Of Agents and Alphabets. Review on Men in Black 2 Movie

I had watched Men In Black – II on its opening day (last July) and I am surprised that I have not written a review on it so far – last night I saw the rerun and it was as if I relived the experience. I was so into the movie that I thought I saw some aliens this morning. Turned out to be a group of revelers still celebrating the 4th of July.

If you are looking for an adventure full of comedy – look no further than MIB II.

Men In Black

This is a special organization (I am not sure who funds it) of smart looking people in dark suits and dark glasses (permission to digress: Of late the Bollywood stars insist on wearing dark glasses colloquially referred to as goggles even at night – wonder why?) whose mission is to monitor the activities of aliens on earth.

Yes – we have aliens living among us and they have adopted our lifestyle. Some of them also do contribute on MouthShut and because I have signed non-disclosure agreements in blood I am not allowed to divulge their identify. However I am bribable if the price is right.

MIB II was released in Jul 2002. It is a sequel to the earlier one released in 1997. The director is Barry Sonnenfeld and the running length is about 82 minutes – short and funny.

The Plot

A strange character enters earth in a space ship – it starts of as an innocent looking flowering plant (something like a Venus fly trap), starts growing tentacles and transforms itself into a Victoria Secret lingerie model. She - Lara Flynn Boyle as Serleena is in a quest for a certain light which would help her gain control of a planet Zathra.

Agent J (Will Smith) is the latest top notch agent at MIB and he is still looking for a partner after his partner in MIB I – Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) retires.

Agent J investigates a routine murder at a downtown pizzeria which leads him to cross path with Sarleena. Sarleena has captured MIB headquarters and is on the look out for Agent K – since he is the only one alive who knows about the whereabouts of the ''light''. Meanwhile Agent J has to get Agent K out of retirement and help him to locate the light before it is too late and the earth is blown.

However Agent K seems to have been “neurolized” – his memory has been erased and there is only one machine called as the ‘de-neurolizer” which can bring back his memory.

The rest of the movie is a series of events leading to the location of the ''light'' and saving the earth.

The Performances:

# Will Smith as Agent J. He has a natural flair for comedy and seems to have a bigger and better role at monitoring the aliens. His hall mark is his perfect timing. His dealing with – Jeff the underground bug and the “neeble” worms are hilarious. He does briefly fall in love but soon comes out of it.

# Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K. He looked tired and seemed to be going through the motions as the senior agent. I was not impressed by his acting. It is time for him to retire.

# Lara Flynn Jonesas Serleena She was drool worthy. She was looking ravishing in her simple costume which she had right through the movie – a black bra and panty set from Victoria Secret. Wonder why her costume designer did not get an Oscar?

# Rosaria Dawson as Laura Vasquez, the pizza girl and the love angle for Agent J. Hers was a so-so performance.

# Frank the Pug Dog. He was the assistant for Agent J. He was funny with his facial expressions and dialogues. He does get to sing “Who let the dogs out…”

# The Aliens:

* Jeebs – the inventor of the ''deneurolizer''. His eyes were scary.

* Scrad / Charlie – the two headed monster with one head always sticking out of the knapsack – sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left

* Jarra – the huge guy who floats instead of walking – he had a big head and a small body. He looked like a mad scientist

* The “neeble” worms. They were funny and very creative.

* Jeff – the underground (subway) bug – he was huge and grotesque

* Michael Jackson in a cameo role as Agent M

It is a science fiction cum adventure story.

Three things to look for:

- The dialogues – they are full of wit

- The alien characters – some of them are mind boggling

- The special effects

This is a pretty light movie. Causes a few laughs as the adventure unfolds. All in all, a Will Smith movie. Just right for a lazy afternoon with nothing else to do. Would give this a 3/5 and worth one peek.

I believe MIB III is in the works. MIB as a series is becoming dull – there is only so much they can show as far as aliens are concerned. I am not going to loose sleep waiting for a sequel to this sequel.

Happy lazing.