Opinion

Men In Black II

Dir: Barry Levinson
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones

"Same Planet. New Scum."

Five years later....Agent Jay (Smith) is neuralysing partners at a worrying rate, insisting that he works best alone. Meanwhile, the arrival of Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) a Kylothian with world-conquering intentions, in search of a lost alien artifact causes trouble for the entire Men in Black operation. The only person who might have the knowledge necessary to save the Earth is currently working as a postmaster in Massachussets. Jay's latest mission is to find his former partner Kay, restore his memory, and save the Earth. Again.

It's traditional for sequels generally not to match the quality of their predecessor, and MIB II stays true to that tradition. It's good, but it's not that good. Solid performances, several laugh-out-loud moments, and the expected quota of really big guns make for an entertinaing 88 minutes, but that's about all.

The biggest problem is that the basic premise of the film, that there are hundreds of aliens occupying all manner of positions within human society, policed by the Men in Black, was explored entirely effectively in the first film. On that front, there's nothing more to say, but the film nevertheless spends a great deal of time trying to say it anyway.

Aside from that, the plot here is thin in the extreme. Agent Kay is coincidentally the only person with the requistite knowledge to save the earth, and seems far too easily to fall back into his former life. Serleena is a bit of a one-note bad guy who models her human form on a lingerie model for no particularly good reason and recruits the stupidest sidekick on Earth (Jackass's Johnny Knoxville as a two-headed alien), and the layering of Jay's situation today mirroring Kay's from twenty five years ago is unsubtle enough to have been applied with a trowel. It's just lazily put together.

But as mentioned, the central performances are rock solid, with Smith more confident than last time, and Jones more willing to let looks and silences carry the comedy for him. A few of the set pieces (the post office, the weapons dump, and the neuralysing of Agent Tee) are brilliantly funny, and new sidekick Frank the dog ("only on this planet") gets some of the best scenes.

It's not bad, and it is entertaining. But to be honest, you'd be better off grabbing a copy of teh first film from your video store and settling down with a few beers.