Men in Black II

June 15, 2003

Barry Sonnenfeld could do worse than than continuing to release ‘Men in Black’ movies for the rest of his life. In fact, the world would be a much better place if he did. Keeping in mind some of the other dreck that he’s unleashed on humanity (Wild Wild West and Big Trouble, I’m looking at you), he may eventually be forgiven for his sins. Men in Black II is almost the same exact film as it’s predecessor. It’s funny in all the same places, the plot is almost exactly the same, hell – if I was fliiping channels and stopped to watch either film, it would take a good ten minutes to figure out which film I was watching.

Frank the pug steals the entire movie. Every scene he was in made me laugh out loud. Too bad he wasn’t in very many scenes.

The alien villain this go-around is played by Lara Flynn Boyle. She did a decent job, but I can’t help imagining how much sexier the original Serleena, Famke Janssen, would have been – although the Central Park bulimia scene wouldn’t have played out as well with Famke in the role. Who else could play a bulimic alien besides Lara Flynn Boyle? She may very well be one in real life!

Johnny Knoxville was totally wasted. He could have been used much more effectively – his extra head should have sprouted out of his (jack)ass, not his backpack. David Cross, one of my very favoritest comedians, also made an appearance. You may remember him as the morgue attendant in the first film. I’d bet that he lives in his mom’s basement in real life too.

What was up with Rosario Dawson’s hair? It was butt-ugly. I swear, she was wearing Michael Jackson’s wig, who coincidentally had an amusing cameo.

Not a bad film to watch on cable. The end was silly and sappy – it made me puke a little in my own mouth. Skip the last ten minutes and it will be a solid three BOB movie.