Review: Men In Black II

The first Men In Black came out of nowhere five years ago. Barry Sonnenfeld stole the box office that summer with the original, strange, hilarious, spoofy sci-fi comedy. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were the perfect pair for this inventive "who-are-the-aliens-in-our-midst" romp, playing secret agents working for a super-secret government agency keeping an eye on beings from outer space. It was perfect for the era of the still-vibrant X-Files. The sequel, inevitably, has lost some of the surprise. But it's still plenty of fun. Spoilage warning: plot discussed, not ending, not that it matters here.

The story line is almost irrelevant. Will Smith (Agent Jay) has to neuralize one dumb partner after another, and ends up with a smart-mouthed, sometimes hilarious pug for a partner. He pines for his former sidekick Tommy Lee Jones (Agent Kay), now neuralized and working for the institution with the greatest number of aliens, the U.S. Post Office. (The movie, like the first, gets off some great double entendres and inside jokes).

The movie opens with a campy Peter Graves spoof on the Ed Woods' style sci-fi movies of the 50's and 60's. Simply, Lara Flynn Boyle plays Serleena, the powerful alien queen ravaging earth to get her hands on a distant planet's light source. If she isn't stopped, the world will be destroyed, of course. Her prescence forces the MIB agency (headed by Sid, played by Rip Torn) to go and de-neuralize Kay, who comes back to re-join his buddy and save the world.

This is all beside the point, of course. The whole film is a device for Sonnenfeld's loopy rags on Martha Stewart (not perhaps as funny as it would have been a month ago) and Michael Jackson. There are hilarious locker room and worm aliens, and blessedly, the movie never takes itself seriously for a single second. Like the better parts of the Scream series, the movie ends up spoofing itself and the people who loved it.

If you go see it, all you need to know is that the surprise originality of the first is missing, mostly because we know what to expect, but the loopy and inventive spirit of MIB is very much alive.

CmdrTaco my 2 bits is that this movie was bland. It probably is my least favorite of the last half dozen movies I've seen. I loved the original, but this just doesn't have the punch of the first. Its got its moments, but the whole ride is weak. Watch Lilo & Stich instead ;)

Comments

Best line

[xercist]

"He's a Ballchinian!"

ChubChubs!!

[taeric]

Say what you will for this movie. The short that preceded it was absolutely hilarious.

I believe I laughed more for those few minutes then I have at many full length movies.

I don't want to start too many spoilers on a root thread, so instead of listing the appearances, I'll just ask. Who all did people notice that they think may have been missed. I'll look for them next time. :)

Lets review the kiddie toons

[Anonymous Coward]

"why hasn't there been a slashdot review of Lilo and Stitch?"

It's in the queue behind "Pokemon II", "The Care Bears Movie", and "The Land Before Time IV"

This is odd...

[Wrexen]

Who are you, and what did you do with the real JonKatz?

Theme song

[Paraplegic Vigilante]

Does anyone else think that Will Smith MIB 2 theme song is really, really bad? Nod ya head? Anyone with me?

Re:Hmm

[great throwdini]

Of course the question is which one will /.ers puts more credence in?

Az with eevry othr /. storie, hoovre speeled theres' th beste.

Re:The boss's name

[Frank Grimes]

That's zed as in the last letter of the alphabet in all English-speaking nations except the U.S.

Wait, slow down. Are you saying that there are other nations, outside of the United States? I really don't buy that. And even if there were, how could thier language and culture be any different from ours?

Re:More sequels?

[CptNerd]

Yeah, really, can you believe they made a sequel to "Fellowship of the Ring?"

I mean, we've *seen* hobbits and elves and wizards, where are the *original* ideas?

Re:More sequels?

[MeowMeow Jones]

Not to mention the fact that they shamelessly ripped the story off from a book.

Re:The boss's name

[Kraft]

You need to study some geography.

I should have listened to the theme song

[CleverNickName]

Actually, the first warning sign that this was going to be a crappy movie (unheeded by me and my wife) is the Will Smith song. If a plot can be neatly summarized in a hip hop song, that should be a clear indicator to just stay away from the theatre.