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HugeReviews.com Reviews:
One
More Time: Two is NOT an Original Concept!
by Michael Flanagan
Solid
Again in Hollywood, they’ve made a sequel that
recycles everything that made the first film fun, exciting, and
original…and made it somewhat enjoyable, occasionally laugh-out-loud
funny, and no longer original in any way.
This is based on one simple concept that Hollywood can’t seem
to grasp: when you take something original and use the exact same ideas,
characters, and plot, it is no longer original.
Get it?
Men in Black II is a funny movie, if a brief
one. Its humor comes from
the same place as the original, the chemistry between Will Smith and
Tommy Lee Jones. Their
moments in the movie are fun, funny, sometimes brilliant, and at other
times…awkwardly boring. The
phrase “phoned-in performances” comes to mind.
They’re good, but good in the same way that freezers solidify
water. They’re naturally
good. It would have been
nice if a screenwriter, producer, or director had made them even better.
The other characters are overused rehashes from the
first film. The worm guys,
funny the first time around, just a little too weird this time. Tony Shalhoub is back, but his character is less funny,
uglier, and more menacing than the first time.
Frank the Pug is back, too, and he’s grossly overused, although
both of his songs are hysterical. And
Rip Torn has a Yoda moment, but aside from that, why is he here?
The new characters are even more useless.
Johnny Knoxville disappears from the movie, which doesn’t
really matter since he had no real character (or point) anyway.
Patrick Warburton is playing The Tick again, this time in a black
suit. He’s funny, he’s
brilliant, he has a great screen presence, and he’s out of the movie
in the first ten minutes. And
Lara Flynn Boyle is useless as the main villain who takes over much of
the world with her fingers. For
a good villain, see Vincent D’Onofrio in Men in Black.
Evil, scary, and downright funny all in one.
Boyle is none of these.
None of this is to say that Men in Black II
is a bad movie. Not at all.
It’s fun, in a momentary kind of way.
Come for Smith and Jones. Stay
for…hmmm. Like a Saturday morning cartoon, Men in Black II
resonates about as long as it takes to down a bowl of Fruity
Pebbles…but it’s damn good cereal.
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Men in Black II
by Jorge Solis
Super
Agent J and K are back better than ever. Men In Black II is way better than the original. What Men In Black didn't have, Barry Sonnenfeld makes up for it in the sequel.
Lara Flynn Boyle's performance as the man-eating Serlena is much better than Linda Fiorentino's cold performance in the original. Tommy Lee Jones is funnier as Agent K. Rip Torn is surprisingly funny in this movie. His speech about his long lost love is laugh out loud. Then there is Frank, the talking dog, who sings "I Will Survive." This is also Will Smith's
return to comedy. Will Smith is still funny even after leaving comedy to give an all-out powerful performance in ALI.
The movie is filled with cameo appearances. The master of make-up and imagination, Ric Baker, is in this movie talking to one of his own creations. He's the guy with long hair and gray sides. In one scene, Tommy Lee Jones enters a house and interrupts a family watching television. The director, Barry Sonnenfeld, is the guy sitting in the middle. The little girl
sitting next to him is Tommy Lee Jones' daughter.
This is why I like Men In Black II so much. I am a John Woo fan. When I see shootouts in movies, I want to see someone carrying two guns. In a sci-fi movie, you have Tommy Lee Jones firing two guns in a shootout. Name me another sci-fi movie where a
guy is shooting two guns at the same time.
Then there's the big guns. I felt ripped off in the original when the big guns weren't used at all. I was so happy that Barry Sonnenfeld brought the big guns back and used them this time. The best shot in the movie is when Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are going to use the big guns. When they use those big guns, the result is awesome and eye-catching.
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