3 stars

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2002)

I think I'll reverse the normal structure and start with my conclusions before I describe the film. I'm a big fan of the original film, and from the previews I had hopes that this one might be better. Then I read Roger Ebert's review of this film, where he gave it 1 1/2 stars, and I thought it might be awful.
My experience was in between. This film is definitely *not* as good as the first film, and the previews contain most of the best bits, but it is often quite entertaining without ever really having any parts that I would call bad. I left the theater happier than when I entered. In contrast, both "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" had definite lame moments and disappointed me on the whole, and so I felt that a slightly higher rating was due to this film.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled film description...
The film opens with a clip from a television show hosted by Peter Graves. It has amazingly bad, Ed Wood level special effects, and it tells the story of the "Light of Zartha." Even though this clip is mostly repeated later in the film, I can't remember exactly how the story goes, which doesn't speak well for the screenplay. In any case, we soon see a spaceship land in a scene very similar to one from the TV show. The alien inside, named Serleena, is made up of an innumerable set of tentacles, but it morphs into the form of Lara Flynn Boyle after seeing a Victoria's Secret advertisement in a magazine.
Meanwhile, Agent J (Will Smith) and his partner Agent T (Patrick Warburton) have to convince a very large alien worm-thing to stay in the part of the subway system where it's supposed to be. Apparently J has had many partners since K (Tommy Lee Jones) left at the end of the first film, and soon he is again without a partner. He is assigned to a case of alien murder, initially partnered with Agent F (the talking dog from the first film, used much more extensively here). In the process he meets a waitress named Rita (Rosario Dawson), who witnessed the murder.
The big thing that worked in the first film was the interaction between Smith and Jones, and it takes quite a while for the two of them to get back together here. As you probably recall, Agent K was neuralized (caused to forget his agent years) at the end of the previous film, so bringing him back takes some effort. But as you already know from the posters, K *does* come back and the old chemistry is still there, pretty much. But then again, I thought Agents T and F were pretty fun too, in their own ways.
There are some parts and people that don't work as well. Boyle is an interesting, which is to say wrong, choice to play the villain. The part was originally given to Famke Janssen, who would have probably been better. The special effects aren't bad, exactly, but they do seem a little cheesy at times. What was original in 1997 is derivative five years later. But if you're a fan of the first film, as I am, you'll want to see this one.
Animated short: The film was preceded by a cartoon titled "The ChubbChubbs are Coming!," which is not listed on IMDb yet but does have an official site on the Sony Pictures web site. It's not quite as good as "For the Birds," which preceded "Monsters, Inc.," but it is very funny, with references to "Star Wars" (Yoda and Jar Jar Binks), "E.T.," and I'm sure others I've forgotten. Call it 3.5 stars.
Seen on 7/3/2002.