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Movie Review - Son of the Mask (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Lawrence Guterman |
| Starring: |
Jamie Kennedy, Traylor Howard, and Alan Cumming |
| Rated: |
PG (for action, crude and suggestive humor and language) |
| Length: |
86 minutes |
| Genre: |
Comedy/Family |
| Tagline: |
Who's next? |
| Studio: |
New Line Cinema |
| Website: |
Son of the Mask |
| Release: |
February 18, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Tim Avery (Kennedy) is an aspiring cartoonist who really wants to get his own TV show and establish his career
before trying his hand at fatherhood. His wife (Howard), however, is desperate to start a family. Well, one
fateful day, the family dog finds the Mask of Loki, brings it to the house, Tim wears it to a Halloween party,
absorbs its powers, gets busy with his wife when he gets home, and voila, the Son of the Mask is born.
Things get really crazy when Loki (Cumming) comes looking for his long-lost mask. Cartoonish hijinks and
stupid shenanigans ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Man, I just don't care. We've got a sequel to a Jim Carrey movie that doesn't star Jim Carrey. Oh,
and Cameron Diaz is missing as well. Not exactly the recipe for success, huh? I remember the last time
somebody tried to make a sequel to a Jim Carrey movie without Jim Carrey's involvement. It was called
Dumb and Dumberer, and it was met with ALARMING FAILURE!
Surprisingly, the failure wasn't alarming enough to keep somebody from budgeting $100,000,000 (????) for
Son of the Mask. Think somebody will lose his job over this? And the trailers and commercials did
nothing to convince me this was gonna be anything other than a blatant attempt to make a few dollars off
the name of a successful predecessor.
But none of that really matters because this is a kid's movie, and as such, kids will love it. Adults might
not understand why, but isn't that how it is with most childhood fascinations? Kids also used to like
Barney and Tele-Tubbies, so their tastes aren't exactly the most refined.
You may be wondering if the movie totally caught me by surprise and won *my* heart? Um, no. I'm
already tired of writing about it. However, it is better than I expected. Granted, that's not saying
much considering my expectations were about as low as Ashlee Simpson's self-esteem these days. The movie's
full of stupid, silly gags (just watch the trailer and you'll see what I mean), and there are several
stretches where I failed to even crack a smile. But still, I laughed more than I expected to.
This is basically a live-action cartoon, and at times it sort of works within that context. As ashamed as
I am to admit it, I liked the scenes where the dog (after putting on the mask) and the baby were dueling
and trying to outdo each other. It was taken straight from the pages of the Roadrunner Vs. Wile E. Coyote,
and the kids in the audience loved it.
That's really about all I feel like writing about the movie because quite frankly, this review is
starting to bore me. I have a strong feeling most of you have no interest in the movie anyway. If you
don't have kids, then don't go see it. This ain't exactly a movie for a "guys' night out." I know I'm
glad I didn't pay to see it, but if your child is bugging you to take him to the movie then you could do
worse COUGHracingstripesHACK. Just try to find the cheapest matinee
possible if you can't convince them to wait for the rental.
Man, even though I didn't hate the movie, why does writing a review for it make me want to do nothing
but go to bed? My motivation is non-existent. The smile is gone. I'm out of here.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Budget: $100,000,000 - What in the world? Ouch.
- Cameron Diaz has never looked hotter than she did in The Mask.
- Jamie Kennedy is much better at the edgy humor he effectively displays in the now-cancelled Jamie
Kennedy Experiment, but he does the best he can with the script he's been given, and I doubt any
10-year-olds are gonna be discussing the intricacies of the acting in the movie.
- Johnny highly recommends all three seasons of The Jamie Kennedy Experiment on DVD.
- Steven Wright and Ben Stein have cameos.
- Jamie Kennedy was in Scream with David Arquette who was in Road Killers with Josh
Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This is a fairly safe family movie. There are some poop and pee jokes that some parents might find crude.
There is also a scene that shows "plumber's crack" that might have parents hurriedly covering their kids'
eyes, but for the most part it's harmless.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer is absolutely lame, and I was completely expecting the worst. So while the movie isn't one
I'd care to sit through again, it at least ended up being better than I expected.
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THE GIST
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The action, silly comedy, and special effects are plentiful enough to keep the younger kids interested.
Adults won't exactly fall in love with the movie, but if you can sit through other less-than-spectacular
kidfests like Garfield then you can handle Son of the Mask.
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