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Will Smith (left) and Tommy Lee Jones reunite to save
Earth from the scum of the universe in Men in
Black II.
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For all the whiz-bang, knock-your-eyes-out special effects in Men in Black II -- and there are a lot of them -- the best piece in the whole movie is a simple shot of Will Smith trying to untangle himself from a mess of plastic hoses.
Whoever thought a film so utterly slick could be so unabashedly silly?
Well, director Barry Sonnenfeld for one. The man lives for slick and silly. Just take a peek at his filmography: The Addams Family, Wild, Wild West, Big Trouble and the original Men in Black. Each of those films shine with Sonnenfeld's sleek, comic book-style flair. This is, after all, the man who created The Tick for television. Yet despite his visual fandango, his hallmark remains that special off-kilter tone that all of his films possess.
MIB2, an eagerly anticipated follow-up to the 1997 smash hit, is no different. Sonnenfeld creates a shiny New York City playground and fills it to the brim with bizarre creatures and colorful characters. The film looks great and, for some moviegoers, that might be enough. Then insert Smith as Agent Jay and the always-dependable Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Kay into that world, and the laughs will follow.
The movie begins with a nice hokey reference to old-time mystery shows, complete with a Peter Graves cameo. According to Mysteries in History, an alien race wanted to hide a special energy-form called "the light" on Earth in 1978. When another alien race landed and demanded it, the Men in Black refused to harbor "the light" and both alien species were left to fight it out elsewhere.
After 25 years, the dangerous aliens are back, and they have reason to believe that "the light" is still on Earth. It's up to the Men in Black to keep the peace.
When last we left them, Agent Kay had retired from the covert alien business, and Agent Jay picked up where he left off. But the commitment the saving-the-world business demands has sucked all the fun out of Jay's life. He's turned just as crotchety as Kay used to be.
When bad alien Serleena (a curvy Lara Flynn Boyle) starts disturbing the galactic peace, the only choice the Men in Black have is to pull Kay out of retirement and hope that some part of his memory of those 1978 events still exists somewhere.
Watching Smith play the heavy in the first act of the film isn't very fun. What made the original installment so good was the straight man-funny man routine that Jones and Smith nailed. Making one guy play both roles is never good.
Is it any wonder then that the film really picks up steam when Agents Jay and Kay reunite and resume the banter? The sparks fly almost immediately. (And in case you're wondering whatever happened to Linda Fiorentino's character from the original Men In Black, there is a throwaway reference that clears everything up.)
It would have been hard to imagine MIB2 without Jones. While he doesn't contribute many zingers or punch lines, his presence and gravity give Smith more freedom to play the comic foil. Ironically, it's not unlike early X-Files episodes. When Scully played it straight, Mulder could have the fun. Jones, with his wrinkly face and perpetually sullen scowl, is usually a scene-stealing showman. When he goes the other way, he just might be the best straight man in the biz.
Additionally, MIB2's supporting cast provides great comic reinforcement. Back for a second go-round are Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub and David Cross. Newcomers Johnny Knoxville, as a two-headed baddie, and the understated Patrick Warburton also add some spice to the soup. If it looks like Sonnenfeld brought over almost all of his Big Trouble players, it's because he did.
Boyle breaks out of her stodgy prosecutor character from The Practice enough to chew some scenery as the evil queen, Serleena, but no one can top Vincent D'Onofrio's brilliant performance from the original Men in Black. He raised the bar pretty high as an alien in a loose fitting human costume. Boyle doesn't seem to have nearly the fun he did, but her busty bad girl isn't given that much to do.
The film really belongs to Smith. While his performance in Ali was noteworthy, seeing him jump back into comedy is refreshing. He has a great sense of timing and plays off all the CGI characters around him quite convincingly. Note to the latest Star Wars cast: study Smith closely.
MIB2 isn't the vainglorious sequel we're used to seeing out of Hollywood -- all style and no substance -- but it doesn't quite stand up to the brilliance of the original, either. Too often, we see gobs of money thrown at second and third installments when the studio would have been better served spending time on the scripts. (Anyone remember the Batman franchise?)
Still, for your movie dollar, you would be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining film playing the big houses right now. Finally, a summer brew that tastes great and is more filling.
CityBeat grade: B.
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