There are certain kinds of sequels I can't stand, and those are the ones that make it so that the movie before it was pointless. "Alien 3" is a good example. I won't say what happens (just in case), but in the very beginning of that movie, everything that happened in the second movie ("Aliens") was completely invalidated. It was similar in "Another 48 Hours," though in that instance, I'm referring more to character relationships than the storyline. I don't know if I'm making it clear what it is that I don't like about those sequels, but I'll just cut to the chase. "Men in Black II" suffers from the same things that plagued "Alien 3," "Another 48 Hours," and plenty of others. The makers of the film practically invalidated the first movie for the sake of a story that's lame anyway. No, I didn't like "Men in Black II," and that's a shame, because I liked the first one a lot.
"Men in Black II" reunites the charismatic stars (Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith) and the flashy director (Barry Sonnenfeld). They even brought back the best make-up artist in the world (Rick Baker), the talented production designer (Bo Welch), and the composer (Danny Elfman). But what they didn't bring back was the writer. Ed Solomon's screenplay for the original "Men in Black" was fun, imaginative, and fast-paced. For the sequel, instead of Ed Solomon, they got two guys who have done good work in the past, but with this sequel, they dropped the ball.
The movie begins with Will Smith doing his thing as one of the Men in Black, and he has a new partner. You might be thinking that the new partner is Linda Fiorentino, but it's not. The reason for that is explained in a throwaway line that is one of several instances that, like I've been complaining about, makes the first movie seem pointless. What follows is a supposedly funny scene (it's not) that includes Will Smith riding an alien like a bucking bronco, all serving no purpose other than displaying cool special effects and setting up something for later.
Fortunately, there are a few good things in the movie, such as this one part, where we get to see the catastrophic effect of what happens when Tommy Lee Jones' character innocently touches a glass ball. Then there's what's in a certain locker at Grand Central Station. The very, very end of the movie is really cool, though it's perhaps too similar to the very, very end of the first one.
I didn't ask much of "Men in Black II," I only wanted to be entertained. The first one was certainly no masterpiece, but it was very entertaining, which was all I wanted. I only wanted to have some mindless entertainment. Unfortunately, this sequel had all the elements to be mindless, but somewhere while writing the script, they forgot to be entertaining. Supposedly, the plot is similar to an episode of the animated series, "Men in Black" (though the roles of the agents are reversed), which seems like a pretty odd source for the movie's sequel. A little more originality would be nice.
Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are both very good, but the chemistry isn't what it was in the first movie, not even close. Rip Torn is back as the no-nonsense boss, and so is Tony Shaloub reprising his role as "Jeebs." Lara Flynn Boyle (plays "Helen Gamble" in the TV show, "The Practice"... she was really good in the movie, "Happiness") plays the main villain alien chickie, but she isn't all that convincing or scary. I don't think she did a bad acting job, it was just a poorly written character. Two actors who were in "Big Trouble," the Barry Sonnenfeld film released before this one, are also in this movie, Patrick Warburton (starred in "The Tick," which is a TV show that Barry Sonnenfeld helped develop) and Johnny Knoxville (can be seen in the movie version of the MTV show, "Jackass" in a couple of months), and though I like both of them, they're wasted in this movie. The one bright spot came from somewhere I didn't expect, Rosario Dawson. I first saw her in the harrowing movie "Kids," and since then, I saw her in "He Got Game," "Sidewalks of New York," and "Josie and the Pussycats." She was okay in those movies, but in this one, she stands out. She looks better than I've ever seen her, and I like her character a lot. Her ending was pretty contrived, though. If you're wondering about her ethnicity, she's a true mutt. She's Irish, Cuban, Native American, African American, and Puerto Rican. Quite a mix, eh? Oh, keep your eyes open for some cameos, including ones by make-up guru Rick Baker, rapper Biz Markie, director Barry Sonnenfeld, and others. There's one that's... well, it's just bizarre. You'll know it when you see it.
And yes, the cute little dog "Frank" is in the movie, and for a lot more time than in the first one, but in the first one, a little bit went a long way. In this one, it was too much. Yeah, it was kinda funny at first, but it gets old really fast. Same with those obnoxious little worm-like aliens who like to smoke cigarettes.
Like I said earlier, "Men in Black II" was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (his directing career is hit or miss, having directed "Big Trouble," "Wild Wild West," "Men in Black," "Get Shorty," "For Love or Money," "The Addams Family" and it's first sequel). He's an inventive director, but when it comes to his movies, I suspect that he's a studio executive's wet dream. His movies are short, and he doesn't seem to mind interference from producers and the like. I see him more as a director-for-hire than a true artist. That's not to say that he doesn't have talent, but his work does seem to lack passion. As for the writing, the story was by Robert Gordon (he wrote "Addicted to Love" and helped write "Galaxy Quest"), and the screenplay was by Gordon and Barry Fanaro (he helped write the hilarious Farrelly Brothers movie, "Kingpin" and created the short-lived and very controversial TV series, "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer"). Both of them have apparently done good work before, but the writing in this movie isn't strong at all. And many of you probably already know that the movie was based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham.
I should mention the short film that precedes "Men in Black II." I forget the title, I think it's "The Chub-Chubbs," or something like that. It's a cute short film made by the animators at Sony Imageworks, and it's pretty cool. It's riddled with references to "Star Wars" and "E.T.," and it was pretty funny. I enjoyed it a lot more than the actual movie that followed it.
I didn't absolutely hate this movie, but it was a pretty big disappointment. I liked the way the first one ended, and it shoulda been left alone. "American Pie 2" respected the original "American Pie" by simply continuing a story about characters I liked, where I wanted to know what happened after prom night. "Men in Black" didn't need that. It ended the way it needed to end. The sequel destroyed that perfect ending, and it will probably continue with "Men in Black III." I might have to skip that one.
Scale of 1-10: 4