Two of the best movies of Jim Carrey’s career got two of the worst sequels ever made, and they each used the same ridiculous premise to get around Carrey’s absence. Carrey has famously been trepidatious about doing sequels ever since his first one was a disaster. He prefers to explore new stories and new characters with each project instead of going back to rehash a familiar role. A lot of the sequels he’s been in, like Kick-Ass 2 and Batman Forever, have been sequels to movies he wasn’t in.
Of course, there have been a few exceptions. He reprised his role as Lloyd Christmas in the belated sequel to Dumb and Dumber, and he’s appeared as Dr. Robotnik in all three of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. But for the most part, Carrey has avoided making sequels. He never made a sequel to Liar Liar or Yes Man or The Truman Show. Unfortunately, just because Carrey doesn’t want to make a sequel to one of his movies, it doesn’t mean the producers won’t still try to make some money with one.
Son Of The Mask & Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective Are Both Awful Jim Carrey-Less Sequels
They’re Both About The Son Of Jim Carrey’s Character
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In 1994, Carrey burst onto the scene with the triple whammy of The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. He went from being an obscure comic actor to one of the biggest movie stars in the world almost overnight. Naturally, the studios behind these movies wanted to capitalize on their success by launching a franchise. But Carrey, with the much-deserved freedom to make whatever movies he wanted, was more excited by original projects like The Cable Guy.
He did make one sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, but it was so poorly received that it caused Carrey to swear off sequels. After that, if the studios wanted to make a sequel to one of Carrey’s movies, they had to figure out a way to do it without him. Two of those Carrey-less sequels — Son of the Mask and Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective — got around his absence with the same angle. They both revolve around the son of Carrey’s character (and they’re both just awful).
Sequels To Jim Carrey Movies Without Jim Carrey Were A Recipe For Disaster
Removing Carrey Removes The Reason The Movies Worked In The First Place
Whether it’s a big-budget movie like Evan Almighty or a straight-to-video movie like Ace Ventura Jr., making a sequel to one of Carrey’s movies without Carrey’s involvement is a fool’s errand. The reason why a movie like The Mask or Ace Ventura or Bruce Almighty works is entirely down to Carrey’s performance. By removing Jim Carrey, these sequels have removed what made audiences fall in love with the original film in the first place.