A Very Weak Sequel

Rating: 3/10 (22 January 2003)

As funny as the original MIB was, the sequel proves that the same old thing can get very old and very tired very quickly. I mean, how often can you really find it funny to watch an alien grow its head back after having it shot off? This was a cute gag in the original (and I think we only saw it happen once if I remember correctly.) In this one, it happens over and over again. HEY! AFTER THE FIRST TIME IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY! That's the basic problem with this movie. It doesn't seem to have a lot to differentiate it from the first one, with the result that it's just not that interesting.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles as Agents "Jay" and "Kay" respectively, and here was one element of the story that might have made this a fun adventure if it had been developed. "Kay" is retired as this movie opens, and he's been "neuralized" - his memory of having been an MIB agent has been wiped clean. If the story had focussed more on "Kay" and his attempts at re-integrating into the MIB agency, I think this might have been a very funny movie. But "Kay's" re-integration just seems to happen far too easily, and for the most part the focus of the movie is on Smith's "Jay." The problem with that is that I just feel Jones is better suited to the whole MIB persona, and I felt Smith quickly became tiresome without Jones balancing him more fully. (And Frank the dog - another of Jay's "partners" - just didn't cut it. I really wanted that dog to get eaten by the big worm or something. A very irritating character, in my opinion.)
My advice: stick with the original.
3/10