Men In Black II, the sequel to one of the biggest blasts of 1997, is neither as good as it should be nor as bad as it could be.
Instead, it's in that annoying middle range, just entertaining enough not to hate, too mediocre to love (although, with the fabulous sales job Columbia is doing, MIB II is guaranteed to be a summer blockbuster).
The startling originality of the 1997 movie -- especially for those who never read Lowell Cunningham's comic book -- has dissipated. There are few surprises here, none special.
The sales slogan for the new flick is: "Same Planet. New Scum." All that really means is that the sequel has the same general premise and lots of new bizarro aliens created by the dazzling special-effects team led by wizard Rick Baker.
The screenplay by Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro, however, is lame -- even stupid at times. It is also unnecessarily complicated for a plot that has no real emotional buzz. Even Ed Wood's "classic" sci-fi comedy Plan 9 From Outer Space, often cited as the worst movie ever made, has a more fully realized storyline.
As we already know from the trailer, MIB II picks up several years after the end of the original flick. The gruff Man in Black, Tommy Lee Jones, is brought back from retirement and exile, where he has been working for the U.S. Post Office after being neuralized in 1997, a procedure to make him forget all he knows.
The slick Man in Black, Will Smith, needs his old partner back in the MIB service, with his memory and crusty demeanour restored, to save the planet from evil aliens.
The chief villain is a busty, lusty and often semi-naked Lara Flynn Boyle. With the writhing serpentine appendages that she sends out of her head and hands, Flynn's freaky creature is like a grotesquely enhanced version of Medusa, the snake-headed Gorgon of Greek mythology.
Flynn is not, however, nearly as much fun as Linda Fiorentino, the morgue-mad doctor of the original. Fiorentino helped juice up Men In Black with a dangerous sensuality and ironic sense of humour. Flynn is just a venomous sight gag.
What is exactly the same is the incredible chemistry between the whimsical Smith and the sardonic Jones. And it's not just because they look great in sleek, black suits. These two knock each other around, verbally, like an old married couple. The love is there, as friends, but it is layered with sarcasm.
Also returning with expanded roles are Frank the Pug (the yappie dog with the voice of Tim Blaney), pawnshop proprietor Jeebs (Tony Shalhoub) and the lovable if obnoxious Worm Guys. Rip Torn is back as the MIB bossman.
New to the franchise is Johnny Knoxville in a two-headed, no-brain role as Flynn's alien sidekick. Bambi-eyed Rosario Dawson has a mystery role, but her chief and thankless task is just to look pretty and make goo-goo eyes with Smith.
Mercifully -- as is always true in a Sonnenfeld movie, whether it's great or just goofy -- MIB II is short. It cuts to the chase. It delivers or it doesn't. And you spill out of the theatre, back into the summer heat, before you know what hit you.
(More on Men In Black 2)
(This film is rated PG)
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