Independent Films, Film Profiles

Son of the Mask

Son of the Mask is the Raspberry Award-Winning 2005 sequel to the Academy Award-Nominated 1994 comedy film, The Mask, directed by Lawrence Guterman. The movie had a $84 million budget and a $17 million domestic box office gross, along with a $40 million foreign box office gross.Ten years after the adventures of Stanley Ipkiss (who doesn't appear in this film) in Edge City, Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy), an aspiring cartoonist, who lives in Fringe City (270 miles from Edge City) is feeling reluctant to become a father when he has to take care of a baby with amazing abilities. He has a beautiful wife, Tonya (Traylor Howard) and a best friend (Kal Penn) who is very shy around women. The baby possesses strange and terrific shapeshifting powers that he uses to torture his father. The baby was conceived while his father was wearing the Mask of Loki, a mythological object that transforms the wearer into a manic shapeshifter alter-ego (as it did to Ipkiss in the first film). As bad as a baby with godlike powers might seem, there is also the family dog, Otis, who is trying to use the Mask to do away with his competition for Tim's affection. But the really bad news is that Loki (Alan Cumming) wants his mask back, under command by his father Odin (Bob Hoskins).Loki tries to find the child born of the mask, since if he finds the child, he will find the mask. Eventually, Loki finds the baby, and fights them. This results in Odin taking away Loki's powers, since Odin doesn't know the baby was right in his arms, since he was possessing Tim at the time.Loki summons Odin, and convinces him to give him his powers back for an hour, to get his mask back. He threatens Tim into showing up with the mask or else he will never see his son again (because he will keep him and eventually plays Super Twister with him,where the baby's ear stretches out and tickles Loki's armpit, resulting in him losing the game,just as Tim's truck smashes through the wall). Eventually, it ends in a brawl between Loki and Tim donning the mask (actually for the second time, he had donned the mask earlier in the film, when he was going to a costume party), turning into a wild character similar to the one in the first film. After a crazy fight between the god and the "superhuman", Loki figures they are evenly matched opponents, and ring on a Telephone and Angry "Give Me Back my Son!" believes that they should let the baby decide who he wants to be with. He chooses Avery after the latter delivers a tearful apology to his son for not paying attention to him. But Loki is not prepared to give up so easily, knowing the price he will have to pay if he fails in his mission, and grabs a giant hammer and chases Tim, his wife, and the baby. As he is about to attack them, Tim suddenly protects his wife and the baby from the hammer with apparent super strength. However, drills popped up under the hammer and was slowly drilling towards Tim. Just when it looks like Loki is about to finally crush them, his time finally runs out and Odin comes back, and attacks him for being unsuccessful at his mission, even going so far as to say that he is "in every sense of the word, a failure". As he is about to banish Loki again, Avery stands up to the powerful god, telling him that Loki is his son, and that the most important thing in the universe is the relationship with your family. Tim then gives the mask to Loki who presents it to his father. Loki and Odin now reconciled return to Asgard happily. Tim comes up with a great idea for a cartoon: A baby and a dog competing for Dad's attention.Also, at the end of the movie, Tonya reveals she's pregnant again.