3 Stars
Just when you think it's safe to go outside, leave it to Hollywood to threaten the safety of Earth in a new, horrific way. During times like this, there's nothing to do but thank goodness for guys like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
And that's all we can do after seeing Barry Sonnenfeld's "Men in Black II," the sequel to the well-dressed, alien-fighting duo's 1997 sci-fi comedy, which was a box office smash. Smith and Jones pull this summer flick off well with their likability, chemistry and comic timing, making it an entertaining follow-up to a very funny movie.
It all begins when evil Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) descends upon Manhattan, taking the form of a man-eating Victoria's Secret model with the ultimate goal, of course, of destroying our beloved planet. Taking care of such a nuisance seems like child's play for MiB Agent J (Smith), who has come of age in the world of extra-terrestrial butt-kicking.
His position as daddy rabbit of all MiBs doesn't last long, though. Agent J falls hard for Laura Vasquez (Rosario Dawson), an eyewitness to one of Serleena's deadly displays of intergalactic nastiness. The love-struck fool exhibits emotions that are a no-no for any respectable Man in Black.
Softie that he is, he can't even bring himself to neuralyze her -- that is, to rid her mind of the crime and of him with the usual high-powered doohickey. With Earth's life on the line, J has no choice but to retrieve his neuralyzed ex-partner, K (Jones) from his dull job at a post office. Kay has lost his memory but not his no-nonsense attitude -- he's still in fine shape to help save the world.
From there on out, the plot is just as convoluted as that of the original "Men in Black." Splicing from and trading scenes between each film probably wouldn't make that much of a difference in the final products.
But what the plot sequences lack in cohesion, Smith and Jones compensate with plenty of fun that just wouldn't be wacky enough if the movie actually made sense. Like the first film, this is meant to be an outrageous, unbelievable exercise in enjoyment. It doesn't matter whether Agent J's high-speed ride on a 500-foot long alien through a subway line, for example, is instrumental to the plot or not.
