Son of the Mask
dir. Lawrence Guterman

Since I kinda sorta "worked" on the film, I got to go to a "Cast & Crew" screening of Son of the Mask tonight with the rest of the Gang. I started my internship near the end of the film's production, so I didn't get a credit (though Régis did :b) but I got to meet the director, Lawrence Guterman, during one of my visits to the visual effects editor.

Having seen some stuff during production, I had horrible expectations for the movie, and I guess all in all it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, but it's by no means a good film. I'm a fan of the Mask comic, and I loved the first Mask film, but this film was 10 years too late and loaded with misfired gross-out humor.

Alan Cumming and the animation sequences we did were the only redeeming things about the film. I expected more from the effects, expecially considering the advancements in CGI in the last 10 years. I guess it's a testament to just how groundbreaking the effects were in the first film cuz they were just as good as many of the FX in this sequel. The CG dog was pretty good (decent animation) but the CG baby was hideous.

The biggest problem was teh script. Too many jokes fell flat and the pseudo-dramatic scenes were so out of place. I realize the film is being marketed as a "family film" and while it tries so hard to present a theme of "family togetherness", it pales in comparison to a much funnier, more action-packed, more heart-felt masterpiece like The Incredibles.

Despite the film being underwhelming, I still had fun cuz it was FREE and it really could have been much much worse.

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