July 3, 2002

Men
In Black II
(Columbia TriStar) Rated PG-13
Release Date - July 3, 2002

It took five years and a giant spider (or was that a giant dog) to get the Men in Black team back together.  The delay begs the question, “Was it worth the wait?”  Well, no.  Not if you are looking for a moment of clarity that rivals a return to the Star Wars series or the upcoming Indiana Jones IV thrill ride.  Men in Black was a revelation of sorts when it arrived in 1997.  It took the alien invasion idea and turned it on its head.  It took two major movie stars at the height of their popularity and, in an unlikely twist, made them a team.  And director Barry Sonnenfeld and his team populated their freaky universe with some really good actors who made more out of broad gags than one might have thought was reasonable.  Vincent D’Onofrio did some remarkable work as a bug turned man turned bug.  Tony Shaloub killed, as usual.  Linda Fiorentino, Rip Torn, Siobhan Fallon, Carel Struycken, David Cross and others all added their twisted skills.

Men in Black II reminds me of Addams Family Values.  I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise.  These are Sonnenfeld’s two sequels.  But both films suffer and succeed because of Sonnenfeld’s sense of trying for brand new things, while staying tethered to some of the successful beats of the original.  So, we get expanded scenes with Frank the Pug and The Worm Guys, plus the latest incarnation of Jack Jeebs, in which Tony Shaloub once again proves to be one of the great character actors.   But we also get a lot of fresh new stuff that is really fun. 

So why isn’t MiB2 an outright smash?  Well, some of the new stuff is simply inferior, in some ways, because CG has become so viable.  The “Mikey” subway sequence is a wonderful idea.  But the CG chase is not as good as the non-CG payoff.  The Lara Flynn Boyle character is less complex as a character than I expect from Sonnenfeld.  She doesn’t have the quirks that I love in his films.  And her physical attribute as an evil alien is primarily represented by elastic fingers that attack people like strands of very fast ivy.   But the gag gets old in a hurry.  And we see it over and over and over again.  If D’Onofrio’s Edgar was a bug and Sonnenfeld constantly played with that, why isn’t plant woman Boyle/Serleena working that angle.  What’s really clever about Johnny Knoxville’s two-headed Scard/Charlie except for the visual gimmick, which is more successful sometimes than others?  

Then again, there are the happy moments.  Will Smith is still Will Smith.  Tommy Lee Jones in postman shorts… priceless.  He deadpans his way through the movie brilliantly.  Shaloub.  Rosario Dawson is a wonderful addition, but she doesn’t get enough character time… too much running.  Patrick Warburton does well, though I could have stood a little more time with him as well.  The great MiB2 tone is set by Biz Markie, who manages to deliver that same freshness that was in the original, even though we have to see a gag coming. 

Men in Black 2 is a true “middle movie.”  It is still lugging the furniture from the original, but it isn’t quite ready to break free.  Wanna know what Men in Black 3 should do?  Leave Manhattan.  J and K are together, tough and experienced.  Time to throw them out of their element.  Just imagine the range of alien hi-jinks that could be found in a place like Disneyland… the ultimate suburban getaway combined with unlimited opportunities for disguise.  What about a TV network or movie studio run by aliens?  Illegal alien immigration?  There’s a fine line, but it could be walked brilliantly.

Fine thought on MiB2… no one who liked the original is going to be seriously disappointed by the original.  It’s kind of like a bad orgasm… right, there are no bad orgasms, just some that are better than others.  MiB2 will leave you smiling and willing to go on another date, but it’s not going to be the best you ever had.