Subject: Review: Men in Black II (2002)

From: Frankie Paiva <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 20:02:04 -0000

MEN IN BLACK II   * * * ½

2002 – USA
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Lowell Cunningham, Robert Gordon, and Barry Fanaro
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rosario Dawson, Johnny
Knoxville, Rip Torn, and Tony Shalhoub

Reviewed by Frankie Paiva

Is there anything new and original for audiences this summer in Men in Black II
that wasn’t in the first movie? No, not really. From a critical perspective, the
film isn’t very good. It is a complete rehash of the first version, with few
surprises or twists. That said, the film was immensely enjoyable and
entertaining. While it doesn’t do anything new, it keeps the same sparkling,
fast-paced wit, bizarre characters, and well-executed special effects from the
original. The jokes come rapid-fire, and the majority of them are hilarious.
Smith has perfected his role as the cocky Agent Jay, but Jones is given less to
do in this film as the older and wiser Agent Kay. 

It’s a few years after the first film, and Agent Jay has become the head agent
of the Men in Black, an organization that protects the citizens of Earth from
evil aliens, and monitors the aliens among us on our home planet. Lara Flynn
Boyle is Serleena, a Medusa-esque alien villain made of snakes who, along with a
two-headed, very-low-IQ man (Johnny Knoxville), is searching the Earth for a
special light that will give her control of a planet she wants to rule. The only
person who knows how to stop her is Agent Kay, but there’s a problem. Agent Kay
was deneuralized (all memories of his previous experience as an agent was erased
from his brain), and is now working in a Massachusetts post office. His memory
must be restored so that the Earth will once again be saved. 

Many of Men in Black II’s are forgiven because of the performances in the movie.
Everyone seems like they’re having a lot of fun. Smith’s instructions to people
he deneuralizes and Jones’s memory recovery (a la Memento and Bourne Identity)
are their comic high points. There’s also a love interest subplot involving
Smith and a pizza diner worker (the gorgeous Rosario Dawson), who Smith is so
infatuated with, he forgets to deneuralize her. It falls a little flat, but the
two are cute together, and make a nice couple. This film will hopefully raise
the talented Dawson’s star profile (after appearing in Sidewalks of New York and
the underrated Josie and the Pussycats) and make her a big star. While Jones and
Smith have the conflicting buddy thing down pat, Rip Torn and Patrick Warburton
are less convincing (and less funny) as other members of the agency.

Luckily, the filmmakers keep to what we came to see. New and exciting aliens.
They’re in abundance here. My favorites were a group of twig-like creatures that
love to play Twister (they appeared in the first film), a brightly colored bird
that walks on two legs, and the always hilarious Tony Shalhoub, again appearing
as pawnbroker Jeebs. The title of best alien, however, goes to another creature.
A talking pug named Frank steals the show. Everything he says is funny, and he
alone is worth the price of admission. Depending on your definition of alien,
the award could also go to a certain internationally known pop star who many
associate with an alien race. He makes a cameo in this film. 

While there are many scary monsters, this film is appropriate for most families
with children over 11 or 12. The film has such broad comedic appeal that
everyone in the family is bound to enjoy it. The film is preceded by a
delightful computer-animated short that sets the tone for the feature perfectly.
For the 4th of July weekend, or any weekend at all, Men in Black II is great
entertainment and shouldn’t be held accountable for anything more than that. Its
short running time (88 minutes), plentiful humor, and exciting visuals make it
the perfect summer treat. Enjoy.

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X-RAMR-ID: 32267
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 734749
X-RT-TitleID: 1114604
X-RT-SourceID: 876
X-RT-AuthorID: 1334
X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4