Son of the Mask

Son of the Mask
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lawrence Guterman
Written by	Lance Khazei
Based on	The Mask by John Arcudi Chris Warner Doug Mahnke
Produced by	Erica Huggins Scott Kroopf
Starring	Jamie Kennedy Alan Cumming Traylor Howard Steven Wright Kal Penn Bob Hoskins
Cinematography	Greg Gardiner
Edited by	Malcolm Campbell John Coniglio Debra Neil Fisher
Music by	Randy Edelman
Production companies	Radar Pictures[1] Dark Horse Entertainment[1]
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures (Germany)[2] New Line Cinema (United States)
Release date	February 11, 2005 (2005-02-11) (United Kingdom) February 18, 2005 (2005-02-18) (United States)
Running time	94 minutes[3]
Countries	Germany[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$84–100 million[2][4]
Box office	$59.9 million[4]

Son of the Mask is a 2005 superhero comedy film^[1] directed by Lawrence Guterman. The film stars Jamie Kennedy as Tim Avery, an aspiring animator from Fringe City who has just had his first child born with the powers of the Mask. It is a standalone sequel to the 1994 film The Mask, an adaptation of Dark Horse Comics which starred Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz.

It also stars Alan Cumming as Loki, whom Odin has ordered to find the Mask. It co-stars Traylor Howard, Kal Penn, Steven Wright, Bob Hoskins as Odin, and Ryan and Liam Falconer as Tim's baby Alvey. Ben Stein makes a brief reappearance in the beginning of the film as Dr. Arthur Neuman from The Mask to reestablish the relationship with the mask and Loki. The film was a critical and financial failure upon release, and was panned by critics and fans of the original 1994 film alike for its story, lack of the original cast, and moments too inappropriate for a PG film, with many considering it one of the worst films of all time, and had grossed $59.9 million against its $84–100 million budget.

Plot[]

A decade after the events of the first film, Doctor Arthur Neuman is giving a tour of the hall of Norse mythology in Edge City's local museum. Neuman mentions that Loki, the God of Mischief, created the mask and unleashed it on Earth in order to spread his chaos among mankind, and that those who wear the mask are granted his powers. When Neuman brings up Loki's punishment and imprisonment at Odin's hands, a stranger suddenly becomes furious and transforms, revealing himself to be Loki. The tourists panic and flee, but Neuman stays to argue with Loki, who takes the mask in the display case, only to realize it is a replica. In anger, he removes Neuman's face from his body and puts it in the case, before disposing of the arriving authorities and storming out of the museum in a rage.

Meanwhile, the real mask, which was disposed of by Stanley Ipkiss and Tina Carlyle, makes its way to Fringe City and is found in a river by a dog named Otis - who belongs to Tim Avery, an aspiring animator at an animation studio, who is reluctant to accept parenthood with his wife, Tonya. On a tropical island, Loki is relaxing until Odin confronts and orders him to resume the search for the mask he had sent him on, as he believes it has caused too much chaos for mankind. Loki asks his father to help him, only for the latter to sternly say that he has to take responsibility for his actions. Later that night, Tim puts on the mask for a Halloween party held at the studio, becoming a reincarnation of Stanley Ipkiss' "The Mask" alter-ego. When the party turns out to be a bore, Tim uses his newfound powers to perform a remix of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", making the party a success and giving Tim's boss, Daniel Moss, the inspiration for a new cartoon, resulting in his promotion the next day.

Tim returns to his house that night and, while still wearing the mask, conceives a baby. The baby, Alvey, is born with the same powers as the mask, which alerts Odin. Possessing a store clerk, Odin informs Loki about this and tells him that if he finds the child, he will find the mask. Months later, Tonya goes on a business trip, leaving Tim with their son. Tim, now promoted, desperately tries to work on his cartoon at home, but is continuously disrupted by Alvey. In order to get some peace and quiet, Tim lets Alvey watch various cartoons on television, giving him the idea to torment his father using his powers. Meanwhile, Otis, who has been feeling neglected by Tim because of Alvey, dons the mask by accident and becomes a reincarnation of the masked persona of Stanley's Ipkiss' dog, Milo, who tries to get rid of Alvey, but all of his attempts are foiled by the much craftier infant.

Eventually, Loki, after searching from home to home for the baby and leaving a trail of mayhem in his wake, finds Alvey and confronts Tim for the mask back, but Alvey uses his powers to protect his father. Odin, possessing Tim's body, becomes fed up with Loki's destructive approach for defying him once again and strips his son of his powers. Tim is later fired after failing to impress Moss during a pitch, but is able to reconcile and bond with Alvey. Loki, still determined to please his father, sneaks into the Avery household that night and manages to complete a summoning ritual and appeal to Odin to restore his powers. Odin agrees, but only for a limited time, stating this as his last chance. Loki then kidnaps Alvey in exchange for the mask. When Tonya returns home, she goes with Tim and Otis, whom Tim had apologized to for his negligence towards him and convinced him that Alvey could be his new best friend, to make the exchange with Loki, but Loki decides to keep Alvey despite the exchange, forcing the group to chase after them as Tim becomes the Mask once more. The subsequent confrontation is relatively evenly matched due to both of them possessing equal powers, prompting Loki to halt the fight, and suggest that they should let Alvey decide who he wants to be with. Although Loki tries to lure Alvey to him with promises of fun, Tim takes the mask off and convinces his son to choose him using the connection he had forged with him.

Saddened and enraged, Loki tries to kill Tim, but his time runs out and Odin appears in person, once again scolding Loki for his failure. Tim, however, feels sympathy for Loki and reminds Odin that regardless of their problems, they will still be family and nothing is more important than that. Touched by Tim's speech as the mask is returned, Odin reconciles with Loki and the duo return home. Some time later, Tim is rehired when his subsequent cartoon, based on his own experiences of Alvey and Otis competing for his attention, becomes a success. After the Avery family watches the cartoon's premiere, Tonya reveals that she is pregnant again.

Cast[]

Jack Black was offered for the role of Tim Avery but turned it down.^[5]

Voices[]

• Bill Farmer and Richard Steven Horvitz as the vocal effects of the masked Otis
• Joyce Kurtz, Mona Marshall and Mary Matilyn Mouser as Alvey
  • Neil Ross provided Alvey's deep voice

Production[]

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Development and writing[]

Not long after the release of The Mask, it was announced in Nintendo Power that Jim Carrey would be returning in a sequel called The Mask II. The magazine held a contest where the first prize would be awarded a walk-on role in the film.^[6] Director Chuck Russell, who helmed the original film, expressed his interest in a Mask sequel in his 1996 Laserdisc commentary. He was hoping Carrey would come back as the title character, along with Amy Yasbeck, who played reporter Peggy Brandt in the original. Russell decided to cut scenes when Peggy dies and leave the character open for the sequel, which became this film. In a 1995 Barbara Walters Special, Carrey revealed that he was offered $10 million to star in The Mask II, but turned it down, because his experiences on Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls convinced him that reprising a character he'd previously played offered him no challenges as an actor. Due to Carrey declining to reprise his role, the project never came to fruition, and the concept for the sequel was completely changed. The winner of the failed contest was given $5000 and other prizes, and was issued an apology in the final issue of Nintendo Power in 2012.^[7]

In 2001, it was reported that Lance Khazei was asked by New Line Cinema to do the script for a sequel to The Mask.^[8]

Addressing the differences between the sequel and the original film, Guterman compared it to the differences between Alien and Aliens, stating that, "Son of the Mask is a completely different story."^[9]

Ben Stein reprises his role of Dr. Arthur Neuman from the original film. He is involved in the movie to re-establish the relationship between the mask and its creator, Loki. He is the only actor to appear in both films as well as in The Mask cartoon series. The dog's name, Otis, connects with the dog from the original film and comic book, Milo, as a reference to The Adventures of Milo and Otis. The naming of the Avery family pays homage to Tex Avery as its patriarch and the film's protagonist, Tim Avery, wants to be a cartoonist throughout the film. The film was shot at Fox Studios in Sydney.^{[citation needed]} Principal photography began on August 18, 2003.

In 2021, Jamie Kennedy revealed in a series of in depth videos on his YouTube channel about his experience making the film. He was offered the lead role after a couple of other projects he was to make with Warner Bros. did not go into production. He had initially turned down the offer to star due to scheduling conflicts with his television series The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. Both the studio and network managed to work his schedule and he was signed. However, Kennedy was once again hesitant due to Tim only having miniscule time as the Mask and considered instead playing the role of Loki due to the versatile nature of the character.^[10] A chance encounter with Jim Carrey convinced him to take the role as well as talks with the director and producers who pitched the film as a romantic-comedy of a simple man going through relatable circumstances as a newly married man and sudden father. Kennedy admitted that he was also impressed with the special effects and hoped that the film would at least succeed in that aspect.^[11]

Reception[]

Box office[]

The film earned back $59.9 million of its $84-100 million budget, making it a box office bomb.^[2]

Critical response[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 6% based on 105 reviews and an average rating of 3.05/10. The site's consensus reads: "Overly frantic, painfully unfunny, and sorely missing the presence of Jim Carrey." The site ranked the film 75th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s.^[12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 20 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.^{[citation needed]}

In his review Richard Roeper stated, "In the five years I've been co-hosting this show, this is the closest I've ever come to walking out halfway through the film, and now that I look back on the experience, I wish I had."^{[citation needed]} Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars and stated, "What we basically have here is a license for the filmmakers to do whatever they want to do with the special effects, while the plot, like Wile E. Coyote, keeps running into the wall." He later named it the fifth worst film of 2005. On their television show, Ebert & Roeper, they gave the film "Two Thumbs Down".^[14] Lou Lumerick of the New York Post, gave the film a zero-star rating and said that, "Parents who let their kids see this stinker should be brought up on abuse charges; so should the movie ratings board that let this suggestive mess slip by with a PG rating."^[15]

When asked in a 2012 interview about whether the film's negative critical reaction had damaged his morale in wanting do another project like this, Kennedy replied to the interviewer, "Yes. You got me right after a batch of bad interviews so I'm going to be honest with you about this. It does because I'm just being killed, absolutely killed... But honestly, doing this movie is an interesting experience because I just came off my show and Malibu's Most Wanted where I had a good amount of control. And then in this movie I didn't have any control. I just can't do that. I have to have my voice in there. If I can't, I'm just going to be like I'm doing someone else's thing. I have to have some of my voice because I have my own experiences that I lived through. All I can do is just try to make things independently. That's the only way you can do it. The only way you can do that is if you're a huge, huge, huge star. I'm not there yet. I'm just like a working actor."^{[16][failed verification]} The poor reception of Son of the Mask, which affected Kennedy personally, inspired him to co-create the documentary film Heckler, an examination of both hecklers and professional critics.

Accolades[]

Award	Category	Recipient	Result
Golden Schmoes Awards[17]	Worst Movie of the Year		Won
Golden Raspberry Awards[18]	Worst Picture		Nominated
	Worst Director	Lawrence Guterman	Nominated
	Worst Actor	Jamie Kennedy	Nominated
	Worst Supporting Actor	Alan Cumming	Nominated
		Bob Hoskins	Nominated
	Worst Screenplay	Lance Khazei	Nominated
	Worst Screen Couple	Jamie Kennedy and "anybody stuck sharing the screen with him"	Nominated
	Worst Prequel or Sequel		Won
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[19]	Worst Picture	Erica Huggins and Scott Kroopf	Nominated
	Worst Actor	Jamie Kennedy	Won
	Most Intrusive Musical Score	Randy Edelman	Won
	Worst Song or Song Performance in a Film or Its End Credits	"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Jamie Kennedy	Nominated
	Worst On-Screen Couple	Jamie Kennedy and anyone forced to co-star with him	Won
	Most Annoying Fake Accent (Male)	Kal Penn	Nominated
	Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy		Nominated
	Worst Sequel		Won
	Foulest Family Film		Won
	Least "Special" Special Effects		Nominated

• In a 2007 countdown of the 94 "worst to best" comic book to film adaptations Rotten Tomatoes listed the film 94th.^[20]

Other media[]

Video game[]

A video game based on the film was released on mobile phones on February 10, 2005. The game was published and developed by Indiagames.

Possible sequel[]

On the possibility of a third film, Mike Richardson has said, "We've been talking about reviving The Mask, both in film and in comics. We've had a couple of false starts."^[21]

See also[]

• List of live-action films based on cartoons and comics
• List of films based on Dark Horse Comics
• List of films considered the worst

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Son of the Mask

• Son of the Mask at IMDb
• Son of the Mask at AllMovie