Great Movie!...but...

Rating: 5/10 (3 July 2002)

WOW!!! This was a great movie! It was so cool...and the aliens...and the doggie was so cute!...Mom, can I see it again!!? Can I! Can I! huh, mommy...can I?
But if you are older than 8 years old...well, I'd say...if you MUST see it, catch the matinee...that way it's only five dollars worth of buyer's remorse.
Now, there were some cute effects... Frank has a surprisingly melodic voice, for a New Yorker... the reneuralizer scene and the Peter Graves tape with the campy effect makes a nice contrast. And that video store scene was pretty funny.
The first MIB was wonderful...totally from the left field from start to finish. But MIB II is just the same formula movie. Don't get me wrong, I thought some of the jokes were funny, but it just didn't have the overall comedic feel. Admittedly, MIB 1 is a tough act to follow, but I just didn't see any creative effort on the part of the producer/director. I think the appeal of the first MIB was the innovative theme. The innovation just wasn't there in MIB II. And a movie with such high expectations would do well to not to try to ride on the coattails of the first movie too much.
How did Frank the dog...he's a dog, OK?! How did he get that darned cellphone headset on his itty bitty head? Don't you need opposing fingers to do that? And ...they're armed, their dangerous, they have six arms...they are ... the worms...Well, not exactly the US marines! they were funny, playing twister and all.
Also, I thought the music from the first MIB was also much better than this one. The music from the first one was much better integrated into the movie to give each scene the proper "atmosphere" and to give the scene transitions continuity. I just didn't get that same impression in MIB II.
I just didn't get the feeling that the characters were into the film...It just felt like they were reciting lines at a sunday church service.
Overall, I think MIB II suffered from a lack of creativity as well as too high expectation. It had it's moments, but I did not feel the whole movie came together like the first one did.