MEN IN BLACK II
US, 2002, 88 minutes, Colour.
Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shalhoub, Patrick Warburton.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.
Five years ago, a logo with the mysterious letters MIB kept tantalising filmgoers until Men in Black hit the big screen. It proved to be one of the most popular films of 1997. It's hard to work out why Men in Black touched a chord in audiences worldwide. Now we have the sequel and a chance to think again.
The director, Barry Sonnenfeld, made the two Addams Family films as well as Wild, Wild West. He knows comic strip action comedy very well. Perhaps that's it, the blend of action and comedy. He himself said that he saw Men in Black as a small buddy movie. Yes, Tommy Lee Jones as special agent J and Will Smith as special agent K worked together so well that we enjoyed their company. Well, they are back again, good friends again, sometimes sparring, but always helping each other out.
Maybe it's all the aliens who have migrated to planet earth, monstrous-looking aliens that are a special effects buff's delight but who eventually disguise themselves like you and me. This time, a gruesome creature who is traversing space and time to find a special light to conquer the world, controls her tentacles (most of the time) be assuming the form of glamorous Lara Flynn Boyle. She is a sombre, humourless monster although some of her henchman, especially one with two heads, give us a laugh.
The plot is simple, J and K have to rid the universe of her by midnight, otherwise, who knows...?
Men in Black is an OK, brief, fairly modest show that relies on the chemistry between its stars, on the happy go lucky charm of Will Smith and on the oddball monsters. That really does not explain hundreds of millions of dollars box office, but it might explain why youngsters and family audiences have it at the top of their movie list at the moment.
1. The popularity of the original film? Science-fiction? The agency and the agents? The comic dialogue? Spoof?
2. New York City, the agency and the interiors and the equipment, the streets, the shops, the open countryside, the spacecraft and landings? The musical score?
3. The make-up, the creation of the creatures? The versatility? Changes?
4. Jay, Will Smith and his presence, comic touches, pursuing the creatures? Confrontations? The discussions with Zed, the situation, the investigation in the shop, Laura as witness, the attraction? Zed and the command to bring Kay back? Frank the dog, talking and wisecracks, companion?
5. Kay, working in the post, memories gone, the irony of all the creatures working in the post office? Jay, challenging him? His having the information about the deadline? His going to the agency? The need to find the new relies? The visit to Jeebs, the shop, the machine? The process, swirling the liquid? The eventual return of memory, going to the agency, the suits and weapons?
6. Serleena, her coming to earth, seeing the Victoria’s Secret ad, transformation, devouring humans, the glamour, the confrontation with Scrad/ Charlie, Johnny Knoxville style, the two personifications and their interactions? The mission, control of Earth, her promises to the various aliens for power?
7. The introduction, Peter Graves and the spoof television program? It is being introduced into the drama of the galactic struggle?
8. The action sequences, fighting the aliens? Jay and Kay and their resuming their work together?
9. Kay, memories of Selena, the buildup to the confrontation?
10. Serleena and her encounter with Z, revenge? Malice, the confrontation with Kay?
11. The time limit, the desperate moves, time running out, the achievement? Serleena destroyed?
12. And audiences having to wait for a decade before the next sequel?
