Son of the Mask

Say what you like about Jim Carrey (and that's your libel free cue, folks) but even his harshest critics will find it difficult to argue that he's without some degree of talent. Sadly, the same confidence can't be placed in his alleged heir apparent, Jamie Kennedy - at least on the evidence of his latest offering, Son of Mask. As the title indicates, this is a sequel to Carrey's 1994 smash and is set a decade after the events of The Mask. The plot - in so far as you can call it that - sees reluctant new father Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) in a whole lot of trouble after his newborn son, Alvey (Ryan Falconer) happens across the titular disguise. Needless to say, chaos soon ensues, especially when the family's dog decides that he wouldn't mind a piece of the action. As if that wasn't enough nonsensical carry-on for one movie, it emerges that the owner of the mask, Loki (Alan Cumming, slumming it) would quite like to reclaim what he sees as rightfully his.

What to say about a movie where the entire plot seems to have been written on the back of a postage stamp with plenty of space to spare? As ridiculous as The Mask was, at least it could rely on the sheer force of Carrey's personality - and a scantily clad Cameron Diaz - to pull it through the roughest patches. With Son of Mask, however, there's no such safeguard; Kennedy can be charitably described as a discount version of Carrey, while the script's gags are as fresh as a Status Quo riff. The result? A comedy with precious few moments worthy of the name.