It's been said but bears repeating: Better than the first!

Rating: 7/10 (3 August 2002)

Men in Black II may have benefited from the "Batman" franchise in that it doesn't try to juggle too many new elements. L (Linda Florentio in MIB I) doesn't appear here which is sad, given the development of the character in the MIB Animated Series, but probably also fortunate as screen time is devoted to enriching Jay and Kay, the new villian---Lara Flynn Boyle, wonderfully funny as the Victoria Secret's model look-alike alien (favorite scene--her chomping down on a huge burger that any working model would consider a meal for a week)---and adding TWO love interests (the gorgeous Rosario Dawson being the one we see, alas, not frequently enough). Frank and the worms steal scene after scene and Rip Torn's Zed gets a great mano-a-non-mano scene with Boyle's alien. The scripts fun, the direction keeps things moving and Tommy Lee Jones again anchors the whole with his earnest, deadpan delivery. And, oh, yeah, Will Smith's good, too (though, he is allowed too much time to do physical schtick towards the end that undercuts the maturation of his character as witnessed prior to Jones' return.