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Review: Men In Black II
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 ;)
"He's a Ballchinian!"
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grep "xercist"
It has also lost some of the originality. What happened to new movies with original screenplays?
Crapdot
News from birds. Stuff that splatters.
Saw Lilo and Stitch opening weekend. Like attendence at Powerpuff Girls, we were the only ones in our demographic in the theater. We also laughed harder and louder than anyone else. People probably thought we were stoned.
Speaking of which...why hasn't there been a slashdot review of Lilo and Stitch?
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.
"Sid"?? I'm pretty sure (and now positive after an IMDB check) that it's "Zed".
However, I will agree that the movie wasn't like the first, and for some reason, most of the CGI SFX seems poorly meshed with the rest of the visuals (for example, the two-headed alien). And TLJones didn't have the same deadpan that his character really needed (compared with the first). I will say, however, that getting Patrick Warburton (star of "The Tick") to play Agent T was a good choice and provided some good opening laughs.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
The Boss's name is ZED , not Sid. That's zed as in the last letter of the alphabet in all English-speaking nations except the U.S., where, for some unkonwn reason, we call it zee
www.wavefront-av.com
"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"
Who are you, and what did you do with the real JonKatz?
There is a throwaway reference to "your old partner who liked it better at the morgue." It all went downhill from there, and that was in the first five minutes. Kinda the way they keep dumping Austin Powers' girls.
Is your workplace ADA compliant?
working for a super-secret government agency
/.ers puts more credence in? :)
I got the idea in the first one that they didn't work for the government and were autonomous because it asked too many questions. Either way, anyone else find it funny how CmdrTaco simple 3 line review completely contrasts and pretty much cuts down JonKatz's review? Of course the question is which one will
I stole this Sig
Hollyweird has gotten so bad these days, that you can *practically* guarantee that anything with a number behind it will suck big time.
Nonetheless I was surprised when a sequel to MIB was announced (I didn't feel it needed one, but you know how Hollywood is..if the 1st made even a smidgen of money, sequel it!) and even more so that it didn't pick up where the last one left off (with Linda F. has Will's new partner).
So, I go see the film with reservations, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Sure, the film takes itself even less seriously than the last one, but it does expand more on the aliens and esp. the worm guys. It's funny, without degenerating into slapstick or schlock.
I think what helped that was having the same director for both.
In any case it's *certainly* better than other current sci-fi offerings currently playing at the theatres.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
It's dumb, it's action and silly comedy. I'm prepared to deal with that. Hell, I'm even looking forward to that. Nothing beats seeing summer popcorn movies at the theatre on a Saturday afternoon.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
The reviewer should pay a little more attention when he decides to write a review. The fact that he missed the part about the leader being Zed, not "Sid" is a big indicator of how much he missed.
MIB movies are not really about the plot. They are about mind expansion. About reading between the lines. And about perspective. That our perception is marred by the flaws of our memory, and our wishful thinking, and our emotional pain.
That your world view is just one of many, and pointedly, that thats OK.
Linda Florentino apparently is a difficult actress to work with. I have this on general hearsay from the 'net, so take that as you will. Either she has a prima donna attitude, or does not like to work in sequels. (Note her lack of appearance in any Kevin Smith movies after "Dogma", or MIB2.)
A third option escapes me, but--who knows--she may simply want to spend more time with her family.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Point B: With the possible exceptions of The Godfather Part II, Aliens, Superman II and Raquel Darrian's boob job...*all* sequels s***.
Point A + Point B = MIIB S***s!
Chris
"We knew all along, sadly..."
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Spoiler.
According to IMDB:
The original ending of the film included a scene in which the World Trade Center towers opened up, releasing a swarm of UFOs into the air. Following the towers' destruction the ending was re-shot and now takes place at the Chrysler Building.
No it doesn't. Anyone know what the story is with this? Did the script or storyboard for this scene ever leak?
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Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
Did anyone else thing this movie was really short?I went to see it at 5 and I was out of the theater by 6:35, and thats after 20 minutes of trailers and watching the credits. It took 5 years to make that?
I also enjoyed the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers trailer as well. However, I thought it would have been cooler to leave Gandalf out so those that don't know the story would still think he was dead. Can you imagine the sound of suprize in the theater when he popped up again?
Click here or here.
Click here or here.
I've noticed an odd effect, roughly for the past two or three years, prior to watching a movie, I've been a little exited by the hype, then while watching the movie, I'm usually really digging it. Then, anywhere from a couple of hours to maybe a day later, I'm thinking about it and going, "man, that movie actually kinda sucked".
I mean, Episode I, despite Jar Jar, I was really exited and into it, because my 6 year old son was. But later, thinking about it, I couldn't find any really redeeming qualities to it except maybe a little satisfaction at knowing some of the earlier history of Star Wars.
Same with Episode II. Damn, nearly every movie I've seen in the theaters for the past 2-3 years, except maybe Being John Malkovich.
That said; having seen MIIB yesterday - it sucked. It sucked really bad. I want my money back. I want my two hours back. Seems the only way Will Smith can get people to listen to his RAP anymore is to get in a movie and virally infect the soundtrack with it. The ONLY worthwhile bit was when he says his car originally had a black driver, but he kept getting pulled over. And I saw that in the trailer.
And I'm not going to see Minority Report, because I'm boycotting the Church of Scientology.
Depressingly, the next movie I'm looking forward to is LOTR II. At least I got to see the trailer. But even more, I'm looking forward to LOTR I's DVD with the extra hour of footage.
Fuck this. Movies suck, work sucks, I'm the only person in the office - screw it I'm going to the beach.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Click here or here.
I was hurt by how cheezy the plot holes in the movie where.
We have an orginization that is in control of the worlds aliens and does all check ins yet has no backup plan for a rogue alien in the terminal?
After agent K get's deneralized, and I mean as he gets out of the chair, he is talking about how he can't remember what they are looking for becuase he neralized himself to make him forget where he put it or what it was. Um what about the deneralizer you just used to get your memory back?
I am not one to bitch about a movie using suspension of disbelief to get a point across. As I have told people before I am paying $8 to see fantasy, if I wanted to see real life I would go stand on the street corner for two hours. Their is a limit of course and I feel that this movie did not do enough to try and cover for that. Something as simple as having his memory coming back over years durring the course of the movie would have worked. With him hitting the relevant information at the right moment. Could have had some great jokes embedded in it, like having him bitch that agent X neuralized him after cheating at poker for example. The lack of thinking in the writing gives the movie the feel that it is a quick cash in for a buck and that is it.
Papa Legba come and open the gate
Uhm...there's only one movie after Dogma.
What no review for the Powerpuff Girls? I loved it. There were some great Planet Of The Apes refs. (* Plus going by the quality of the other 10 or so "movies" I have seen this summer -- it's kinda hard to be any worse.)
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
- Signs (Mel Gibson + crop circles)
- Triple-X (James Bond meets Tony Hawk)
- Terminator 3 teaser (no footage)
- Blue Crush (hot chicks trying to surf)
- Uh.. the slasher movie series with Jamie Lee Curtis in it.
I think that was about it. No Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, or the like. But, the animated short was freaking hilarious.Nathan
Interestingly enough, "Jay" and "Kay" is the way it is written in a number of places, go to a neighborhood lenscrafters if you don't believe me...
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
They do not work for ANY government agency.
they fund themselfs through patenting alien technology, then licesing it.
"I'll have to buy the White album again"
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Seriously, why does this movie constitute a review on Slashdot? Lord of the Rings, OK. Attack of the Clones, OK. Matrix, OK. Monsters Inc, OK. Those are somewhat "geek oriented" movies in story or technology. MIB wasn't really, and I am guessing that this one isn't either. Is it considered Sci-Fi? Are all Sci-Fi movies going to be reviewed? But I don't really understand why Katz is allowed to post any story.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
No, they're actually American, and the film takes place in America.
Just consider it a subtle way of expressing that Europeans are somehow more sophisticated than your average American white-trash.
What's that cliche? Immitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
No offense buddy, but I hesitate to place too much credence in a movie assessment by somebody who knows what Raquel Darrian's boobs looked like *before*... (I do now, thanks Google Image Search :-D)
Freedom: "I won't!"
The Men in Black work for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. (INS, Division 6, if I recall correctly).
I just watched the original last week. Single letters were definitely on the lockers they showed. Besides, Kay is a girls name. Are they just catering to really stupid people then?
I thoroughly continue to enjoy it. But I'd be glad to take suggestions on what to listen to instead.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
Please mod up funny. CHRIST
Black holes are where the Matrix raised SIGFPE
of people pining and moaning about how bad movies are. Get over it. If you go to a movie like this expect very little and hope for the most. Do that and You just might get more than you expected making the movie a better experiance all around. I figured MIB2 was going to suck, but I was happy to see a decent funny movie.
if you want "No More Hiroshimas" then I say "You First. No More Pearl Harbors."
I'd rather stay at home and watch Lilo and Grub. :)
I swear, you people are self destructing yourselves so that you can't enjoy the $7 spent on watching a movie.
So far, I've read a lot of comments like 'unoriginal' or 'repackaged' or 'sucked' or whatever.
Blah blah blah.
You guys are kinda missing the point to watching a movie. The idea isn't to get exposed to some killer plot, the idea is to have fun. That means: Don't take it too seriously. MiiB is not part 2 of an epic trilogy. It's a comedy, it's meant to entertain for about 90 minutes or so. And it does do that. But, if you sit there being all critical about it the whole time, you're ruining it for yourself. Blame the movie if you want, but remember that's your $7.50 you're burning up.
The first problem I see is that it's being horribly overanalyzed. One guy went on to say "they shouldn't have written out the chick at the end of MiB, bad bad bad.". Err okay. So you didn't like the movie because it didn't extend the first one by 90 minutes.
Another guy went on to say '...another Wil Smith pop-corn action movie.' Can you say 'oversimplified'? Put it like that, and anything can sound stupid. 'Slashdot is like another Wil Smith pop-corn action movie'. See my point?
You can't possibly enjoy a movie if you sit there and pretend you can make it better. (you can't. All you can do is 'fix' the problems you see with it.) Instead, just sit down, watch it, have fun. MiiB is meant to be silly. It's not meant to be epic, it's meant to be fun. Smile.
If it's not your type of movie, don't go see it. Don't bug us about it either. We clear?
Probably, I know in the original movie they were just letters, and it made far more sense than this 'Jay' and 'Kay' stuff in the lenscrafter's ad campaign.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
I hope the DVDs in your rating system aren't region locked... otherwise, they're not really good for an "open" standard, are they?
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
It's interesting to note that Warner Bros. has confirmed they are making a large (more than 6) number of shorts destined for leadins to big screen movies using the standard Looney Toons characters (eg Bugs, Daffy, etc). Along with Pixar's bits and this ImageWorks thing, there appears to be trend towards this in the movie industry. Of course, there's tons more ads and movie previews of late (for PPG today, for example, I had at least 15 min of both), so this might not last long if it takes away too many screenings from theaters.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
I just check the MIB2 website and they listed him as Kay there too.
...maybe for most folks, but not everyone. Some of us remember that there was a MIB comic years before - the same comic the movie is (somewhat) based on. I met the guy behind it (Lowell Cunningham) eons ago, back in Atlanta in a now-extinct bookstore. It was an independent B comic... no Marvel/DC/etc.
"People" using "unnecessary" quotes should be "shot".
Speaking of which...why hasn't there been a slashdot review of Lilo and Stitch?
Three reasons.
For one thing, "Lilo" is taken. Not only is it the name of the old Linux bootloader (before distributions started using GRUB instead), but wasn't "Leeloo" (probably the same underlying name as "Lilo") a character in The Fifth Element, played by Ms. Jovovich?
For another thing, Lilo and Stitch is released under the Disney label. The Walt Disney Company (parent of Disney, Touchstone, and Miramax) was the biggest corporate sponsor of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and one of the biggest proponents of the DMCA's circumvention ban (among movie studios, only Time Warner gave the U.S. Congress more money in 1998).
Finally, because you haven't submitted your review for consideration by the Slashdot editors.
Will I retire or break 10K?
70 damn minutes. Why bother? It was almost as short as the short that played before it. 25 minutes of commercials, trailers, and chubb chubb, then 70 minutes of movie.
In one word: Manos
;P
More properly: Manos: The Hands of Fate
Worst movie ever made...and yes, I've seen the non-MST3K version. Well...most of it...I think...what I didn't sleep through, anyway.
I liked the opening, I liked the middle, and I liked the end (mostly). When I went in to this movie I wasn't expecting to see anything deep... just fun. And it was fun as hell. Frank "singing" along with "Who let the dogs out" was a riot. I don't care about plot in these movies, just entertainment. And it delivered full measure on that judging from the reaction of the audience at my showing. For those of you reading these reviews go see it and judge for yourself. At least you'll keep cool in the a/c.
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
Finding God in a Dog
Saw the flick last night, and felt cheated.... it's virtually a copy of the first movie, the effects brought nothing new to the screen, and at 1 hour 20 minutes, hardly a movie-going value.
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
No, but I'm pretty sure I saw the World Trade Centre a couple of times.
I saw this movie in a theatre that only had about 20 or so people in it, on opening day! Usually, if a movie is good, albeit funny, dramatic, or maybe both, the crowd usually goes nuts. Not so for this one. There were numerous punchlines I which the sprint pin could have been heard hitting the floor. Most of the movie was a rehash of the first one. If it was not for the short before the movie, it would have been a complete waste of money.
Also, I must say, commercials and trailers? It now takes 25 or more minutes for the "blockbuster" movies to start. Doesn't it anger anyone else that tickets prices, food prices, even video game prices have gone up at the theatres in the last year, and now I have to watch tv ads too?!
Truly exasperating.
I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
The last film I saw was SW2:AOTC in a DLP theater. Now I know why DLP is so cool--the brightness is amazing, so the first ten minutes of MIB2 was spent thinking "god...its just not as bright."
...and his gf was way too cute.
****spoilers alert*****
Anyway, i think i generally liked it enough, though there were a few cheezy moments. My biggest disappointment is that they didn't develop the video store guy enough...here's a guy who, having seen all those mysteries unknown videos, who probably has a good idea of what MIB does, and he really wasn't showing it off (which woulda really annoyed Kay and Jay since they try to be all secret and shit.) C'mon...he coulda had his own black sunglasses or something.
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.
I think the reason why people have loved Lilo & Stitch is because of the fact the writers (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois) created some extremely impressive character interaction between Lilo, Nani and Stitch. That plus the fact the animation was very well done and the ending of the film worked so effectively is the reason why the movie is doing a lot of repeat business. :-) That's why I've seen the movie three times already.
you are just constraining yourslef (as most people do) to a very narrow choice (Hollywood blockbusters).
Try more Indy cinema and foreign films, many riches are to be found there, concentrating more on the movie and less in the artists and the hype.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
If one go movie after movie just having fun, well, one ends just a simplet uninteresting moron, or one was one in the first place.
Even fun has to be presented in an intelligent, original manner.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.