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Men in Black II.. |
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Movie Review: Men in Black II
Screenwriter: Robert Gordon, Barry Fanaro
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Rip Torn, Patrick
Warburton, Lara Flynn Boyle, David Cross, Darrell Foster, Linda Kim, Johnny Knoxville,
Tony Shalhoub, Michael Bailey Smith
Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
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Kit Bowen
Those secret but brave MIB agents are back in action, and this time they have to stop an
alien disguised |
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as a beautiful underwear model from
destroying the Earth.
Story:
Get ready for some more alien fun. When we last saw Agent Jay (Will Smith), he was a
greenhorn in the ways of the Men in Black organization--the highly funded yet unofficial
government agency that polices all things alien on Earth. His mentor and partner Agent Kay
(Tommy Lee Jones) decided to call it quits and had his memory "neurolized" so he
wouldn't remember any of the fun alien adventures he had. Now, five years later, Jay is on
top of his game. He's the king |
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bee at MIB, but he can't seem to find a
partner as worthy as Kay. That's about to change. When a particularly nasty Kylothian
monster named Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) lands on Earth, takes over MIB |
headquarters and generally causes a major
ruckus (all in the body of a lingerie model), only one man has the power to stop her--Kay.
Time to get the old man out of retirement. With the help of a beautiful young woman, Rita
(Rosario Dawson), who becomes an innocent eyewitness involved with MIB's operation as well
as Jay's love interest, Kay's memory is restored and he reteams with his partner to kick
some alien booty.
Acting:
It's all about chemistry, folks. When it works between two actors, it |
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makes all the difference in the world. Smith and Jones fit like
an old glove in this sequel and you can tell right away the two of them had a lot of fun
revisiting their alter-agents. But it seems Smith has taken his character further than
Jones. Jay is no longer the novice but rather the all-knowing professional, and Smith |
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plays it right, even showing how the
character is beginning to feel the isolation the job entails. Still, he hasn't totally
become the cold and impersonal agent like his former partner--he still likes to paint a
rosy picture for the everyday folks he has to neurolize. Jones' Kay has a few more lines
in his face, but doesn't offer much more than the hardened persona we saw before, either
as a civilian postal worker scolding his patrons on how to properly wrapped a package or
as a super-agent blowing the head off of an alien (knowing it will grow back). Boyle has a
blast playing the sexy villain, but who wouldn't have fun, walking around in black leather
and chomping up the neighborhood? As well, Dawson |
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takes the ingenue role and gives it something extra. It is also
nice to see some familiar faces, particularly Tony Shalhoub as the alien jewelry owner
Jeebs and David Cross as Newton, the hapless morgue worker |
from the original, now a video store owner.
Men in Black II does not surpass the original. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what is
missing from the sequel that the original had. It could just be that the first Men in
Black was fresh and new. Still, director Barry Sonnenfeld inherently understands he can't
reinvent the wheel. The slick sequel offers plenty to make it worth seeing, and it
certainly adds to the elements that made the original so much fun. This time around, it's
got more laughs and less gooey mess. Returning characters such as Frank, the talking Pug
(who houses a wisecracking alien) and those |
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lovable "worm guys," who have now
gotten kicked out of MIB headquarters for trying to rob the Duty Free shop, have more
screen time in the sequel and they milk it, stealing every scene they are in. Hearing the
dog sing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" while sticking his head out of the
window of Jay's car is priceless. |
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The film even gets to poke fun at those
celebrities we all suspect might be aliens (we won't give it away). The gadgets and cool
effects are plentiful as well, but the film really relies on the humor more than anything
else--thank goodness.
Bottom Line
Although it doesn't top the first Men In Black, MIB II is a worthy follow up to the
original, with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones letting us join them on more alien
adventures. It's a franchise that should keep going. |
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Courtesy: www.Hollywood.com |
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