By: debbie lynn elias
As comes as no surprise, thanks to “Men In Black II,” Will Smith has regained his title as reigning king of the Fourth of July movie openers. Once again teaming Smith and Jones (as in Tommy Lee), as Agents Jay and Kay of that top secret, secret agency, Men in Black, our boys rise to the challenge of eradicating alien scum from the planet.
As MIB fans will recall (and based on a $600 million box office for the 1997 film, that’s pretty much most of the planet), veteran super agent Kay retired from MIB complete with memory neutralization and settled into the mundane routine as being a Postmaster for the US Postal Service. And as comes as no surprise, in “MIB II”, we learn that, as it turns out, almost every postal employee is an alien in human clothing. Jay on the other hand, unable to establish the connection, comic timing and comfort he had with Kay, has gone through partners faster than I change underwear, neuralizing one after another until he is left with a talking pug named Frank as his partner. I gotta tell you – Frank steals the show and the laughs from Smith and straight man Jones, and never moreso than while hanging out the car window (bad dog!) singing that well known disco tune, “I Will Survive” or when regaling tales of his heroics to the Worm Boys. Whatever the cost for Frank’s special effects was well worth it!
This time around, Smith meets up with Serleena, an intergalatic man-eating, out-of-control, Venus-flytrap type creature who comes to Earth 25 years after her original visit, this time taking on the form of a Victoria’s Secret underwear model. Serleena it seems is back to claim “the Light of Vartha” which if not found before midnight and returned to Vartha will result in the Earth’s destruction and Serleena commanding the universe. The Light, it appears, landed on Earth some 25 years ago and Serleena, led on a wild goose chase thanks to MIB, has been on a 25 year hunting expedition which now brings her back here. Naturally, given that MIB is a government agency, and given the high standards and ethics of all government agencies, everyone of course believed that when MIB said it returned the Light to space in 1978, it really did. NOT!
As luck would have it, Kay holds the key to the Light. Unfortunately, Kay has no memory of his life with MIB and it’s up to Jay, and Frank, to bring Kay back into MIB for deneuralization and some ass-kicking help to save the planet. And of course, along the way, we meet up with some old alien friends (God bless the Worm Boys!), along with a plethora of new, all created by the uber creature creator himself, Rick Baker, and his guys at Cinovation. And let’s not forget the visual effects wonder boys headed by Tom Bertino and John Berton, Jr.
Needless to say, Smith and Jones once again keep us entertained with their rapid-fire rat-a-tat-tat dialogue exchanges; Smith trying for, and succeeding with, the comic-try-not-laugh, hip, kick ass style while Jones is unparalleled with his dead pan delivery which in and of itself can, and often does, draw more laughs than Smith’s outright comedy. Rip Torn also returns and slips comfortably and comedically into his role as MIB Chief Zed, while Tony Shaloub gives us another round of laughs as favorite alien bad guy/pawnbroker Jeebs. Stepping up to the plate as archnemesis Serleena is Lara Flynn Boyle. Word to the folks at Disney – if you ever do a live action Sleeping Beauty, get Boyle as the evil queen Maleficent – she simply reeks erotic evil! This time around, we even get a bit of a love interest for the 24/7 work-obsessed Jay in the form of Laura Vasquez played by Rosario Dawson. Integral to the Light of Vartha concept, Dawson’s performance and chemistry with Smith is such that I would hope an MIB III would see her return.
Bigger guns, bigger and slimier aliens (just check out the 700 pound alien corpse and Jeffrey, our 600 foot worm riding the NY subways) and even some bigger laughs (thanks to Frank), almost guarantee even bigger box office. Although director Barry Sonnenfeld doesn’t give us too many surprises, he tows the line and stays the course, hitting his mark with this winning cast and concept, going for a movie that is nothing but pure enjoyment.
And film afficionados everywhere will not be lost on some inside jokes and cameos- the funniest of which revolves around some cheesy special effects with wires and tin foil which has Agent Jay commenting that it “looks like Spielberg’s work”. Spielberg is executive producer of “MIB II”.
