Genres: Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi Countries: USA Actors: Tommy Lee Jones Kevin Brown, Agent Kay Will Smith Agent Jay Rip Torn Zed Lara Flynn Boyle Serleena Johnny Knoxville Scrad/Charlie Rosario Dawson Laura Vasquez Tony Shalhoub Jack Jeebs Patrick Warburton Agent Tee Jack Kehler Ben David Cross Newton Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine Hailey Peter Spellos Captain Larry Bridgewater, The Motorman Michael Rivkin Man with Harvey, the Dog Michael Bailey Smith Creepy Lenny Venito New York Guy Directors: Barry Sonnenfeld IMDB Rating: 5 out of 10 (45319 votes)

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The men in black are back, looking smooth and fending off another attack by renegade aliens. The first “Men in Black” had to devote a good portion of the film to setting up the premise of a secret agency that monitors aliens on Earth - and then convincing Will Smith’s character to buy into it. “Men in Black II” has the advantage of being able to jump headfirst into the ‘imaginary’ agency’s workings. Along with those stylish guys in dark suits and dark glasses, the Worm Guys are back and so is that pugnacious pug, Frank, with an even more prominent role than in the 1997 film.

The plot isn’t critical to “MIB II.” Audiences expect the film to show Agents Jay and Kay battling aliens who are on the verge of destroying the planet - and, surprise, that’s the plot in a nutshell. Sure, there’s a sinister, sultry lingerie model, Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle), who gets to look sexy while tendrils snake out of her fingers, and there’s a side story involving romances for both Agents Jay and Kay, but mainly “MIB II” is a buddy movie with a bunch of weird, comic aliens tossed in.

When “Men in Black” was first released, it was said that two more unlikely co-stars couldn’t possibly be teamed in a sci-fi comedy. $587 million later, it can be unequivocally stated that the teaming of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones worked. Their chemistry melded into an onscreen partnership that surprised critics and amused audiences. That pairing works again in “MIB II” - Tommy Lee Jones‘ serious actor persona providing the perfect straight man for Will Smith to bounce frantic comic lines off of.

Speaking of strange onscreen pairings, Will Smith should have listened to that old showbiz adage about working with kids and animals - Frank the pug steals every scene from his non-furry counterparts. I annoyed my husband by driving home singing “Who Let the Dogs Out,” a song my husband had hoped he’d never hear again after it vanished from airplay. In addition to singing that song and another, classic 70s hit, Frank the pug has some of the funniest lines in the film - a strange accolade for a dog starring in a live-action film opposite an Academy Award winner (Jones) and an Academy Award Best Actor nominee (Smith).

Smith and Jones pick up right where they left off, managing to recapture that same chemistry that worked well in 1997. Lara Flynn Boyle pulls off her supporting role as the evil Serleena. She poses, she vamps, but it’s all in character so it works. Johnny Knoxville does ’stupid’ well as Serleena’s two-headed sidekick (in this case, two heads are definitely not better than one). I liked Rosario Dawson’s character and was disappointed she wasn’t given much room to develop it further. As Will Smith’s love interest, Dawson adds a needed human touch to the story, even though her screen time is very limited.

“Men in Black II” doesn’t totally succumb to the dreaded sequel disease, however it does recycle a good amount of material from the original. Never taking itself seriously, “MIB II” manages to come up with a few good zingers. Coming in at just under 90 minutes, it provides fast paced harmless, fun - lots of fluff, non-lethal aliens, and absolutely nothing that will tax your brain.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

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