Men in Black II

Let me just start by saying that I normally like movies with Tommy Lee Jones and / or Will Smith in them. They certainly don't belong to the enormous group of average and unnoticeable actors, but have some kind of style and presence that I really can appreciate. But I'm afraid that's about the best thing I can say about them right now, because what they did in this movie was nothing but a hasty 'grab-as-much-money-as-you-can' job and I really don't like to see that.

"Men in Black II" starts four years later from where the first one ended. Kay has given up life as an agent and has returned to civilian life, working in a postal office, while Jay has continued to work for the 'Men in Black'. While investigating what seems to be a routine crime, Jay uncovers a diabolical plot masterminded by Serleena, an evil Kylothian monster who disguises herself as a sexy lingerie model. With their headquarters under siege and time running out, Jay must convince Kay, who no longer remembers anything of his time with the MIB, to rejoin the agency so they can save the Earth from being destroyed completely.

I admit that some of the special effects were nice to watch, but even that didn't always convince me. Some of the aliens were small masterpieces, others however seemed like a hasty job, unfinished by the people of the computer graphics department. The only possible explanation for that might be that they wanted to save enough money so the profit rate would be even larger. And the computer animations weren't the only one to suffer from that problem. The script writers didn't come up with any new things either. All they did was to repeat what worked in the first movie. It even seems like they didn't have the time to come up with a new and decent plot.

And yet not everything was that bad. The humor for instance worked, not always perfectly but it worked. Jokes like "It came with a black dude, but it kept being pulled over" when they talk about the automatic pilot in the Mercedes were funny. I even liked that dog singing on the front seat of the car, but overall it just wasn't enough to save the entire movie. No, if you are looking for a spectacular new movie that is full of great acting, a great story and some excellent computer animations, than you'll be very disappointed by this one. It just seems like they threw it together in a couple of weeks and that's why I can only give it a 6/10.

`Originality,' is, almost by definition, a one-time thing. In 1997, the original `Men in Black' struck a nerve with movie audiences by showing that even a big budget blockbuster, heavily loaded down with state-of-the-art, computer-generated special effects, could still manage to seem light on its feet. The makers of that film pulled off this feat of gravitational legerdemain by coming up with a concept and a script overflowing with creativity, wit, imagination and a cachet of `hipness' to go along with its tone of anarchic playfulness.

Well, five years have passed and we now have `Men in Black II' to confirm what most of us suspected all along: that works that rely on `uniqueness' as their prime selling point are rarely ever able to duplicate their success a second time around. Five years can be a lifetime in pop culture and what seemed `cool' one summer can appear decidedly `old hat' the next. Without that aura of cutting edge newness that defined the original, `Men in Black II' seems like just another loud, over-the-top summertime blockbuster.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back playing Jay and Kay, agents for the government's top secret organization whose job it is to monitor the activities of the thousands of aliens who have secretly infiltrated earth's societies and to help protect the planet from any possible threat from interstellar space. Smith and Jones still appear to be quite comfortable in their roles and they are aided by Lara Flynn Boyle, as Serleena, the baddest alien this side of Darth Vader, and Rip Torn, delightful as Zed, the slightly cracked head of the Men in Black agency.

Although the special effects in this film are, as one would expect in this day and age, astonishing and virtually seamless, the same can definitely NOT be said for the film's screenplay. The story moves along at a fairly fast clip, but it rarely makes us laugh. In fact, the script comes across as undisciplined nonsense, lacking both logic and coherence. Unlike in the earlier film, we get the sense that literally everything here has been placed at the service of the special effects. There's an awful lot of running and bouncing around but rarely to any point or purpose. Indeed, we end up feeling at the end somehow more exhausted and drained than exhilarated and euphoric. It would appear that director Barry Sonnenfeld thought that if he could just keep the thing MOVING we wouldn't notice that he had nothing new to offer in this retread. It doesn't work. In fact, if `Men in Black II' shows us anything, it is that just because something MOVES doesn't mean that it can't bore us at the same time.

My Take: Not as wildly enjoyable as the first, but makes a terrific sequel.

Summer movie sequels are usually the victims of the "sequelness". Most sequels to big blockbuster hits tend to simply repeat the success of the first film, and simply recycle the formula of its predecessor. MEN IN BLACK II (or simply MIIB) is no exception. It practically repeats the formula of the first film: Aliens are out again, J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back as partners to fight against it and the whole lot. The formula is copied, but the same cannot be said about the rest of the film. There are new rabbits in this same bag of tricks. Although most innovations are of special effects, MIIB provides some new fun moments in a somewhat formula approach.

Like said, MIIB returns Smith and Jones as the dynamic duo out to stop an alien, a creature called the Kylothian, who takes the form of a lingerie model (Lara Flynn Boyle), who, guess what? Trying to take over the world. of course. This is nothing new in comparison. It's mostly just a retread of the previous film. But few of these "been there, done that" sequels are fun in a different way. This one is, and it's actually surprisingly entertaining. The new script by Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro contains a number of effective puns which elevates the humor from other formula sequels.

Of course, there are new and colorful special effects from mostly the same crew of the original film. The effects by effects house Industrial Light & Magic and make-up artist Rick Baker are still outlandish and imaginative. They still give us a host of aliens and creatures that we can feast our eyes upon. Not much imagination went to the storyline and characters, but a lot was certainly invested upon the effects and visuals. Kudos for director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch and much of the special effects crew for providing a colorful atmosphere that bursts with liveliness in an otherwise formulaic episode of summer sequel season. It's the same old thing, but with new fun.

Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.

Men in Black II contains lots of humour and competently executed visuals, however the story falls short of the original Men in Black. But it's always enjoyable to visit an old friend, even if they aren't on top form.

This movie is the sequel of course to the hit movie "Men In Black". I gave this movie a six, but I felt like being generous (I probably should give it a five). This movie is short. I mean really, really short. There is a short that preceded the movie so that tells you how short this movie is (the short got more laughs than the movie I think). I went to this movie knowing how short it was, but it just went by so fast and the movie was a bit unmemorable that it was a waste of time to drive to the theater. There was no time for character development or much story development. In fact, the opening credit scene itself took four or five minutes. The story has Smith's character trying to get the memory back of Jones character to battle an alien threat. For the most part there isn't much that is funny in this one, but there are a few scenes to make a person chuckle. Then there is the pug dog. I think it had the same screen time as Tommy Lee Jones. It was funny in small doses, but its role was expanded way too much for the sequel. Johnny Knoxville's character was lame as was the main villain, which had looks but no funny dialogue at all. Tony Shaloub is back, and once again his character's role is small and underused. So all in all this is an inferior sequel by all means with just enough to look at to keep you from getting bored. If they ever make a part three, please let them get a director who is capable of making a movie.