Who turned
the lights out?
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"Same planet.
New scum" smirks the tagline for the return of Barry Sonnenfeld's
alien-busting crime fighters.
Andy Jacobs
Catchy, eh?
But the marketeers might as well have added "Same movie", for "MiB
II" sticks true to the timeworn studio mandate for blockbuster sequels:
Remake the first one. But not as good.
A sleeper hit
in 1997, "MiB" was a slick blend of James Bond cool, 50s monster
movies, and X-Files paranoia.
Plus it boasted
the improbably successful double act of streetsmart Philly rapper
Will Smith and professional Texan grump Tommy Lee Jones - as Agents
J and K, the wisecracking, shade-sporting, smart-suited, protectors
of the Earth from the scum of the universe.
This was sci-fi
it was OK to like: geek chic.
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| Anyone
who mentions "twin peaks" will be severely dealt with |
Second spin
and the roles - J the rookie, K the veteran - are reversed, as Smith
must retrieve his ex-partner from the mind-wiped obscurity where
part one left him.
Turns out that,
just as in the original there's a planet-threatening MacGuffin which
they must get off the earth and its location is buried deep in K's
memory banks.
So far, so
so. Plot smot. We want aliens! We want jokes! We want action! And
we get it all - it just lacks spark.
Despite a five
year break between movies, "MiB II" was rushed into production ahead
of last year's threatened actors' strike and it shows.
Smith and Jones
gamely try and work with a script that was being written as they
filmed - but while the publicity for the movie has trumpeted the
return of the whole original team, one man is missing: writer Ed
Solomon.
With the plot
misfiring and the stars struggling, it's left to small mercies to
save the movie: a beefed up role for smart-mouthed dog-shaped alien
Frank the Pug; Rosario Dawson's love interest; Lara Flynn Boyle's
breasts.
"MiB" fans prepare
to be whelmed: this is effective button-pushing sci-fi entertainment,
but you won't need to be neurolized to forget it.
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