SON OF THE MASK (Lawrence Guterman) 86 minutes. Opens Friday (February 18). For venues and times, see Movies, page 90. Rating: N Rating: N
Raise your hand if, after seeing the 1994 flick The Mask, you said to yourself, “What that movie needs is a sequel for kids.” Right. Me neither.
In the original, a mask created by Loki, Norse god of mischief, had the astonishing effect of making Jim Carrey loud and obnoxious. In the sequel, Loki ( Alan Cumming ) has come to earth to retrieve it, but Tim Avery ( Jamie Kennedy ), a failed animator stalled in adolescence, finds it, makes a hit at an office party, comes home and doinks his wife. Son Of The Mask is born.
The rest of the movie contains three sets of rivalries: Tim and the kid vie for the mother’s affections, the kid and the dog vie for Tim’s affections, and the script and the special effects vie to be the first to drive me insane. Note that kids in the audience didn’t seem any more impressed than I was.
The saving grace is Cumming, who swanks around in black leather like some fey biker imp, looking cute and naughty at the same time. If I want that, I’ll watch him on Conan O’Brien, where he can be as filthy as he wants – in his own luscious accent to boot.
