Intermission: 'Men in Black' falls well short of original movie

"Men in Black II"

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Lara Flynn Boyle

Rated: PG-13

The best thing about "Men in Black II" is that it's only about 90 minutes long. Any longer and I would have left the room screaming. I don't want to indict everyone associated, because Will Smith is a talented, engaging and affable actor. The special effects are top-notch, and the characters are ones we already care about from the original "Men in Black."

But the writing is just so awful it renders the film nearly unwatchable. It seemed longer than its mercifully short run-time and I wish the "neuralizers" featured in the film were real so all memory of seeing this movie could be erased.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld has had an interesting career. He started as a cinematographer and shot some great films including the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple," "Raising Arizona" and "Miller's Crossing," an entirely beautiful-looking movie. He also was behind the camera for "Big" and "Misery." Both of those were great looking (and great all-around) films.

Sonnenfeld turned his talents to directing in 1991 with "The Addams Family," directed the sequel and then did "Get Shorty" for Danny DeVito's production company. His "Wild, Wild West" seemed to be a career-low point, but "Men in Black II" sinks lower than even that piece of polished tripe. Money will be made with "Men in Black II," so the powers-that-be in Hollywood will be happy, but movie lovers will be scratching their heads and wondering, "Why did they do this?" As bad as this film is, the producers seem to be killing the franchise with only the second in the series.

For those who aren't familiar with the premise, the Men in Black work for a government agency with the purpose of controlling illegal aliens. We're not talking about folks who sneak across the southern border, but real aliens. Folks from other planets. The Men in Black keep an eye on these critters to make sure they work and play well with others.

They also carry a handy little device called a neuralizer that can wipe out a person's recent memory. This is used after regular folks have an alien encounter and the Men in Black want them to forget everything that happened.

At the end of the first "Men in Black," agent Jay (Will Smith) neuralizes his mentor/partner agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) who wants to simply live a normal life. Now, five years later, a crisis comes along that requires the talents only Kay possesses. Thank heavens they have a "deneuralizer."

So Jay deneuralizes Kay and they get to the task at hand.

There is an evil alien currently on Earth (Lara Flynn Boyle) who desperately wants something called the "Light of Zartra." If she doesn't get it, planet Earth will be destroyed.

Agent Jay falls for a hot pizza girl who he doesn't neuralize (against MIB regulations) and she ends up having a whole lot of things to add to the plot.

Despite the fact that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are a great screen pairing and the special effects are up-to-the-minute, state-of-the-art affairs, "Men in Black II" falls far short of its predecessor.

My suggestion would be: Rent the DVD of the original "Men in Black" and enjoy it. Based on the Malibu comic book written by Lowell Cunningham (as was this film), it's a pretty wry ride. Smith and Jones team up to perfection and the whole concept is pretty entertaining. It's witty, inventive and engaging, statements that cannot be made about the sequel.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)