Men In Black 2 - Superbit [2002]

It's the sort of sequel that assumes walk-on-gag characters, who got a laugh last time round, deserve to be brought back and given bigger roles, which means the talking dog and cigarette-fiend worms show up again and wear out their welcome. Smith, a bigger star now than he was in MiB, unhappily has to play straight leading man rather than whacky sidekick, and his end credits rapping hasn't improved either. Its acceptable in-flight entertainment (and miles better than the Smith-Sonnenfeld Wild Wild West), but nothing here hasn't been done before and better. --Kim Newman

On the DVD: Men in Black II boasts a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that positively jumps out of the screen, while the Dolby Digital soundtrack hums with alien activity and Danny Elfman's classic spy film-inspired score. Disc 1 contains the film, "Frank's Favourites" (a selection of trailers for both films and videogames), a commentary from director Barry Sonnenfeld and "Alien Broadcast" (an in-movie feature that allows you to stop the film and watch a making-of feature connected with that scene). Disc 2 is packed full with a pick and mix of featurettes, detailing everything from the distinctive aliens to sound and audio looping. There is also an expansive outtake reel (most of which consists of Will Smith cracking up and Tommy Lee Jones getting annoyed), a somewhat highbrow but nonetheless entertaining documentary about Barry Sonnenfeld's comedy style, plus multi-angle scene deconstructions such as the subway worm and car chase. An alternative ending and Will Smith's music video and filmographies complete this expansive special edition. --Kristen Bowditch

Once again the world is in danger and it is up to the Men and Black to save it. Jay (Will Smith) has to bring back Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) out of retirement, for he is possibly the only person with the answers and is the only guy who can help him. Using the same tired formula and ridiculously forced jokes, the two are back together again ready to face the alien scum of the earth.

Now, there are some pros to the movie. There are some amusing moments and jokes that do tend to get a laugh or two. The picture quality is great and there are some really cool special effects. However, there are far more cons than pros. Tommy Lee Jones is great at being funny through his seriousness, but it is nothing we haven't seen in the first one. Will Smith seems even more desperate to be the center of attention in this one. There is hardly any lines that come out of his mouth that isn't a joke or a wisecrack. I did like Johnny Knoxville's character and thought he didn't do too bad. However, the rest of the acting in the movie just wasn't there for the most part. The film also is very short, proving that they couldn't even think of a lot of new things to put in this one. It's not even an hour and a half if I'm correct.

If you've seen the first "Men in Black," then you have seen this one. I loved the first film and I think they should've just left it alone. Now, they decided to make a new sequel that is nothing more but a forced product to cash in more money from the moviegoers. This is nothing new, of course, but this one seems a lot more desperate than the rest. While it is amusing at some points, it's just a tired movie that is running out of punch lines. It's that unfunny joke that your buddy keeps telling you over and over again with hope that one day you'll finally laugh and find it funny.


FUNNY AND IRREVERENT...   November 11, 2002
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
13 out of 17 found this review helpful

A funny and enjoyable sequel, MiB 2 is a film to be taken at face value. What you see is what you get. There are a lot of sight gags and jokes, most of which are funny. This is a simple, upbeat movie with some great special effects.

The premise of the film is simple. In 1978, Laranna, Queen of the Universe, landed on this planet, wanting to leave the Light of Zartha here on Earth, The villainous and totally evil, shape changing alien, Serleena, vowed to destroy any planet that would give safe harbor to the Light of Zartha. Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) was then the agent in charge of the operation that was to ensure that Queen Laranna would depart Earth, taking the Light of Zartha with her, with Serleena in hot pursuit, thus saving the Earth from destruction.

Enter present day Earth, MiB Agent J (Will Smith), having come into his own since the retirement of his mentor and former partner, Agent K, has neuralized yet another unsatisfactory partner, Agent T (Patrick Warburton). Summoned to MiB headquarters, J meets with the head honcho for MiB, Zed (Rip Torn), and discovers that his new partner is Frank the Pug. Together they are to investigate an unusual occurrence and debrief Rita (Rosario Dawson), the witness. He does so and discovers not only love at first sight when he meets Rita, but also that Serleena (in the form of Lara Flynn Boyle) is back on Earth, once more searching for the Light of Zartha and vowing not to leave Earth without it. Working with a pretty stupid, two headed alien, Scard and Charlie, hilariously played by Johnny Knoxville, Serleena is on the prowl. She must not, however, get her mitts on the Light of Zartha, or all is lost.

It turns out that Agent K must be brought back from the obscurity of Maine, where he is the postmaster, and de-neuralized, as it is he who carries with him the secret of what really happened to the Light of Zartha. Only Agents K and J, working together again, can stop Serleena from getting the Light of Zartha. In the intervening years since they last worked together, Agent J has matured, while Agent K finds himself flummoxed by the technological advances that the MiB have made in the years during his absence. Together again, Agents K and J are just as funny as they were the first time around, and the aliens are better than ever. The locker colony of miniature aliens that worship Agent K is my own personal favorite, though the swinging worm guys, who have their own stereotypic batchelor pad, give them a run for their money in the funny department.

Terrific performances are given by the entire cast. Look for a lot of fast paced action, as well as funny, though sometimes sophomoric, repartee, a lot of sight gags, wonderful alien creatures courtesy of the magic of special effects, and cameo appearances by Peter Graves and Michael Jackson. If you are willing to sit back, kick off your shoes, and take the film at face value, you will, undoubtedly, enjoy MiB 2.


*** DEJA VU ***   October 24, 2002
Mr. N. Carnegie (Kirkcaldy, Scotland, UK.)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful

Okay, so this may not be a patch on the original movie and a may have a weak plot that would struggle to fill a half hour TV show but Men In Black 2 is also nowhere near as bad as most people have made it out to be and it still has it's high points and amusing moments.

Five years after the original hit movie Men in Black took movie theatres across the world by storm, the world eagerly awaited Barry Sonnenfield's follow up which reunited the hit pairing of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. What the world expected was another hour and a halves worth of comedy and kick ass action. What we get is a plot that, much like the original, has an alien villain, Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) endangering Earth's population and the future of our planet, in her quest for the Light of Zartha. As it so happens, the only person who knows where the light is hidden is Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) but he's now working in a Maine post office and completely unaware of his MIB past, having been neuralized at the end of the first movie, leaving Agent J (Will Smith) to set about retrieving both K and his memory before it's too late. Cue a glorious laugh riot and lots of fun action. Well, you would hope so but....

One of the problems with sequels is that they invariably have so much weight of expectation but with the very odd exception (Godfather II, Empire Strikes Back etc.), they nearly always fail to be a match for the original and in some cases, such as Escape From LA, Highlander 2 and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, they can be just plain awful. Other movies just try to copy the successful formula of the original, missing out all the talent, originality, wit and imagination that went into the original making it such a hit in the first place. Such for the most part is the case with MIB 2, with many of the scenes and much of the plot being too similar to the original movie.

MIB II is in the end all action and FX but it is also generally uninspired and less entertaining than the original. I also think it missed Linda Fiorentino's presence but having said that, it does have its moments and it does have some good laughs: The high point of the movie is perhaps seeing Agent K as a militant postmaster complete with comedy shorts and long socks, as opposed to the cool black suit and shades of he usually wears and some of the scenes with Frank (the dog) are also amusing. However, that's about as good as it gets and seldom does it rise above average. Don't get me wrong though, this is not a bad movie, I did find it entertaining and it's hardly going to damage anybody's career. Most kids will love this regardless of its faults BUT although entertained my overwhelming memory of this movie is a sense of deja vu.


FUNNY AND IRREVERENT...   February 19, 2003
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

A funny and enjoyable sequel, MiB 2 is a film to be taken at face value. What you see is what you get. There are a lot of sight gags and jokes, most of which are funny. This is a simple, upbeat movie with some great special effects.

The premise of the film is simple. In 1978, Laranna, Queen of the Universe, landed on this planet, wanting to leave the Light of Zartha here on Earth, The villainous and totally evil, shape changing alien, Serleena, vowed to destroy any planet that would give safe harbor to the Light of Zartha. Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) was then the agent in charge of the operation that was to ensure that Queen Laranna would depart Earth, taking the Light of Zartha with her, with Serleena in hot pursuit, thus saving the Earth from destruction.

Enter present day Earth, MiB Agent J (Will Smith), having come into his own since the retirement of his mentor and former partner, Agent K, has neuralized yet another unsatisfactory partner, Agent T (Patrick Warburton). Summoned to MiB headquarters, J meets with the head honcho for MiB, Zed (Rip Torn), and discovers that his new partner is Frank the Pug. Together they are to investigate an unusual occurrence and debrief Rita (Rosario Dawson), the witness. He does so and discovers not only love at first sight when he meets Rita, but also that Serleena (in the form of Lara Flynn Boyle) is back on Earth, once more searching for the Light of Zartha and vowing not to leave Earth without it. Working with a pretty stupid, two headed alien, Scard and Charlie, hilariously played by Johnny Knoxville, Serleena is on the prowl. She must not, however, get her mitts on the Light of Zartha, or all is lost.

It turns out that Agent K must be brought back from the obscurity of Maine, where he is the postmaster, and de-neuralized, as it is he who carries with him the secret of what really happened to the Light of Zartha. Only Agents K and J, working together again, can stop Serleena from getting the Light of Zartha. In the intervening years since they last worked together, Agent J has matured, while Agent K finds himself flummoxed by the technological advances that the MiB have made in the years during his absence. Together again, Agents K and J are just as funny as they were the first time around, and the aliens are better than ever. The locker colony of miniature aliens that worship Agent K is my own personal favorite, though the swinging worm guys, who have their own stereotypic bachelor pad, give them a run for their money in the funny department.

The entire cast gives terrific performances. Look for a lot of fast paced action, as well as funny, though sometimes sophomoric, repartee, a lot of sight gags, wonderful alien creatures courtesy of the magic of special effects, and cameo appearances by Peter Graves and Michael Jackson. If you are willing to sit back, kick off your shoes, and take the film at face value, you will, undoubtedly, enjoy MiB 2.


Better than most people made out!   January 9, 2003
H. Trivass
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

As a huge fan of MiB, I was desperate to see MiB2!

I found MiB2 to be a funny and enjoyable sequel that really should be taken at face value. What you see is what you get.
Once again Tommy Lee Jones returns as Agent J, Will Smith returns as Agent K and Rip Torn as Zed.

However the return of Agent K all seems a little convenient to me and not particularly believable in my opinion! He must be brought back from the obscurity of the life of a postmaster, who rules over his colleagues with the same military precision as when he was with MiB!!! He must be de-neuralized in order to return (though I was led to believe from the 1st film that it was impossible - hence the feeling of convenience!)

In the intervening years since they last worked together, Agent J has matured, while Agent K finds himself flummoxed by the technological advances that the MiB have made in the years during his absence. Together again, Agents K and J are just as funny as they were the first time around

The aliens are overall quite impressive, but the colony of miniature aliens that live in Agent K's locker and worship him is my own personal favourite! It also had me laughing so much I nearly cried!

The entire cast gives terrific performances, all of who were fantastic choices!

Look for a lot of fast paced action, loads of sight gags, wonderful alien creatures courtesy of brilliant special effects, (though the two-headed alien looked false and silly at times!) and even a cameo appearances from Michael Jackson!!! If you are willing to sit back, kick off your shoes, and take the film at face value, you will, enjoy this funny sequel.

But, I was left feeling a slightly disappointed, as there was nothing new! They seemed to copying the same old jokes and situations from the 1st film! The danger of sequels when the original was so good!

Overall though, a brilliant, fun film that was sure to appeal to children and most adults!