Men in Black II (2002) - 6/10

Following the randomizer's lead, we are going to skip right into the middle of the Men in Black franchise. I remember MIB II as a fairly standard cash grab sequel that squandered all the good will of its predecessor. Yet, with a bit of time and an out of order re-watch, I seem to have gained a bit of sympathy for this ill-fated sequel. Let's just jump in. 

1. Acting 

There are some solid performances buried in the film, but they are largely one note. The three leads are Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Rosario Dawson - however, the film is also largely an ensemble piece at times with some nice supporting additions from the likes of Rip Torn, Tim Blaney, and Tony Shalhoub. 

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones mostly pick up where they left off in the original. For all the grievances I might have with this film or the other sequels, the magic ingredient has always been the relationship between Agent K and J. The banter between the two characters is great and each actor clearly understands their role within the relationship dynamic. Will Smith's mix of cocky charisma is really well done and leaves just enough in the tank to get serious when he needs to. 

Jones, despite being limited as the 'straight man' in the relationship, clearly has a knack for dry wit and deadpan comedy. Jones does more with a single look than most actors could do with an entire film. However, while both actors excel in the comedy of the film, there isn't as much to chew on emotionally for the characters. If anything, the characters either regress or just stay stagnant. It's more of a writing flaw than anything else, but it also does prevent the actors from bringing much heart into the story. 

Rosario Dawson joins the cast as a new love interest for Agent J. This may not be her greatest role since her character is largely one dimensional, but she just has a natural ability to make her characters charismatic. It really feels like a wasted opportunity by the end of the film because she has plenty of other gears that don't get utilized here. 

Similarly, the villainess of the film is a mostly uninteresting character. Lara Flynn Boyle seems to be at least trying to make Serleena into something greater than what is on the page, but simply isn't able to. Her henchmen suffers much the same fate and makes Johnny Knoxville a a mostly inconsequential addition to the cast. 

2. Cinematography 

Like a lot of the this film, there is some hit or miss aspects to the visuals. Strictly from a cinematography standpoint, the effort is mostly fine. There is some visual flair shown in the more action oriented sequences, but the rest of the film is mostly played as a 'straight down the middle' type of blockbuster.  

3. Production/Costume Design 

One of the stronger aspects of the film is its creativity in design. With a larger budget in hand, and a few technology upgrades to match, the film does seem to endeavor to build out the world that was introduced in the first film. In particular, the MIB headquarters is packed with tons of different aliens and technology designs, most of which is executed with wonderful practical effects and makeup. Also, we get a few different set pieces that are packed with clever and fun design features such as the bug's apartment, the pizza shop, the locker society, and a few visits to the subway. 

The practical sets, costumes and makeup also do a great job helping sell the visual effects of the film. The VFX can be hit or miss, but I think the biggest factor in what works/doesn't work is the incorporation of both approaches.  

4. Writing 

Where the film suffers most, as most cash grab type sequels do, is in the writing. And that's not to say that the writing is complete trash. Compared to other films that I would stick with the same label, this one clearly has at least some effort put into it. In fact, the dialog has a lot of clever little lines that sneak up on you and the interactions of the various character of the film are often quite funny. Even still, for every joke that does seem to land, there is another not far away that feels like a complete whiff.  

More egregious however, is a plot that really seems to hold little purpose. This is at least in part due to heavy rewrites the script went under after 9/11 happened, but cannot be entirely excused because of that. The plot really seems to boil down to a contrived excuse to bring back an old character and then rehash the original movie without offering anything particularly new or interesting. The villain is extremely forgettable, the chasing of the mcguffin is mostly a boring scavenger hunt, and I just didn't care about anything in the end. 

I think the root cause of the emotional disconnect is most likely due to a lack of care about character. For instance, J starts the film in an interesting place. Despite seemingly being the top agent of the MIB, we learn that he has been incapable of connecting with a partner since K left. He also seems to be disenchanted with the work. He seems lonely and is trying to use constant work as an excuse to avoid dealing with his underlying issues. However, once the plot starts rolling, that pretty much ends the exploration into his character. We get hints of romance between him and Dawson's character, but it ends with a relative thud because she is forced to leave by the plot, and their actual connection isn't explored in a significant way. If anything, J starts and ends with film in mostly the same place with the only difference being K has returned. It's just a regression. 

Speaking of K, the first film has an excellent arc for K and features an emotional, but satisfying conclusion to his career. In the sequel, the writers basically just said 'fuck that' and completely undermine it by bringing him back as a plot device. It may lead to some great comedy between K and J, but the retcon is emblematic of the 'lets just do the same thing' mentality that studios have about these type of sequels. Similar to J, the entire journey feels like a regression with K basically just returning to his old life and completely reversing the outcome of the original.  

The characters outside of the main two leads also suffer similar fates. I already mentioned that the main antagonist, and her various cohorts, are mostly uninteresting. I just finished the movie and I can't even remember what their motivations even were. And then with Serleena in particular, making her character a version of a 'shapeshifter' is fine. But having that 'shape' basically just be a lingerie clad model for no apparent reason was really weird. Like, was that supposed to be a joke that just falls flat? Or was that really just the 'let's target the Spike TV crowd' move that it seems to be? 

In the end, a few good jokes and some solid comedic performance are just not enough to overcome the completely hollow plot and character arcs that the film phoned in.  

5. Sound Design 

It may not be a top tier score, but the arrangement that serves as the theme for this series is something I actually really enjoy. It is distinct, it fits well into the world that we are seeing, and it is catchy. With that said, it doesn't feel like they really made any effort to update the soundtrack from the original, and is content to just skate by on what worked before. 

Outside of that, the sound effects are largely well executed and help bring the zany sci-fi world to life.  

6. Editing

The film boasts a slim 88 minute runtime, which is honestly quite perfect for what we got. It also manages to escape a common trap of sequel films in that they tend to be overly bloated versions of the original. By keeping a quick pace and cutting out any fat, the audience benefits from a streamlined cash grab that at least doesn't overly disappoint by dragging itself out. With that said, I wonder if there was a bit more meat in the script that ended up on the cutting room floor. Based on the numerous rewrites, I'd imagine not. But maybe there is a version of the film that does take a bit more time to build its characters. 

7. Visual Effects 

This was real hit or miss for me. As I was watching it, I found myself taking very contradictory notes of 'great CGI', and then ten minutes later going 'oof, what was that'. Some of this is likely just a product of its time. The early 2000s was an era were CGI technology was advancing at a breakneck pace. However, there were still plenty of limitations of VFX work, and there was still a steep learning curve that filmmakers were learning how to navigate. 

For MIB II, this mostly meant that, like its jokes, some things landed and others didn't. For instance, the worm characters that help K and J on their mission are a hybrid of practical puppet technology paired with a few full CGI shots. That split use of approaches really complemented each other. Having practical versions of the worms was also likely a huge benefit to the VFX artists in their work since they had perfect references to base their digital models off of.  

However, in other scenes such as CGI heavy finale, the effects really show their age. The clearly green screened actors and cartoonish looking graphics stick out like a sore thumb and can really break immersion. I think it also demonstrates that directors didn't yet understand how to play to the strengths of emerging technology (not that newer movies are void of this either). I mean, it was a deliberate choice to make the main villain basically a ridiculous collection of snake like tentacles. Yet in 2002, there was no way that was going to be executable in a photorealistic way, nor were the characters going to be able to interact with it in a natural fashion. So now some poor VFX artist has to not only create the effect, but they have to do their best to cram it into the scene in a slightly believable manner without anything captured in camera to help.  

8. Originality or Strength of Adaptation 

The first Men in Black, especially in retrospect, was a great popcorn movie that adapted a really original concept in a fun way. Flash forward five years later, and the sequel take all of that good will and tries to jam it down your throat in a seemingly cynical way. It's not that MIB shouldn't have had a sequel, but it deserved better than this. It should've taken what came before and built upon it- explored new and interesting aspects that expanded the world and characters in a compelling fashion. Instead, we basically just rewind the clock and do it all over again, except this time let's take out anything emotionally interesting and just run around and fight some aliens. 

9. Stunt Coordination 

Despite being a comedy action film, there isn't much to the stunts outside the fairly generic bits most films get. Everything is executed well, I just didn't notice anything special. 

10. Direction 

Barry Sonnenfeld returns to direct the sequel here, but unfortunately seems content to just make the type of film a studio would want. I don't know what conversations happened behind the scenes, but Sonnenfeld clearly isn't displaying the same level of care as he did with the original. 

Legacy/Final Thoughts

Like I said in the beginning, I have softened a bit on my dislike of this follow up feature. However, I can't ignore some of the glaring issues this film has and the potential that it wasted. Ultimately, this feels like a film that is benefiting from the originality of its predecessor without earning anything on its own. It still manages to be entertaining, and there are aspects of it that are well done, but the sum of the parts is a disappointment.