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Men in Black II (Barry Sonnenfeld) 2002
* 07-11-02
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I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Men in Black film, so it was with some apprehension that I
approached the sequel. I certainly wouldn’t have paid to see it, and it only
was a freak chain of events that got me into the theater. Something about the
first film’s comic setup seemed to be wholly bogus to me. Every time an alien
looked unassuming, it was patently obvious that it was going to turn out to be
scary. Every punch line seemed to be delivered in hopes that it would become a
catch phrase. The interplay between the two lead characters relied on rookie/pro
cop dynamics that have been recycled into ineffectiveness. Still, there were
some small pleasures to be had in the performances (especially Linda
Fiorentino’s, which is sorely missed in the sequel). Men in Black II, which is as bad a film as I’ve seen all year,
can’t even offer that. The reason that a movie like Men in Black II can open to a $90 million holiday weekend is because
its premise suggests to the public an unlimited potential for adventure and
imagination. It’s got to be disappointing to the masses, then, that instead of
grasping that potential and trying something new, the filmmakers have crafted a
movie that almost always feels like a regurgitation of the original film.
Basically, the plot here uses some mind wiping, courtesy of
a device called a neuralizer, to reverse the polarity that fueled the first,
with Will Smith starting as the experienced pro who shows Tommy Lee Jones’
neophyte agent the ropes. Only audiences that have been neuralized themselves
since the first film will find any of this fresh, but I can’t imagine that
even they will find it funny. The problem is that Tommy Lee Jones here plays a
character that seems utterly perturbed by the whole predicament that he’s
thrust into. I suppose he’s supposed to exhibit some kind of curmudgeonly
charm, but mostly he seemed to be vaguely pissed off. He drains the wonder from the
movie. In the original, Will Smith’s character was flippant about but awed by the
creatures that he saw, and even though the special effects have improved since
1997, I imagine his reactions to the first film’s effects would make them feel
more impressive in comparison. After Jones’ memory is inevitably restored, the
movie simply reverses dynamics once again, and reverts to an explicit copy of
the first film. Suddenly, Smith’s character seems to be back to his rookie
status, even though he’s been an agent for five years. It’s not terribly
rewarding.
The abundance of product placement is the one aspect of the
Men in Black II that is unequivocally
bigger than its predecessor. I think the first film slid by mostly on a tie-in
with some sunglasses manufacturer. The sequel courts Madison Avenue with a
seeming sense of desperation. Besides the celebrity cameos, there are plugs for
Sprint, Burger King, Victoria’s Secret, Mercedes, Twister, iMac, eBay, Sony
televisions, and Playstation. Some of these are integrated well, but the
majority of them seem embarrassing, even in this supposedly comic context.
There’s nothing clever about watching Lara Flynn Boyle eating a Whopper (why
not have her anorexic alien vomit it up like she did to a human earlier?), and
it’s amazing that the filmmakers thought the overbearing presence of all of
this branding wouldn’t detract from the film’s fantasy setting.