Review of Men in Black II (2002) by Will H — 22 May 2012

The world (ahem, universe) of Men in Black was barely explored in the first installment, so of course it warranted a sequel. And from the production, it seemed like they were at least attempting to hit the right notes, by bringing back director Barry Sonnenfeld, both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and giving us a seemingly worthy story to explore the character of K outside of his role as an MIB agent.

However, despite recapturing some of the chemistry between the leads, solid direction by Sonnenfeld and excellent effects work once again by Rick Baker, and the return of Danny Elfman's amusing score, Men in Black II is ultimately a failure.

Despite the shake-up of the dynamic between J and K, the plot still ultimately feels far too derivative of the first go-around. Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro's script feels like it suffered through several large rewrites that jumbled the plot around and messed up the focus of the story.

Are K's fragmented memories the main drive, or is it K's romance with Laura? What about this diabolical plot by this new alien queen, Serleena? There are simply too many competing interests, and despite some of the threads coming together at the end, none of them feel satisfied.

I could praise Smith and Jones' performances as I did the first time, but that's all they are, more of the same. Lara Flynn Boyle is godawful as the villain, and Rosario Dawson makes for a bland love interest for J that unnecessarily clutters the story.

At least Elfman's clanging score is still good and appropriate. The laughs are also much more sparing here than last time, and the plot ultimately doesn't make a lick of sense. I have some level of hope for the upcoming Men in Black III, but judging from reports of a hackneyed script, and the effect that that had on Men in Black II, I wouldn't hold my breath.