Not Even Close To The First

Rating: 4/10 (31 July 2002)

There's an old expression that the sequel is never better than the original. The expression has proven correct when it comes to many movies except for maybe the Godfather, First Blood, and Austin Powers, all movies which had sequels that were as good if not better than the original (in my own opinion).
This sequel, unfortunately, is no exception to the expression. This movie was not the movie the first one was. In fact, it had a weaker plot. Granted the movie had a smarter and more dangerous villian (Lara Flynn Boyle) than in the original, but it did not have the plot to suffice nor the great supporting characters that the first movie had.
For one, the Men In Black in the first movie were men who took alien fighting seriously as opposed to Will Smith with his laid back approach to it all. IN this movie, Will Smith plays the straight man, despite some tasteless side jokes, and it just doesn't work for him. He plays more of the character that Tommy Lee Jones did in the first one. It was meant to be a twist of comic irony, but it just doesn't cut it. The rest of the Men In Black in this movie seem pretty stupid. If I were the head of this organization, I would have zapped that red lazer in their eyes the first chance I got! Not even Rip Torn seems to be the same head of the agency he was in the first movie. He seemed to be even stupider that the rest of the MIB wannabes.
There were a few funny parts, don't get me wrong. But the movie was made sloppily and didn't live up to the first movie not only with the lack of humor but with the idea of the Men In Black being the rigid, top secret agency with Will Smith as the exception to that rule. In this, the plot was turned upside down and made into a movie even shorter that Lilo And Stitch. Although there was a part that did explain the absence of Linda Fiorentino, this movie seems like it was written by someone who hadn't even seen the first movie. Overall it deserves 4 out of 10 stars in my book. That's all I have to say about it.