SON OF THE MASK is a slam-bang festival of live-action cartoon hi-jinks and screwball violence, yet it aims right for the heart and against all reason, succeeds.
Jaime Kennedy turns in a nicely sensitive and sweet performance as Tim Avery, an animation star who hasnt been discovered yet. In the meantime, he toils at an animation studio in a character suit for the amusement of visitors. One day, summoning up reserves of courage despite the suit, he approaches the eccentric head of the studio (the equally eccentric Steven Wright) and pitches his idea for a series. Hes shot down. At home, his baby-hungry wife, Tonya (Traylor Howard) is once again sending none too subtle signals that there might be a better use for the room Tim has turned into a pooch paradise for the family dog. Otis. Its Otis who provides the catalyst for some radical changes when he stumbles upon a mysterious mask floating downstream near his house. Tim, desperate for a costume that will turn heads at the company Halloween party, tries it on and, abracadabra, instead of the mousy animator, hes a dancing fool in a zoot suit that knows how to get a party started. Later than same evening, he gets another sort of party started with Tonya, and nine months later, Otis finds himself in the doghouse, literally, and baby Alvey begins to exhibit some very odd behavior. Nine months later also finds Tim kicked upstairs with a green light for his series after his creative performance at the party.
Working overtime and in overdrive to put together a network presentation, plus dealing with a mask-wearing Otis, he little realizes that xxx going on a business trip and leaving him in charge of Alvey is the least of his troubles. Loki (Alan Cumming), the trickster god of the Norse pantheon, and the owner of the mask, is tracking it down and hes got some serious incentive. If he cant find the mask, and the baby that was born of it, Papa Odin (a musty looking Bob Hoskins) will give the sly Nordic drama queen a permanent reduction in rank to mortal.
Kennedy has none of Jim Carreys manic energy, and thats not a bad thing. His primary job here, other than the mask-wearing sequences where he becomes larger than life with a prodigious chin and monumental pompadour, is to react to Alveys antics. As the straight man, hes got a gift. The key is that hes not reacting to being spun around the living room by an infant, hes reacting to having to deal with an infant that has come with no operating instructions. Diapers present just as much of a challenge, if a slightly less life-threatening one. When he presents himself on a neighbors doorstep on the verge of a breakdown and raving about Alveys magic powers, hes just another overwhelmed guy with glazed eyes and an air of desperation looking for help with his kid from someone older and wiser. If he claims that xxxx is out of control, well, what parent hasnt felt that way at one point or another.
Its the perfect foil for Cummings Loki, who lights up the screen with a spike-haired character that surrenders to camp and runs with it with a wildly jubilant abandon. Whether masquerading as a Girl Scout or a door-to-door salesman while tracking down Alvey, or strutting in leather gear or a Speedo, he never loses the wicked twinkle in his eye brings to mind both Pee Wee Herman and The Bad Seed. He seems right at home with the variety of cartoon paraphernalia CGI-ed in, such as handguns the size of Volkswagens.
That CGI is loving homage to the Looney Tunes aesthetic of plastic exaggeration, as are the antics Loki and the mask-wearers get up to. The action sequences, particularly a car chase with real people in cartoon cars, are suitably hyperbolic, as is Cumming. The color palate suitably reflects the cartoon landscape from which the action springs with bright and unexpected colors, and the plot, and this is no small accomplishment, has the virtue of not being predictable, which helps to keep the grown-ups interested.
As a cautionary tale for prospective parents, SON OF THE MASK is pretty much perfect. As a showcase for some imaginative animation with more than a soupcon of giddy delight, its way fun. As a whiz-bang adventure that goes its own way in bending reality and recasting the problems of the father-son bonding it will appeal more to kids and the more sentimental papas out there.
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