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Going where Jim Carrey and his rubber face profitably went before him, Jamie Kennedy tries The Mask on for size only to find out that's it's a painfully ill-fitting proposition.

Loud, mean-spirited and generally obnoxious, Son of the Mask makes the boisterous 1994 original look downright demure and refined.

Director Lawrence Guterman, of Cats and Dogs fame, and his crack visual effects team are so busy showing off how far digital technology has advanced in the past decade that no one ever bothers to stop for a second to check if there are any workable characters or a story that makes any sense.

The result is a garish mess of a movie that spins wildly out of control early on and never looks back.

Squarely aimed at kids (presumably those with ADD), the New Line release may initially draw Kennedy's WB Network and Malibu's Most Wanted fan base, but its overall boxoffice will unlikely come anywhere close to the $120 million nabbed by the original.

Where the first Mask transformed Carrey's timid bank clerk, the new edition centers on Kennedy's Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist whose name references Tex Avery, the famed animator whose classic, energetic work inspired the first Mask film and has been cannibalized here.

A reluctant new dad, Tim has no idea what he's in for. Not only was his son conceived while Tim was in full Mask mode -- meaning it's only a matter of time before the baby exhibits some very unusual behavior -- but also the cursed item is being sought by the relentless Loki (Alan Cumming), the mischievous son of Norse god Odin (Bob Hoskins).

To further amp up the ensuing chaos, the pooch also gets its snout into the mask, turning Tim's household in a whirling dervish of computer-generated mayhem.

Failing to recapture the style and manic but focused energy of the original, Guterman's direction and Lance Khazei's script instead flail around in a dozen directions at once, with grating results.

Not quite blessed with the facial elasticity of his predecessor, Kennedy makes do with his best mugging until the special effects take over, and Cumming, Hoskins and the rest of the cast essentially follow his lead.

And those effects, supervised by James E. Price, are pretty spectacular, if a little disturbing. The centerpiece -- a fully digitized, photorealistic havoc-wreaking baby -- could conceivably induce terrifying nightmares weeks after initial exposure.

Son of the Mask

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema presents a Radar Pictures production in association with Dark Horse Entertainment

A Lawrence Guterman film

Credits:

Director: Lawrence Guterman

Screenwriter: Lance Khazei

Producers: Erica Huggins, Scott Kroopf

Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Kent Alterman, Michele Weiss, Beau Marks, Mike Richardson

Director of photography: Greg Gardiner

Production designer: Leslie Dilley

Editors: Malcolm Campbell, Debra Neil Fisher

Costume designer: Mary E. Vogt

Visual effects supervisor: James E. Price

Music: Randy Edelman

Cast:

Tim Avery: Jamie Kennedy

Loki: Alan Cumming

Odin: Bob Hoskins

Tonya: Traylor Howard

Daniel Moss: Steven Wright

Jorge: Kal Penn

Dr. Neuman: Ben Stein

Alvey: Liam and Ryan Falconer

MPAA rating: PG

Running time -- 86 minutes...

Bob Hoskins is becoming a god. The British actor will play Odin, king of the Norse gods, in New Line Cinema's Son of the Mask. Mask carries on with the premise of a character-altering mask that was established in the 1994 hit starring Jim Carrey. This time around, it follows an aspiring cartoonist (Jamie Kennedy) who is not ready for fatherhood but finds himself raising a baby endowed with the powers of the mask of Loki, the god of mischief. Loki is played by Alan Cumming. Currently shooting, Mask is being directed by Larry Guterman from a script by Lance Khazei, Rob McKittrick and the team of Tom Gammill and Max Pross. The production is being overseen at New Line by production execs Kent Alterman, Michelle Weiss and Janis Chaskin. Hoskins, whose career spans three decades, is probably best known for playing Eddie Valiant in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? His other credits include Brazil, Super Mario Bros., Maid in Manhattan and the upcoming Vanity Fair and Stay. He is finishing shooting Beyond the Sea. He is repped by CAA.

Traylor Howard, who last appeared on the big screen in the comedy Me, Myself & Irene, has landed the female lead role opposite Jamie Kennedy in the New Line Cinema comedy Son of the Mask. Howard will play Kennedy's wife in the film, which carries on with the premise of a character-altering mask that was established in the 1994 hit starring Jim Carrey. This time around, it follows an aspiring cartoonist (Kennedy) who is not ready for fatherhood but finds himself raising a baby endowed with the powers of the mask of Loki. Scheduled for a summer production start, Mask is being directed by Larry Guterman from a script by Lance Khazei, Rob McKittrick and the team of Tom Gammill and Max Pross. The production is being overseen at New Line by production execs Kent Alterman, Michelle Weiss and Janis Chaskin. Howard most recently appeared in the CBS comedy Bram & Alice. In addition to Irene, she has appeared on the big screen in the comedy Dirty Work. She is repped by UTA and manager John Carrabino.