On a recent hot august night as I was cruising home from a 9:30 showing of Men In Black II my mind drifted back to the summer of 97. It was hot then too, and rainy if memory serves. My friends and I had just left the theater after seeing an opening night showing of the first Men In Black. I remember being awe struck by the feeling that we had just seen something completely different, something groundbreaking. It had wit, charm, loads of comedy, and extremely cool, believable special effects. Men In Black heralded the true arrival of Will Smith as a force in Hollywood, and introduced the world at large to a side of Tommy Lee Jones we hardly knew existed. Tis is when we first realized that brooding Mr. Jones is a funny funny man. As I made my drive home after MIB II I was once again struck, though this time by the fact that MIB II seemed to merely remind me of the things the original had first brought us. Don't get me wrong Men In Black II is very funny, has a good story line and overall is a good movie. It just doesn't break any new ground, or have that "magic" feeling that the original did.
The story goes something like this: Agent Jay (Will Smith) has now been with MIB for a couple years. He has gone through a succession of partners (one of which is played beautifully by Patrick Wharton of The Tick) none of which seem to fit the bill. Regardless of theses relationship troubles it seems Jay has been kicking alien butt as only he can and has become one of the top agents at MIB. Enter stage left a saucy sexy evil space babe named Serleena who has come to earth to cause trouble (as in the first movie the evil alien is merely disguised as a human and is actually a repulsive extraterrestrial)and kick a little butt of her own. When she easily defeat all of MIB Jay quickly realizes he's overwhelmed and needs help. He hops in his high-powered MIB mobile (this time a Mercedes) and tears off to find the only man alive who can help him defeat Serleena before the earth is destroyed. That man, of course, is former Agent Kay, who is now in the employ of the US postal service.
Hmmm, is it just me or is this starting to sound a little familiar. One agent has to go and "Recruit" someone to help him fight the evil alien that is disguised as a human. If they fail the world will be destroyed. Speedy balck cars and a race against time. Are you seeing what I'm getting at? A better title would have been MIB 1½ or how about Diet MIB. There is even the same friendly cast of aliens to have fun with along the way Tony Shaloub is back as Jeebs the pawn shop owner, Frank the Pug get a bigger role and honestly one of the biggest laughs of the whole film, and of course it wouldn't be MIB without the worm guys maxin and relaxin.
Even with all the similarities though Barry Sonnenfeld manages to do something that nearly every director who tackles a sequel to a pop culture hit manages not to do. Mr. Sonnenfeld actually made this an enjoyable and funny movie that bears repeat viewing. The performances are fun to watch. No one seems to have taken the easy way out and “mailed in” his or her roles. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith still have fantastic comic timing, and are just a joy to watch. Laura Flynn Boyle as Serleena brings many um, assets to the role and I would surely like to see…more of her. Then of course the filmmakers were smart enough to surround these three stars with a fantastic supporting cast and array of cool cameos. Rip Torn is his usual crusty fun self. Johnny Knoxville, of Jackass fame, turns in a surprisingly excellent performance. And hell, even a certain king of pop elicited a few laughs.
That is the most important thing to realize going into this film, I think. It seems as if the writers and crew sat down and said, okay we know we aren't going to be original so lets at least make damn sure we're funny. And in that mission they were an absolute success. Good comedy, mixed with equal doses of excellent performance, cool aliens and a good story line (if not a very original one) combine to make this a very enjoyable film and a worthy successor to the original MIB. Just once though I would like Hollywood to deliver us a sequel that is not a mirror image of the original.
ByB. Alan Orange & Bag (with Billy Dooku) ( Warning: Agent Orange's review's are rated R ) "I liked the fleeting images I saw, they just didn't mean anything to me. I could have gotten these same results by flipping through the storybook in a supermarket checkout line. "
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