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Men in Black 2
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Full Screen |
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As always, a review of The
Film and The DVD (extras)!
The Film:
Men in Black 2 was a tough movie to rate. On
the one hand, it's everything the first movie was. It has special FX right
up the wazoo. It has nice visual gags, some amusing one-liners, and in the
end, is a nice
comedy. It even has a nice film short preceding it, in the form of a
riotous sci-fi 3D-animated shtick called "The Chubb-Chubbs"
(a film short so amusing, it even has it's own web site, here).
On the
other hand, MiB2's story could've used some work, with a
plot-twisted ending ripped off from at least 6 sci-fi flicks seen long ago. In short,
Men in Black-2 is a
cake with a lot of icing, a lot of decorations, and a lot of effort...yet
very little cake. Not
that there isn't fun to be had, for fans of either 1) the original movie,
2) the TV cartoon series, or 3) the Marvel comic of which both were based. Jay (Will Smith) is back, who we learn has "neuralized" every partner since Kay
(Tommy Lee Jones) into forgetting they were ever his partner, since none
turned out to be as good as Kay (yes, Linda Fiorentino fans, unfortunately
this includes "L," since Linda is not in this sequel. Awww!). Good
fortune strikes --sort of-- in the form of an evil plant alien named
Sarleena, which takes
the guise of a Victoria Secret model (Lara Flynn Boyle), who only Kay has
the knowledge to defeat. Jay must de-neuralize Kay, remind him of his Men
in Black past, and of course, save the world. There
are a lot of jokes along the way. There's that talking dog from the first
movie --the only available MiB agent that Jay hasn't deneuralized yet-- which provides a lot of amusing dog jokes. There's the villainess
(Lara) who provides a lot of plant jokes (her original form), as well as a few supermodel
jokes (in her human form). Of course, the best jokes (sadly) have been seen in the film
trailer, as Jay tries to re-acquaint Kay to the MiB, and tell him some of
what happened while he was gone. The
problems arise when people who would've liked more romance in the film
are left high and dry. Remember Kay's true love, who he had to leave for
the Men in Black, and by the first film's finale, was reunited with him? A
better story would've had her learn the truth about her beloved's
whereabouts all those years, and perhaps, making her a MiB agent in the
end. That's a cool finale idea, though it's best to forget all that. This film shrugs off his leaving her, since she apparently moved out
of his life long before the sequel begins. As for Jay, there's a pizza store
clerk that catches Jay's eye (Rosario Dawson) which leads to
little romantic angst in this roughly 90-minute film, making the finale
--which depends on such romantic angst-- fall
more than a bit short. It doesn't help matters when the plot twist of the
"light" they are searching for to save the world, is glaringly ripped off from
any number of sources which have used it before, including Dr. Who. However,
do the flaws of this film detract from the fun? Not exactly. This is a
comedy, after all, and I must admit I laughed many times. It is unfair to
say this sequel is a failure due to its need to correct the mistake of the
prior film's finale, a la Star Trek 3's "search for Spock." Similar
to that film, this sequel must waste time correcting the singular flaw of
its predecessor (Wrath of Khan); in particularly, the departure of one of its main
stars! Once MiB2 similarly handles this little matter, it is just as fun as its
Marvel comic book origins. So fun, in fact, that a fellow movie
fan I saw the film with had admittedly no love for the first film, yet
said she loved this film even more. That's a pretty good sign of a good
comedy.
The DVD:
While I'm not certain that this film garnered enough kudos to
warrant one, this is a typical, two-disc-in-one-DVD-shell deal. Disc one
includes the movie, though only one audio commentary by the director.
While disappointing that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones aren't present,
they sweeten the pot by offering optional "telestrator diagrams"
which pop up a la VH-1 music videos (or more recently, that cool feature
on the Spider-Man DVD). Also
similar to the Spider-Man DVD is an option to see the film interlaced with
behind-the-scenes clips; with this option enabled, every time the MiB logo
appears on screen, pressing ENTER on your remote activates a behind the
scenes clip related to that part of the film. Yes, even that cool film
short, The Chubb-Chubbs can see this again, also on disc 1.
What's really impressive, though, is that all the obligatory teasers and
trailers are also on disc ONE. When that means they
left even the tiniest of space available on disc two --for even more
extras-- that's a good sign. Disc 2's
extras start off with the much-ballyhooed "alternate ending."
Although this is the only deleted scene (of sorts) offered on the disc, it is
amusing only for those who liked the joke about the little aliens in the
bus terminal locker. No more spoilers aside from admitting that if you
didn't like the original plot twist about "the light" and the
disappointments therein, nothing is changed here. There is also a blooper
reel which clocks in at around 5 full minutes and while lacking in humor
(I just find flubbing of lines very cliché), does show how good of a relationship Tommy and Will have on the set. Added
extras are not unlike what was offered on Disc 2 of the original MiB DVD.
You can check out "looping" (audio) of the film, learn about the
how and why of some of the aliens, learn im particular how they animated
Sarleena, plus added featurettes on Make-Up, Musical Score, Foley Artists,
and Art/Production Design. Just about every character gets their own
featurette as well, including Frank the Pug, Jarra, Jeebs, Jeff the Worm,
Scrad/Charlie, and more. Topping off the list of such featurettes is
"Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide to Comedy." There
are added little treats on disc two as well. Will Smith's music video is
offered, as is a multi-angle scene deconstruction, where the
cinematographers try once again to prove to the lawmen how important their
job truly is. There is also a photo gallery of all the one-sheets used to
promote the film, as well as filmographies of the stars. While this all
might sound like small potatoes compared to other DVD's deleted scenes and
what-not, I must at least commend the makers of this disc for not falling
prey to either making the best features a pain in the rump to find
(namely, the "game" one must play to see the deleted scenes of Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) or "hidden" entirely
(particularly Swordfish, where you must decipher "passwords" to
find any worthwhile extras at all!). Best of all, Easter eggs. It all made
reviewing this disc (and enjoying it) ten times easier. Wait,
there's more! While I'm no fan of discs that offer alleged "DVD-ROM
extras"--as a rule, they're just a jump to the official web site so
they can get your e-mail address-- this disc's extras are quite
impressive! Much like Spider-Man, there is a "visualizer" for
your favorite music program (Windows Media Player, for example) which in
this case has Sarleena dancing among the "worm guys" to the tune
of your favorite song. There is also a nice demo for the downloadable game,
"MiB: Crossfire," which some may say isn't a real game (you can
only download it online?), though when the full version is only $19.99
without tax nor shipping, it's worth a look just to play the free demo.
Will any of this make you buy the disc? Probably not. However, it's more
than worth the rental, right?
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Final Rating :
Small Crater. A hair's width away from being a "Large
crater," due to a cliché plot twist in the finale, and the absence
of Linda Fiorentino. Other than that, this was an admirable
sequel. |
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