to use the same foil, with the baby only acting wild for Tim. Unfortunately, what passes for "wacky" in the hands of filmmakers trying to cash in on the good name of a good movie is pretty bad, and we only wish we weren't able to see it.
Stars (out of four): 1/2
Starring Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Traylor Howard, Bob Hoskins, Kal Penn and Ben Stein
Directed by Lawrence Guterman
New Line Cinema (2005) | 95 Minutes
Rated PG for action, crude and suggestive humor and language
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/droidguy1119b/review%20threads/sotmposter.jpg
Trailers
Trailer http://progressive.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/newline/trailers/SOM/SonOfMask_Trailer1_700_dl.mov
International Trailer http://www.mask2.jp/trailer/mask2_tokuhou_q01.mov
Synopsis
In this follow-up to Jim Carrey's 1994 smash hit, The Mask, Jamie Kennedy plays Tim Avery, a cartoonist who finds his newborn son literally bouncing off the walls after the discovery of an ancient mask that grants the wearer some unearthly powers. But when the Norse gods come looking for it, it's up to Tim to protect his family and keep the Mask from evil.
Official Website
www.sonofthemask.com
February 18th, 2005
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/droidguy1119b/review%20threads/sonmask5.jpg
Son of the Mask
A Review by Tyler Foster
for www.funkdiggityfresh.com
People say Hollywood has no good ideas left. But there are a lot of good ideas in Son of the Mask, and in many of the other movies I've seen that I didn't like. It's just that the studios squish it, mash it, and mold it until there's nowhere left to go but the beaten path. For every bit that The Mask mimicked Tex Avery, Son of the Mask seems to be attempting to evoke old-school Looney Tunes cartoons (some of them are even shown). But the desire to repeat the original, bad ideas, sloppy editing, trend-following and probably budgetary cuts prevents Son of the Mask from taking off, and leaving only a hollow, loud, gross and obnoxious shell of a movie.
Jamie Kennedy plays Tim Avery (hmm), a man who is...well, apparently scared of babies. Or something. The plot isn't very clear on it until the end (he's being selfish). Amidst attempts to develop a network cartoon television show, his dog brings him a strange mask, and when he wears it to a costume party. When he wakes up, his wife is pregnant, he's gotten the opportunity to pitch a show, and the mask has mysteriously vanished. Nine months later, he's got a baby boy, and he's gained some unusual powers, and while Tim searches for the source of his inspiration, the baby and the dog fight it out for the attention of Tim. On top of that, Loki (Alan Cumming) is searching for the mask, in an attempt to prevent it from causing any more trouble.
That's a pretty rotten plot, but it seems to be the result of three separate plots -- Loki, the baby vs. dog rivarly, and the struggling cartoonist -- being mashed together. Separately, with enough time and energy to devote to each one, there could have been a good movie, but unfortunately, only Loki really clicks as a storyline, and even then, through the direction of Lawrence Guterman (Cats & Dogs), it's still sloppy, silly, and rather unfunny. The editing doesn't help either, with an obvious mounds of footage chopped out of the picture. Scene transitions occasionally make no sense, there doesn't seem to be much driving the movie from one place to another, and it becomes useless to try and follow the story.
The performances are uneven. Alan Cumming is the best as Loki, although his character is still forced to indulge in overly goofy sequences now and then. Traylor Howard is very likable as the mother. The rest of the cast, however, fails to connect. Kennedy starts out very strange, flops as the Mask, and then slowly gets better as the movie continues, but he fails to take control. Bob Hoskins plays Odin, who shows up from time to time, but there's not really a character there. And Kal Penn and Ben Stein show up in remarkably trivial roles, neither of which are amusing or useful. The baby and the dog take up most of the movie, and they are usually CGI creations from ILM.
And ILM's work is more than sufficient. Matching their efforts from the original, the visual effects are a blast. Had Son of the Mask been a good movie, the visual effects would have definitely been up-to-par. With four characters being able to use the powers of the Mask, the room for techno-wizardry is definitely there, and it's not entirely wasted. Also good is the production design, which feels nicely in-tune, if a little less gritty and more comical, with the way Edge City looked in the original. There are also a couple of good moments scattered throughout, including a lot of Cumming's stuff, an exorcist joke, part of a musical sequence near the beginning, and a line here or there.
But Son of the Mask can't quite muster the ability to connect the dots it wants to, and falls apart. A mess of editing, botched performances, too many storylines, and a lot of wasted talent, energy, and time, Son of the Mask is unfortunately a dismal failure. Near the middle of the movie, the classic Warner Brothers cartoon "One Froggy Evening," with the famous WB Frog is shown, and Son of the Mask tries to use the same foil, with the baby only acting wild for Tim. Unfortunately, what passes for "wacky" in the hands of filmmakers trying to cash in on the good name of a good movie is pretty bad, and we only wish we weren't able to see it.
Stars (out of four): 1/2
Starring Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Traylor Howard, Bob Hoskins, Kal Penn and Ben Stein
Directed by Lawrence Guterman
New Line Cinema (2005) | 95 Minutes
Rated PG for action, crude and suggestive humor and language