Movie Review: Men In Black II

The production of MIB II was plagued by stars leaving (Famke Janssen) and stars demanding huge salaries (Will Smith). It took five years to coordinate the availabilities of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The end result is very funny but not the knock-out that its predecessor was.

It's hard to top a film as original as MIB. Make-up whiz Rick Baker stuffs MIBII with more outlandish aliens and the gadgets, cars, guns and space "stuff" are even more impressive. Smith and Tommy Lee Jones still have that dynamic duo chemistry that made the first film fly and as Serleena, a snake-like shape shifter up to no good, Lara Flynn Boyle is adequately evil although not as statuesque as Famke would have been. Evidently Famke and Barry (Sonnenfeld, the director) had some major differences of opinion. Poor Rosario Dawson as Will's love interest and the instrument of the plot twist, has little do to but look shocked at alien revelations and cow-eyed at Will upon whom she has an instant crush. We hope she gets more to do in her next film. Rip Torn is still funny as Zed, the head of MIB who just isn't really all there.

The plot was a bit hard to follow...something about Serleena coming back to earth for "The Light" left here long ago by a rival alien race. The case was handled by a younger Agent Kay (Jones) and the only way to save earth from Serleena, find "The Light" and send it back to its planet of origin is for Agent Jay to bring Kay back into the MIB fold and unlock his old memories. And, oh, yes, if they don't find "The Light", earth will be destroyed of course. There is something thrown in there about Jay being lonely and unhappy in his thankless job and yearning for a relationship but that never jells. All this is tossed out to us piecemeal as a sidebar to the Jay-Kay relationship which is really the core of what makes MIB work. I call it lazy storytelling with wonderful actors carrying the ball.

In my opinion Frank the Pug steals the show. As a smart-mouthed alien agent suddenly partnered with Will Smith's Agent Jay, the little pooch sings, saunters and bad-mouths with more believable expertise than the animals in Babe ever could. Those little politically-incorrect stick-like worm guys from MIB are back and now have their own custom apartment with a 4-foot ceiling that forces normal visitors to hunch over. Another highlight is a faux reality re-creation t.v. show starring ever-serious Peter Graves as he retells the story of "The Light's" first arrival on earth over the worst special effects (pie-plate-on-a-string spaceships) and bad actors you've ever seen. An entire race of tiny, fluffy creatures that live in a bus station locker and consider Tommy Lee Jones "God" is hilarious.

Overall, it is the Jones/Smith relationship and a collection of clever, humorous "bits" and visuals that make the film good entertainment. If it's a tight plot and sensible storyline that makes your film going experience worthwhile, this won't do it for you. Just go for a disorganized laugh.

Rated: PG-13 Official Website: MenInBlack.com