Men in Black 2

Review by By Clint Morris

In 1997, director Barry Sonnenfeld bought to the big screen the little-known Men in Black comics and quite amazingly, the film, which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, blew away the competition at the box office that year and went on to gross a hefty sum worldwide.

Quite surprising really, considering the film's plot was so paper-thin it could have been written on an Etch-A-Sketch, and that it was mostly on an hour and a half of unenthused special effects.

Yep, audiences were sucked into the MIB Hoopla – but will they be drawn back into revisiting the characters again? And if so, will director Sonnenfeld recompense them for their allegiance by dishing up a better flick?

Re-uniting Smith and Jones, Men in Black 2 picks up five years after the events of the first movie, now with the formerly wet behind the ears J (Will Smith) playing hotshot of the MIB Corporation.

For those that don’t remember, this secret government agency monitors extra terrestrial life on Earth. His former mentor, K, a mere shadow of his former kick-butt self, had his memory erased so he could return to a normal life. That, it seems, is a life working as a postal worker.

On a routine mission J begins to uncover a plot that of course once again threatens all life on Earth - one that only his old partner K (Tommy Lee Jones) can unravel. J is soon de-neuralized and suits up again, to work alongside his old partner on the new case. Of course, it's all quite new to him – so the now well experienced J is the tour guide.

The threat this time comes in the form of Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle), essentially a wicked Khylotinian monster trapped in the body of a ravishing femme fatale. And if they waste any more time, J and K are going to be handing over the keys of the World to this leggy leach.

Men in Black 2, despite being too short in duration and essentially just another concoction of special and visual effects, is a tight little production, which easily surpasses its predecessor mainly due to the fast-paced plot and significantly bigger helping of laughs.

We get to see little of the sexy Lara Flynn Boyle as Serleena, but both Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith again work magic with their mismatched personas. But if someone steals the show in Men in Black 2, let it be Frank the Pug, the talking–singing–tail chasing dog/agent of the corporation. He's always a laugh, and definitely what pushes the film from being average to good.

Fans of the original film will really get a kick out of Men in Black 2; it's a fast-paced roller coaster ride of fx, fun and the fantastical.

3.5 out of 5

Men in Black 2

Australian release: Thursday July 4th
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rip Torn, Rosario Dawson, Patrick Warburton, Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld.
Website: Click here

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