I had a great time at the movies last night, and
I’ll bet some of you did too. Who wants to talk
about it? (WARNING: There are some spoilers in the
“Low Point” section. Also, there’s a small spoiler
in the “Premise” section that has been revealed in
the trailers.)

Premise

An alien has returned to Earth searching for
something that was hidden
here a couple of decades ago. Only the neuralyzed
Agent K knows where
to find it.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Will
Smith plays
James Darrell Edwards III

Tommy
Lee
Jones plays Agent K

Rip
Torn plays agent
Z.

Patrick
Warburton as Agent T

Rosario
Dawson
as Laurel

Lara
Flynn
Boyle as Sarleena

Johnny
Knoxville as Scard

Tony
Shalhoub as
Jeebs

Rick
Baker as the
passport agent

Michael
Jackson as himself, an alien

Directed by Barry
Sonnenfeld

Written by Robert
Gordon
and Barry
Fanaro
based on a comic book by Lowell
Cunningham

Complete cast and crew information is provided by the
IMDB and can be
found here.

High Point

The pacing. This film kept moving, never dragging at
any point, and
never getting ahead of itself. That’s a tricky thing
to do with this
many special effects, and it was done beautifully.

Low Point

They seemed to deviate from the characters, both in
and out of the
movie. Agent J went from the best agent to a poor
amateur when K came
back, and K’s long-time lost love plot that was so
important to the
original fell apart as a result of some of the
revelations here.

The Scores

How original can a sequel really get? You
have an
established world and an established cast of heroes
to work with.
I give it 2 out of 6.

The effects this time around were seamless.
There were times
when I could spot the CGI, but that was partly due to
the actual work
and partly due to the fact that nobody would bother
building a robot
or model to do this stuff anymore. I give it 5 out
of 6.

The story is better developed than the one
in the original.
Rather than an origin story and a simple chase, this
has a chase, a
rebirth, a mystery, and a look inside the private
lives of the MIB and
what they’ve sacrificed for the chance to save the
world. It’s more
complex than you’ll get from most of your summer
blockbusters. I give
it 5 out of 6.

The acting was a series of well-played
caricatures again.
There are a series of one-dimensional evil villains,
the stupid evil
sidekick, the stupid good sidekick, the same agents
we saw last time,
and the strong but lonely female love interest. All
the actors were
capable, but they weren’t strained in the process. I
give it 4 out of
6.

The emotional response this instilled was
impressive. I
laughed a lot, which is what was a comedy should do.
I also felt for
the agents in the final sequence, before a little
voice inside my head
started yelling “Cheap!” I give it 5 out of 6.

The production values were very high. Danny
Elfman included
themes reminiscent of the original, but still fresh.
Barry Sonnenfeld
kept the directing tight, avoiding some of the overly
long effects
shots he had in the first film. He brought in some
fantastic pacing
this time, too. Rick Baker’s make-up work was good
where it was
used. I give the production 5 out of 6.

Overall, this movie is a great way to kick
off the summer.
If you’re looking for an hour and a half of comedy,
action, and pure
fun, you should check it out. Objectively speaking,
I think it’s a
better film than the original. I give it 5 out of 6.

In total, Men In Black 2 receives 31 out of
42.