Like seeing Jerry Seinfeld...

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2002)

...followed by Pauly Shore. Jerry's a tough act to follow, right? Well, so was Men in Black. And Men in Black II isn't even Pauly Shore--it's Carrot Top.
The reasons why this film falls short of the guilty pleasure that was the original, are that it's stale, smarmy, overly serious, sappy in the wrong places, confusing without explaination, Tommy Lee Jones is terrible (a sad thing, really, he's very talented) and Will Smith is even worse. For starters, Will Smith is not Denzel Washington, though he tries to be. Lara Flynn Boyle is beautiful but overshadowed and disbelievable (Serleena?? Come on, be a little more creative) The movie tries to poke fun at campy science fiction of the 1950s, but fails to get this past the point of "Look, we're making fun of the campy science fiction of the 1950's!"
The funniest parts of this movie are most certainly seen in the trailer, and even Frank the Pug (in a surprisingly welcome comeback) seems dull singing "I Will Survive" for what seems like the 60 billionth time. However, he does have a later song (the surprise is really the best part so I won't give it away) which is good for some laughs. The worm guys are overused and silly; they should have stuck with serving coffee. Catch it in a second run theater when you've got nothing better to do, but don't pay more than 3 bucks for this movie. Or get the same feeling and rent Chairman of the Board off the bargin rack at the video store.