Men In Black II borrows elements that made its predecessor astronomically fun, yet somehow made a boring sequel.

Rating: 4/10 (15 July 2018)

This can be best described as the weakest instalment of the franchise, no question. Same director, same actors, same aesthetic appeal. But something went wrong. Was it the ridiculously short 88 minute runtime? The underlying sense of familiarity? Over-reliance of noticeable computer generated effects? Unsurprisingly, it's actually all of the above. However what really hit the nail in this chapter's coffin was the identical plot. Agent Jay must restore Kay's memory in order to stop an antagonistic alien from retrieving an object that can decimate planets. Just to confirm, I am describing the plot to the sequel, not the original. Ironically, they are exactly the same. Therefore automatically your mind starts to wander off thinking about how refreshing the first film was and how much of a "cash grab" this follow-up is. It doesn't further an existing plot, nor does it develop any of the memorable characters. It just exists as if it took the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and forcefully applied it to every nook and cranny. The aliens, the love interest, the underwhelming conclusion. A villainous alien so functionally generic that the lingerie model it replicated would've had more personality. The uninspired lack of imagination, especially for a franchise that relishes in its own creativity, acts as a fitting juxtaposition for this instalment. Despite these criticisms, Smith and Jones give decent performances that feel consistent with the personalities defined in the original. The prosthetics and makeup, minimally used as they were due to substitution of mediocre visual effects, were well designed. The script contained a few amusing scenes amidst the lacklustre dialogue. Michael Jackson's twenty second cameo was perfection. Honestly increased the rating by a point for his "thrilling" scene. Seriously though, there is no justification for this "cash grab" and after witnessing this, I for one would not join MIB. I wish I could neuralise myself...