Men In Black
II
review by Devon T. Coleman
It seems that it should be easier to write a sequel. The characters are already
familiar, there's no need for much character development, you can just focus
on story. Men In Black II focuses on neither. The main focus is on Barry Sonnenfeld's
desire to make it into Guinness for "Most aliens crammed into a movie ever,
while at the same time avoiding plot advancement".
Our story begins with Agent Jay[Will Smith] fighting a giant worm in the subway
because Patrick "Bodyguard From Scream 3" Warburton made it mad. Big
Will ends up on a subway train trying to warn the passengers of the worm. They
don't care, though, because New Yorkers are so jaded. After calming the worm
down, Big Will wipes Patrick "The Tick" Warburton's memory because
he isn't a very good partner. After he returns to MIB headquarters, we find
that Big Will has been memory
wiping partners left and right because he can do whatever he wants, that's Big
Willie Style. He might also miss agent Kay [Tommy "U.S. Marshals"
Lee Jones].
If that is the case, he doesn't have to miss him long. An evil plant in a Lara
"The Practice" Flynn Boyle suit comes to Earth looking for the light
of...something. It doesn't really matter. She's looking for something, Tommy
Lee Jones knows where it is and Big Will has to bring him out of retirement
so that people can see the characters that they know and recognize.
If you remember the first one or even that there was a first one, you'll remember
that Big "Trigger Happy" Will memory wiped him, too. To do this, they
use a un...memory...wiper...thing. However, he still couldn't remember where
this light that Lara "Threesome" Flynn Boyle wants is. Apparently,
he memory wiped himself so that no one could get the location of this
light...thing.
Why the memory...returning...machine didn't return ALL of his memory, I'll never
know. And that's the main problem with this movie, there's a LOT that I'll never
know. When Tommy Lee "Double Jepoardy" Jones returns, there's a bit
of tension between him and Big Will. Then, suddenly, it's gone. Where'd it go?
Away, I guess. Before he wipes the memory of his new partner, Big Will is frustrated
with saving the world day in and day out, yet no one even knows who he is. That
frustration disappears with Patrick "Did I call him the bodyguard from
Scream 3 already?" Warburton. Why? Well, Sonnenfeld wasn't going for a
"subplot" record.
The biggest problem with this movie is the ending. I'm not going to "reveal"
it, if that's the right word, but it was completely tacked on. As if the focus
groups had a problem with where it should have ended. Although, technically,
usually there's something substantial with which to have a problem.
There are some good bits of dialogue. David Cross has some fun in his small role and Big Will turns in one of his most subtle performances. This movie is catching a lot of flack lately. You know, since it isn't very good, but I can honestly say I didn't like this movie any less than I liked the first one.
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