Less is more?

Rating: 6/10 (25 July 2002)

THEY'RE BACK!!! Agent J, Agent K and those pesky aliens we loved so much in the original have returned to challenge, amuse and most of all take more of your money. The original was fresh, exciting and funny. The sequel isn't so fresh but 2 out of 3 isn't too bad.
Will Smith (J) is cool, self-assured and is the lead MIB agent now that Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K) has been neuralized. Had they done that to us, we may have enjoyed it more. Speaking of whom, Mr. Jones sleepwalks through most of this sequel even though he was de-neuralized midway through film. Perhaps as a postal worker, but the affect doesn't sell well as an agent of MIB.
Patrick Warburton (Agent T) plays the inept partner to a T' and does nothing to distinguish himself goes Thank goodness his role is only a cameo. Tony Shaloub is engaging as the pawnbroker, believable as a computer geek and gets his head blown away several times. Once the gag has been played, it should be over. Lara Flynn Boyle better watch out . She plays a very familiar role here as her well known part in `The Practice.' She'll be type cast if she doesn't get out of the lawyerly parts. Agent J's love interest Laura Vasquez (Rosario Dawson who we all loved in `Sidewalks of New York') plays a very smart character and one can easily fall for her. She'll be back. And watch for a sequence in the film that seems to be taken right out the climax of the original. It warns us that MIB II is just a smaller version of the original.
Men in Black II is a sequel so what should we expect? Although this film breaks no new ground, it is funny. The gags are the same yet I heard myself laughing out loud at the dog and the worms and the digs at real celebs like Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson.. Since this is just more of the same ask yourself, did you like the original? Yeah? Well, you'll probably like it this time. And if you don't, at least it's short.