Subject: Review: Men in Black II (2002)

From: Edward Johnson-Ott <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 05:07:49 -0000

Men in Black II (2002) 
Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rosario Dawson, 
Tony Shalhoub, Patrick Warburton, Johnny Knoxville, Jack Kehler, David 
Cross, Colombe Jacobsen, Peter Graves, Michael Jackson, Tim Blaney. 
Alien makeup effects by Rick Baker. Music by Danny Elfman. Screenplay by 
Robert Gordon, Barry Fanaro, Story by Gordon. Directed by Barry 
Sonnenfeld. 88 minutes. Rated PG-13. 

Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly http://www.nuvo.net 
E-mail: [email-masked]   Archive reviews at 
http://reviews.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott 
To receive e-mail reviews, write [email-masked] 
with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. 

I went to see "Men in Black II" with high hopes, believing that the film 
had the potential to be one of the rare sequels that would improve on 
the original. After all, it had been five years since we were first 
introduced to the super secret quasi-government agency that polices the 
various alien species living on Earth – surely that was sufficient time 
to cook up a script even more inventive than the first one. 

Silly me. "Men in Black II" is just a typical sequel, uneven as hell and 
only about a third as entertaining as the original. The film has its 
moments, to be sure, but to best enjoy it you will need to lower your 
expectations. A lot. No, more than that. 

"MiB" ended with Agent Jay (Will Smith) using his neuralizer to erase 
the memories of his partner, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), allowing the 
tortured soul to rejoin the woman of his dreams and live a simple, happy 
life in a tiny Massachusetts town, blissfully unaware of any 
extraterrestrial activities. 

The sequel opens with Jay hitting the mean streets of NYC with Agent Tee 
(the always-wonderful Patrick Warburton), having neuralized several 
partners he deemed unacceptable (the absence of Linda Fiorentino, Jay's 
new teammate at the end of the original, is explained with a throwaway 
line). Tee's time in the service will be brief; his hotheaded behavior 
triggers a major tantrum from a giant alien slug living near a subway 
line. 

But the real threat comes with the arrival of Serleena (Lara Flynn 
Boyle), a shape-shifting sorta plant thingy that takes the form of a 
woman from a Victoria's Secret ad. Veteran makeup artist Rick Baker 
created the aliens for the film, but nothing he cooked up comes even 
close to being as scary as Boyle simply standing in her underwear, the 
hardened features on her face glaring above her emaciated frame. Yikes! 
Does anybody actually consider that grim face and skeletal body sexy? 
NOTE: Another celebrity with a frightening face pops up later in the 
movie, but I won't ruin the joke by revealing the identity here. 

After a quick funny-gross binge and purge by Serleena, we learn that she 
intends to locate an item that will give her the power to rule and/or 
destroy worlds at her whim. To that end, she slaughters an alien pizza 
parlor owner and secures the assistance of a two-headed nitwit (Johnny 
Knoxville). 

Enter Jay, with motor-mouthed talking dog Frank (voiced by Tim Blaney) 
in tow. Feeling the loneliness of being a man without a name, Jay 
interviews murder witness Laura Vasquez (Rosario Dawson), but fails to 
neuralize her afterwards. During a subsequent briefing with MiB head 
honcho Zed (Rip Torn), Jay learns that crucial information about the 
case lies in the excised memories of Kay. 

So the former NYC cop takes off to reunite with the craggy-faced Kay, 
restore his neuralized mind and save the world from Serleena. 

Will Smith is a gifted performer, but the film doesn't really begin 
until he and Tommy Lee Jones become a team again. Once the brash kid 
hooks back up with his deadpan partner, the film recaptures at least a 
fraction of the magic of the original. We get two terrific gags 
concerning tiny civilizations and a tart racial joke involving an 
autopilot, but alas, the script soon sinks back into sequel-standard, 
employing the "if it worked once in the original, beat it to death now" 
mindset. As a result, pawnshop owner Tony Shalhoub, ex-mortician clerk 
David Cross and the worm guys make extended redundant appearances. 

Clocking in at just over 80 minutes (minus the closing credits), "Men in 
Black II" feels about as necessary as "Ghostbusters II." Aside from the 
aforementioned sequences, expect much less wit, and far more busyness. 
Who knows, perhaps if you lower your expectations enough, you will be 
able to savor the occasional moments of inspiration in this pedestrian 
throwaway. 

© 2002 Ed Johnson-Ott

==========
X-RAMR-ID: 32242
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 734246
X-RT-TitleID: 1114604
X-RT-SourceID: 591
X-RT-AuthorID: 1099