weak story but great chemistry

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2002)

It's that time of year again. The sun is high in the sky beaming that heat down, the grills are going full blast cooking the hotdogs and hamburgers, the fireworks are just about to go off, and Will Smith has a movie out for the 4th of July. This time it is a sequel to that surprise hit, Men In Black. The story finds Will as Agent Jay, the top agent for the MIB, constantly searching for a replacement for Agent Kay, Tommy Lee Jones, who he had to neuralyze at the end of the previous movie. Unfortunately Jay is beginning to get a reputation as someone who will use his "flashy-thing" at the first problem and most of the other personal at MIB are scared of him. Even worse an extremely dangerous alien by the name of Serleena, Lara Flynn Boyle, has traveled to earth searching for the Light of Zartha. Naturally if she gets she will be able to rule the universe. Even worse than we previously thought, the only person who knows where this Light of Zartha is, is Agent Kay who, since his neuralyzation, has been working as the postmaster of a small town. Jay is sent to retrieve Kay, de-neuralyze him so that he will get his memory back, find the Light of Zartha, and defeat Serleena. Not bad for a 90 minute movie. OK. This is MIB ll. You obviously aren't coming in to see this for serious drama. You probably aren't coming to see this for serious character development either. You probably are coming because you are a fan of light action/comedies and are a fan of Will Smith and/or Tommy Lee Jones. With that groundrule stated, does this movie work? Yes. The plot is basically superfluous to the movie. It seems hastily thrown together and comes across more as the plot for an ongoing television series (sequel anyone?) than for a major motion picture. What moves this along is the acting of the two leads and the relationship between them. I have often said that there is a great lack of chemistry in many romantic movies out there today. That doesn't apply here at all. Smith and Jones work perfectly together. The chemistry that flows between the two is easy and established quite well. Smith, as Jay, is the gung-ho top guy at MIB until he brings Kay back and then he easily slips right back into the student role. Smith is the perfect class clown for this role but he needs a foil and Jones provides Kay with the perfect deadpan that frequently comes across funnier than the joker. Is this the best movie ever made? Not particularly. Did I find it entertaining? Yes. The two actors work well together and carry the movie to a satisfying end.