Will Smith's Humor Carries This Sequel To Greatness

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2017)

In terms of plot, "Men in Black II" is vastly inferior to the original, as it is pretty much just the same song-and-dance, but this time without the "wow" factor of things being so new and inventive. However, director Barry Sonnenfield realizes this time around that the humor of Will Smith (and especially his interactions with Tommy Lee Jones) need to carry the show.
For a basic plot summary, "MIB II" sees Agent J (Smith) now the lead agent of MIB. However, when an evil alien named Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) takes over MIB headquarters, J must retrieve the only agent who might know how to resolve the situation: Agent K (Jones).
Though the first "MIB" effort was a 5-star flick because of its inventiveness, this one is a similar success because of the humor from beginning to end. When thinking back on the entire "MIB Trilogy", some scenes in this movie rank up there with the best of the whole series, such as J's interactions with "Frank the Pug", and the scenes in which J must re-acclimate K to the MIB life. Oh, and let's not forget the Worms, either ("Twister!").
The filmmakers even manage to weave a bit of a human-interest story into this one, and the actors are all good enough to make it interesting and believable.
Overall, then, while containing a much weaker villain and a meandering plot, "MIB II" is still a classic effort due to its sight gags and hilarious interactions between the two leads. Unless you take this franchise a little too seriously, you'll still enjoy this one as much as the first!