Men in Black II (2002)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers (WGA):

Lowell Cunningham (comic book "Malibu Comics")
Robert Gordon (story)

Release Date:

3 July 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Same Planet. New Scum.

Plot:

Agent J needs help so he is sent to find Agent K and restore his memory.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Lingerie | Lingerie Model | Spacecraft | Planet

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Kevin Brown, Agent Kay
Will Smith	...	Agent Jay
Rip Torn	...	Zed
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Serleena
Johnny Knoxville	...	Scrad / Charlie
Rosario Dawson	...	Laura Vasquez
Tony Shalhoub	...	Jack Jeebs
Patrick Warburton	...	Agent T
Jack Kehler	...	Ben
David Cross	...	Newton
Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine	...	Hailey (as Colombe Jacobsen)
Peter Spellos	...	Captain Larry Bridgewater, The Motorman
Michael Rivkin	...	Man with Harvey, the Dog
Michael Bailey Smith	...	Creepy
Lenny Venito	...	New York Guy

Also Known As:

MIB 2 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
MIIB (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Men in Black 2 (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some provocative humor.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Denmark:11 | Canada:G (Quebec) | South Africa:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Austria:10 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:MG6 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38095)

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

In the final battle versus Serleena, J says, "I'm 'bout to lay the smackdown on your candy ass." This phrase was coined by 'The Rock (I)' when he was a full-time professional wrestler.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Agent Jay introduces Laura to the worms, one of them is shown exhaling tobacco smoke. The smoke is released from a tiny opening closely behind the front teeth, not from the throat.

Quotes:

Agent J: You don't remember me, but we used to work together...
Kevin Brown/K: I never worked in a funeral home.

Movie Connections:

References Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)

Soundtrack:

I Will Survive

A hasty 'grab-as-much-money-as-you-can' job

Let me just start by saying that I normally like movies with Tommy Lee Jones and / or Will Smith in them. They certainly don't belong to the enormous group of average and unnoticeable actors, but have some kind of style and presence that I really can appreciate. But I'm afraid that's about the best thing I can say about them right now, because what they did in this movie was nothing but a hasty 'grab-as-much-money-as-you-can' job and I really don't like to see that.

"Men in Black II" starts four years later from where the first one ended. Kay has given up life as an agent and has returned to civilian life, working in a postal office, while Jay has continued to work for the 'Men in Black'. While investigating what seems to be a routine crime, Jay uncovers a diabolical plot masterminded by Serleena, an evil Kylothian monster who disguises herself as a sexy lingerie model. With their headquarters under siege and time running out, Jay must convince Kay, who no longer remembers anything of his time with the MIB, to rejoin the agency so they can save the Earth from being destroyed completely.

I admit that some of the special effects were nice to watch, but even that didn't always convince me. Some of the aliens were small masterpieces, others however seemed like a hasty job, unfinished by the people of the computer graphics department. The only possible explanation for that might be that they wanted to save enough money so the profit rate would be even larger. And the computer animations weren't the only one to suffer from that problem. The script writers didn't come up with any new things either. All they did was to repeat what worked in the first movie. It even seems like they didn't have the time to come up with a new and decent plot.

And yet not everything was that bad. The humor for instance worked, not always perfectly but it worked. Jokes like "It came with a black dude, but it kept being pulled over" when they talk about the automatic pilot in the Mercedes were funny. I even liked that dog singing on the front seat of the car, but overall it just wasn't enough to save the entire movie. No, if you are looking for a spectacular new movie that is full of great acting, a great story and some excellent computer animations, than you'll be very disappointed by this one. It just seems like they threw it together in a couple of weeks and that's why I can only give it a 6/10.