Line #45 Film/SonOfTheMask


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonofthemask.jpg]]
2
3	->''The next generation of mischief...''
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5	''Son of the Mask'' is the 2005 sequel to the 1994 Creator/JimCarrey [[FantasticComedy fantasy comedy]] ''Film/TheMask'', which was itself based on the [[ComicBook/TheMask Dark Horse Comics series of the same name]] about a magical green mask that gives [[RealityWarper strange, almost unlimited powers]] to anybody who wears it, but also causes them to lose all their inhibitions and self-control. The violent tone of the comics was toned down in the first film adaptation to suit Carrey's comedy stylings, so fans clamoring for a more loyal adaptation were displeased even more when ''Son of the Mask'' reduced the style further, to the point of making it ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids supposedly]]) [[LighterAndSofter family-oriented]].
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7	The plot concerns failed cartoonist Tim Avery (Creator/JamieKennedy), who is afraid of conceiving a child with his wife Tonya (Creator/TraylorHoward) because he believes his kid would be ashamed of him and his dead-end job. But then, he gets a hold of the Mask, which works its usual magic, transforming him into the green-faced cartoony maverick that not only becomes the toast of the company party, but also impregnates his wife without his consent. (Not rape, mind you!)
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9	Nine months later, out pops young Alvey Avery, the [[TheEponymousShow titular]] son of the Mask, who's sometimes cute, but mostly an [[{{Jerkass}} insufferable sadist]]. When Tonya leaves town for business, Tim is left taking care of him, and Alvey proceeds to drive his dad totally insane with his bizarre abilities - which he does not need the Mask to use. Joining the battle royale is the family dog, Otis, who wears the Mask and uses its powers [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence to try to kill Alvey because he doesn't want to compete for Tim's attention]].
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11	But that's not the end of it! The [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse god]] of mischief and original creator of the Mask, Loki himself (Creator/AlanCumming) is making the rounds, trying to find the Mask to take it back to Valhalla because it's caused too much trouble in the human world, under the instruction of [[SadlyMythtaken his dad]], Odin the All-Father (Creator/BobHoskins). The movie's climax features a Mask'd Tim and Loki duking it out over possession of both the Mask and the Son it has spawned.
12	----
13	!!Tropes:
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15	* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Alvey does this when Tim mentions ''Film/TheExorcist''.
16	* AnAesop: About the importance of getting along with your family, delivered by Tim.
17	* AlternateContinuity: This movie flat out ignores the cartoon series which was made as a direct follow-up and sequel to the first movie.
18	* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Loki's boxing ring at the film's climax.
19	* AlliterativeName: '''A'''lvey '''A'''very.
20	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese theme for the film is [[http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzk2NDUxNTg4.html "Mask"]] by Tackey & Tsubasa.
21	* AmusingInjuries: Most of the comedy is slapstick. The scenes with Alvey and Otis fighting get especially violent.
22	* AnimalsLackAttributes: Otis the dog is partly played by a real dog and partly by animation. When the dog is real, it obviously has the equipment you would expect. As soon as it puts on the mask and becomes animated, however, the downstairs department is noticeably lacking. This could have been handwaved as being an effect of the mask itself, had it not been for the fact that the whole premise of the movie is that a human male impregnates his wife whilst wearing the mask. Not to mention the original movie had Milo, Stanley's dog, also wearing the mask and peeing on one of the thugs with a visible penis.
23	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: OK, so, Fringe City is located 270 miles[[note]]435 kilometers[[/note]] southwest of Edge City. Stanley Ipkiss tossed the Mask into the ocean ten years previously. At the start of the movie, it's floating upriver near Tim's home. So, to recap: not only did the Mask float the wrong way up the river, it also took ten years to travel 270 miles. And it's going at about five miles per hour[[note]]8 kilometers per hour[[/note]].
24	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Loki was Odin's friend and blood brother, not his son. Not to mention that they were from two different worlds: Odin from Asgard, Loki from Utgard/Jotunheim.
25	* AsianCleaverFever: In the end where Tim's new cartoon show has a baby giving his father a little Asian man chopping some sushi for him.
26	* BabysFirstWords: The moment where Tim realizes Alvey [[EnfantTerrible is not normal]]: one day, Alvey suddenly says "mama". A delighted Tim then tries to encourage Alvey to say "dada", and after a few tries, Alvey suddenly responds by saying ''"Mother"'' [[VocalDissonance in deep, perfectly articulate, adult man's voice]].
27	%%* BadassLongcoat: Loki has one.
28	%%* BecomingTheMask: Tim and Otis.[[note]]''Literally'', of course![[/note]]
29	* BloodlessCarnage: In the opening scene, Loki removes the entire front of a man's head but due to this film allegedly being [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic a family picture]], not a single drop of blood is seen.
30	* {{Bookends}}: Tim's performance of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" starts with "This is the part where you dance, this is the part where you boogie!" and ends with those phrases in reverse order.
31	* CallBack: The fetus of Alvey was singing Cuban Pete just like the Mask in the original film.
32	* TheCameo: Ben Stein reprises his role as Prof. Arthur Newman.
33	%%* ChildrenRaiseYou: "You made me grow up."
34	* CityOfAdventure: Fringe City, 270 miles southwest of Edge City.
35	* ContinuitySnarl: When Otis puts on the mask, he's able to stay masked-up even during daylight hours, when the first movie demonstrated that the mask's powers only activated at night. Now to be fair, this change was also present in the [[WesternAnimation/TheMask animated series based on the original film]].
36	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Well, ''stand-alone'' sequel to put it technically, but Loki serves as this to Dorian. Dorian was a regular human being while Loki is a God. Dorian's actions stemmed from greed and power and is proven to be more heartless while Loki's actions stemmed from father issues and is shown to be more redeemable.
37	* CoolCar: Loki's black and green '66 Ford Mustang Coupe was a pretty nice car. Tim's car is pretty cool as well.
38	* DeadpanSnarker: Loki is frequently bitter and sarcastic, especially toward his father, Odin.
39	** "I'm a god of friggin' mischief. What did you expect?"
40	** "You always set me up to fail. At least in that respect, I'm living up to your expectations."
41	* DenserAndWackier: The film takes this to such an unprecedented degree that it's almost fatal.
42	* DerangedAnimation: While it is done in CGI, Alvey and the dog when donning the mask are animated in a psychotic way, qualifying them for this trope.
43	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Tim walks up to Odin, the king of Norse gods and says "Hold on a minute, ''Grizzly Adams!''"
44	* DisneyDogFight: A part of the film's climax is Alvey choosing whether he wants to live with Tim or Loki.
45	* DolledUpInstallment: The film is based on the script "Baby Formula" by Lance Khazei.
46	* DullSurprise: PlayedForLaughs when Loki throws a mask at Dr. Newman, who doesn't even flinch after it bounces off his head, he just says "Ow." Even when his ''face'' is taken off, he barely reacts at all.
47	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Tim ultimately becomes a cartoonist, but he has to go through a lot of crap to make it happen. [[spoiler: Odin also finally allows Loki to return to Valhalla after Tim gives the mask back.]]
48	* EnfanteTerrible: Pretty much poked fun at throughout the entire film, as Alvey isn't an evil baby, but he's just feels that his own father doesn't care about him, so he attempts to drive him insane, literally.
49	%%* EverytownAmerica: Fringe City.
50	* EvilPlan: {{Averted}}; there is no single villainous plan driving the plot. There are, however, a number of smaller ones.
51	* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Alvey and Otis' battle royale.
52	* {{Fanservice}}: Five words: Alan Cumming in a speedo.
53	* FooledByTheSound: Otis the dog, who is wearing the Mask of Loki, attempts to blow up Alevy Avery with a stick of dynamite, but the baby managed to throw it away. Alevy imitated the sound of an explosion, tricking the dog that he exploded.
54	* ForciblyFormedPhysique: Happens to Otis after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard falling victim to his own trap]], he is pulled through an air conditioning vent causing him to take the shape of a cube.
55	* GenreRoulette: "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" manages to switch between rap, two styles of country, pop, and disco. The extended version also has a heavy metal section.
56	%%* {{Goth}}: Loki.
57	* GroinAttack: Loki gets bitten in the junk by Otis.
58	** Tim gets headbutted in the nuts by his neighbor's rowdy kid while visiting them with his wife.
59	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Happens to Otis several times any time he tries to murder Alvey.
60	* HumanoidAbomination: Alvey. He doesn't need to wear ''any'' sort of Mask to have all the powers that normally go with it.
61	* InelegantBlubbering: Loki does this briefly, after [[spoiler:Alvey chooses to go with Tim and Tonya instead of staying with him.]] When the camera pulls away a moment later, he's standing in a puddle of tears.
62	* JealousPet: Otis didn't like Alvey Avery at first, since his original "dog house" became Alvey's room.
63	* {{Jerkass}}: Alvey and Loki (and Odin, to a degree).
64	* LamarckWasRight: The premise of the movie is that because Tim was wearing the mask when he had sex with Tonya, Alvey inherited all the powers of a mask wearer without needing to wear one himself.
65	* LargeHam: Creator/AlanCumming's performance as Loki was one of the very few good things people had to say about the film.
66	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The baby transforms into WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker for a couple of seconds at one point, for some reason.
67	* LighterAndSofter: Even more so than [[Film/TheMask the first movie]], which was this compared to [[ComicBook/TheMask the comic it was based on]].
68	* LookBehindYou: Loki manages to distract Odin, who possessed a police officer and trying to stop him from killing Tim at the time, by exclaiming that there's Balder.
69	-->'''Loki''': Look, Dad, there's Balder!
70	* MadeInCountryX: The Exotic Fake Mask with words engraved: "Made In Pakistan".
71	* ManChild: Tim's opening scene has him playing ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'' on a Game Boy Advance SP while his wife tries to talk to him... which wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't [[PacManFever making ridiculous faces, gyrating around and clutching it]] with all the grace of a monkey trying to figure out how to open a tin of beans.
72	* MandatoryMotherhood: Tim didn't want a child, but the Mask took over his body and impregnated his wife.
73	* MaskOfPower
74	* MsFanservice: A bespectacled woman wears a slinky black kitty-cat costume to the office Halloween party, to which the professional and monogamous Tim as the mask does a [[EyePop wild take]] on her. [[BeautifulAllAlong In order to bring her out of her shell]], Tim wraps the woman up like a mummy, spins her into a tornado, thereby unraveling her, ultimately changing her costume into a red swimsuit. Tim's best friend, Jorge (Kal Penn) catches the woman as she falls, following up on a romance that was only barely briefed on before.
75	* MythologyGag:
76	** When Tim's boss, Daniel Moss (Steven Wright), approaches him with concepts for different cartoons, he first comes up with the idea to [[WesternAnimation/TheMask base it on the Mask "character" he's been hearing]] so much about lately, since he sees so much potential in it, even eventually making it into [[Film/TheMask a movie]] and turning it into a franchise. Instead, [[spoiler:that concept gets tossed aside at the end of the movie for a cartoon about a baby and a dog competing for their father's affection, based on Alvey and Otis' lethal cat-and-mouse experiences.]]
77	** Mask-Tim performs Frankie Valli's "Can't Take my Eyes off You", which happened in the comics when an aspiring rock musician tried to use the mask as a quick-and-easy way to become a rock star.
78	* OhCrap: When Tim tries to get Alvey to say mama, it works and it's cute like when most babies do it, but when he tries to get him to say dada...
79	-->'''Tim:''' Say dada.
80	-->'''Alvey:''' ''[Overly masculine voice.]'' Mother.
81	* PacManFever: Tim is seen playing ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'' on his [[UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance Game Boy Advance SP]]... but random stock beeping sounds come out of his GBA, and he's holding it right to his face with his fingers pressing down on top of the buttons like an old arcade tabletop, and the world's most gormless facial expression.
82	* PinPullingTeeth: Loki does this... with a little tongue too.
83	* QuestionableConsent: Depending on how much you believe the Mask influences the wearer. Tim has sex with Tanya while under the Mask's influence, which she didn't realize as he crawled into bed in the dark. It's quite likely she wouldn't have if his appearance was clear to her, though technically this was still her husband. However this leads to the conception of her son, with Loki pointing out that kind of makes him a dad so there's the implication that he may be a {{child by rape}}.
84	* RogerRabbitEffect:
85	** Mask'd Otis is [[AllCGICartoon all CGI]].
86	** A more traditional example would be [[spoiler:Alvey's vision of seeing his father landed in a psychiatric hospital due to nobody believing the fact that he was being tormented by his mask power-endowed one-year-old son]], which has the surrounding environment (albeit crudely) traditionally animated, with a live-action Tim interacting with the storybook-esque environment.
87	* SadlyMythtaken:
88	** Among its many other faults, the movie also gets Norse mythology wrong. Odin and Loki are not father and son in Myth/NorseMythology, they are bond brothers. It's such a huge mistake that either the writers just didn't care or their only familiarity with Norse mythology was from Marvel's version. They're second cousins at most. And Loki would not have fooled Odin by telling him Balder was coming back because Balder is [[DeadToBeginWith dead]]... because Loki killed him (indirectly, but still).
89	** Threatening people with lightning was more Thor's schtick; Odin was a God of Magic. True, that's all-encompassing, but you could ''try''.
90	* ShoutOut: Tons and tons of 'em.
91	** Tim Avery's name is an homage to cartoonist Creator/TexAvery.
92	** Tim's dog is named Otis, an homage to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfMiloAndOtis'' due to Stanley's dog being named Milo.
93	** Alvey transforms into WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker at one point in the movie, and is seen watching several famous cartoons, including the Creator/ChuckJones short ''One Froggy Evening'', ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', and ''Anime/TransformersArmada''.
94	** Alvey's head spins all the way around, like in ''Film/TheExorcist'' when he says that he'll take Alvey to an exorcist.
95	** While still in the womb, Alvey performs the Cuban Pete song.
96	** The fights between Alvey and Otis are very reminiscent of the old [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote / Road Runner]] cartoons, down to Otis sketching his plans on a blueprint exactly like the ones Wile E. used.
97	** While wearing the Mask, Tim does impressions of Creator/MelGibson ("[[Film/{{Ransom}} Gimme back my son]]!"), Music/OzzyOsbourne (in a deleted scene), some kind of Neil Diamond / Tom Jones lounge singer hybrid, Creator/AlPacino in ''Film/{{Scarface\|1983}}'' ("Say hello to my little friend!"), not to mention of Creator/JimCarrey himself ("Ssssmokin! ...causes cancer!")
98	** [[Literature/TheBible "And then Loki said, let there be a brick wall..."]]
99	** Believe it or not, the "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" sequence was taken right from one of the Mask miniseries, one of the few things they did take.
100	* SiblingRivalry: Loki's jealousy over his brother Thor.
101	* {{Slapstick}}: Probably the purest example of this trope at its very ''worst''.
102	* SquashedFlat: Otis is wrung flat (while wearing the mask, of course) after one of his plans to kill Alvey goes wrong.
103	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Like Stanley from the first movie, Tim is a {{Manchild}} who feels underappreciated in his job with an attractive blonde woman as his significant other and a brown and white Jack Russel Terrier. Otis, Tim's dog, even ends up wearing the Mask just like Milo did in the first movie.
104	* ToiletHumor: If vomit and pee jokes float your boat, [=SotM=] is for you.
105	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Mixed with DullSurprise; Dr. Newman is completely unfazed by Loki roaring his disagreement before being consumed by black smoke which turns him into his true form. Even when he faces is removed, his tone of voice never changes.
106	* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Alvey, though Tim and Otis also count.
107	* VictimizedBystander: Pretty much everyone that happens to be in Loki's way as he tries to find the mask. During the film he [[TearOffYourFace rips the face off a man]] in the museum, traumatizes a nurse by [[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet transforming into a copy of her]], transforms a neighbor's head into a giant nose, sucks up a woman in a giant vacuum cleaner and attaches a plunger to a man's face so tightly that the skin stretches out when he tries to pull it off. None of these characters are ever shown again.
108	* WellDoneSonGuy: Loki, although he ''hates'' his dad.
109	%%* WhamLine: "THIS IS A FAKE"
110	%%* WildTake: Tim, Otis, and Loki, at different points.
111	* WouldHurtAChild: After putting on the mask, Otis has a fantasy of himself blasting Alvey away from a cannon and blowing him up, and later makes two failed attempts to kill him off.
112	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: When Tim first sees Otis wearing the mask, his only reaction is this...right before he faints.

Context Film / SonOfTheMask