Son of the Mask : Rejected by all

If you haven't heard, they've made a sequel to The Mask. It has none of the stars, very little plot connection, and an entirely different creative team. Which is strange because you'd think that a sequel is made to flesh out or further explore a concept from the original. Or even to spoof the original. Maybe to have a different take on a theme? How about just to have a single iota of commonality to the original outside of a prop?

We've had several cynical H.O.P.E. members suggest that connecting this movie to the original Mask movie is simply a marketing ploy. That this movie was produced with the single-minded goal of making some money by quickly throwing together a substandard feature.

Well that better not be their mission. This dog isn't going to bring any money home, if the critics have anything to say about it. A handful of reviews:

By the time we're an hour in to Son of the Mask we've been tossed through the CG ringer and spit out on the other side with no steak to go with our soda. This flick is nothing but cacophonous and blithering eye candy...and the candy's not all that well-cooked to begin with. Try and count how many times we're treated to the "whirly-spinny" effect made famous by that most respected of thespians, Mr. Tasmanian Devil. That project might be the only way you'll stay awake throughout this terrible and ill-conceived little afterthought of a money-grab, in-name-only, CGI reel of a sequel.
--EFilmCritic

2.0/10 rating on IMDB

One presumes the only thing worse than making this disaster is actually watching it; wouldn't wish either on anyone.
--Dallas Observer

An irredeemable mess, a computer-animated Punch and Judy show without wit, heart or a single memorable performance.
--The New York Times

Icky and incompetent (special effects aside) in equal parts, this groaner makes 1994's "The Mask" look like something you'd study in a film graduate course at NYU.\
--USA Today

A harried, screechy film that goes nowhere at a breakneck pace, full of sound and furious slapstick overkill but devoid of wit.
--Seattle Post-Intelligencer