The movie's smart, funny and fairly forgettable.
Men in Black II (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:186
Fresh:71
Rotten:115
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Lacking the freshness of the first movie, MIB 2 recycles elements from its predecessor with mixed results.
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: Reuniting director Barry Sonnenfeld with most of the original hit film's cast, MEN IN BLACK II picks up with alien-monitoring secret agent Jay (Will Smith) in a rut. Weary of the isolated life of... Reuniting director Barry Sonnenfeld with most of the original hit film's cast, MEN IN BLACK II picks up with alien-monitoring secret agent Jay (Will Smith) in a rut. Weary of the isolated life of an MiB operative, Jay continually fires new partners until MiB director Zed (Rip Torn) teams him up with the talkative pug, Frank (voiced by Tim Blaney). Together they investigate an "alien-on-alien" murder witnessed by the lovely Rita (Rosario Dawson), who Jay immediately falls for. The case eventually leads Jay and Frank to track down agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), who now works at a rural post office, completely unaware of his former life. Unfortunately, it's what Kay can't remember that may save the world from destruction at the hands of the shape-shifting alien Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle). As Jay attempts to jog the memory of the reluctant Kay, Serleena takes over MiB headquarters, building up to a big New York City showdown. A fast-paced follow-up to the 1997 sci-fi comedy, MEN IN BLACK II sticks to its guns, offering up more action, aliens, and intergalactic weirdness. This time around Smith and characters such as Frank and the wisecracking worms are the focus, although Jones makes the most out of his screen time with his deadpan persona thoroughly intact. And, as with the first movie, MIB II features plenty of enjoyable scenes, including an underground romp involving a subway-sized alien and Frank the Dog's head-out-of-the-car-window rendition of "I Will Survive." [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Rosario Dawson, Lara Flynn Boyle
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Rosario Dawson, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rip Torn, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, Tim Blaney
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Screenwriter: Robert Gordon, Barry Fanaro
Producer: Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Reviews for Men in Black II
The problem with the sequel is that Jones is missing from the action for too long.
Strange, zany, generally amusing and very likeable without actually being all that hilarious or surprising.
If you liked the first film, then you’ll like the sequel, but it’s neither as exciting nor as out-and-out funny as it should be.
It's kinda colourful and bouncy, and it features a lot of cool-looking aliens, but rather than expanding on the aesthetics of the first movie, it copies and dilutes them.
Less interesting second time around, this sequel suffers most from the diminished chemistry of the leads.
This is effective button-pushing sci-fi entertainment, but you won't need to be neurolized to forget it.
...falls prey to the syndrome that affects many sequels: the apparently irresistible desire to replicate the formula from the first film.
The down-home satire of how we cope with cultural difference has evaporated, replaced by jazzy effects that wear out their welcome by the halfway mark.
Men in Black II could care less whether you believe in it or not, or frankly, whether you bought the ticket and spent your time on the concession line trying to buy Goobers.
The acting is good, the direction is good, the special effects are great, only the jokes are a little flat and far between and nothing very original is offered up here.
This film is so full of special effects that it seems as if there are only about seven minutes of actual story-telling from which to decipher a plot.
We watch and think, 'Yeah. So? What else can they do?' It's not that it's dull so much as that it's familiar.
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