More comments on both films follow, below:

The biggest difference between the films, in terms of quality? The alien monster was great in 1 and horrible in 2; Will and Tommy's interplay was fresh and clever in 1 and stale in 2; the entire movie concept was clever and original in 1 and more of the same in 2; and the overall tone of comedy in the face of grave danger was suspenseful in 1, and entirely absent in 2. In fact, considering this now, I feel like knocking a point off of the overall for MiB2.

I can't though, since while MiB2 isn't any good, it's not really that bad. Sure, it could have been a lot better if it had been more of a real movie and less of a bad joke fest, but it's not unwatchable. It's just basically boring.

If you've never seen MiB1, or you've completely forgotten it, or you're very undemanding of your cinematic entertainment, you'll probably enjoy the sequel well enough. It's instantly forgettable, but not so bad during it, if you don't have the mediocre but still superior MiB1 to compare it to.  If you have seen the first one, though, you'll be bored in this one, since it's basically a retread of the first film. There are a few new things, but even for a sequel to an action/comedy this movie is startlingly unoriginal.

The first movie was clever and original at the time, with the wacky take on aliens living all around us in the real world.  The second time around it's familiar. The first movie ended with major changes to the dynamic, with Will Smith the new expert agent, partnered with total newcomer Linda Fiorentino, and Tommy Lee Jones the old expert, retiring.

The new movie picks up with Will Smith the expert, Linda vanished with hardly a mention, and Tommy being recruited to return to the MiB since they need to save the earth by extract something from his memory. Unfortunatley, he's been memory wiped and doesn't remember anything, so they have to get him into a "re-neuralizer machine" to get his memories back. This could have been a cute plot twist, but instead the movie uses this opportunity to basically reverse and reuse every single "Will Smith is new and clueless and Tommy Lee Jones is an old pro." joke from MiB1. They're all backwards now, and it's just instantly boringly familiar, especially since the tone everyone takes is so light and frothy and inconsequential. That continues throughout MiB2, and it's a major problem with the film. 

Aside from MiB2 seeming so familiar, the tone of it didn't work for me. Yes, it's a comedy, and yes the characters crack wise at every opportunity. However the first film still had some feeling of danger and intrigue and risk and suspense. People in danger for their lives acted like that mattered to them. In the 2nd one Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (among others) are in danger of their lives constantly, but no one ever seems to really care. It's just joke, wisecrack, sneer, etc, and if the actors don't take the threat at all seriously, how is the audience supposed to?

It can be funny or even inspiring when a character laughs at death, but when they laugh at everything, funny or not, in the same tone, it's just stupid. There are a lot of things in MiB2 that are stupid, unfortunately.

MIB2 also boasts way, way, way too much of the talking dog, and several too many impractical super science things, none of which are 1/10th as funny as the film makers seem to think they are.

The plot, what there is of it, involves a powerful, violent, secretive alien has come to earth looking for something. If it gets it, bad things will happen and the earth will be destroyed. If the MiB don't get the object first, the earth will be destroyed by other aliens. Both movies have the exact same set up, with just a few different details. And in both movies, the something they have to find turns out to not be what they thought it was, and to be far closer to them all along than they ever would have dreamed.

Given the massive decline in movie quality and box office from MiB1 to MiB2 it seems very unlikely that they'll do a 3rd movie. And to give you an idea of how tired and lame the 2nd movie was, I do not view the demise of this series as a bad thing, even though I rather liked the first film.

The above was originally posted June 4, 2004.

July 10, 2002

The report on the weekend movie earnings on Box Office Mojo is a good read, as always.  Men in Black set a Fourth of July weekend opening record, but since virtually every movie this year has done the same thing, it's not such a big deal.  More screens + higher ticket prices = bigger opening weekends.  The MiB2 reviews have been uniformly dismissive.  No one hates it, everyone likes some of it, everyone forgets it before they walk out of the theatre.  One review I saw said that it was an insult to call it a "popcorn movie" since good popcorn at least gives you some sort of rush, while MiB2 is just a series of eye candy with no plot of any importance.

I didn't think much of the first movie, with the goofy, campy, childish overtones ruining any potential suspense or fright.  Which was the idea, I mean it's a movie for children with a few amusing adult things, but I'd much prefer it rated R and with a tone similar to Aliens.  Obviously that would be a much different film though, and probably much less profitable.  And maybe not any better; it's not like there aren't 5 SciFi movies a year that rip off Aliens and totally suck doing it.  I saw the first film once in the theaters, and haven't felt any compulsion to see it again on video or cable.  I doubt I'll ever see this second one, not after the reviews it's getting.