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Which is probably why Columbia Pictures felt the need to bring more intergalactic action and hilarity to the masses with a sequel to the highly popular film with the hopes of starting a franchise. "Men in Black 2" is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sensuality. The answer, mostly yes, but there were some issues with the movie. The supporting cast was solid throughout, I did grow tired of Johnny Knoxville's character, but he did provide some humorous moments. The cast was excellent, which isn't surprising given the talent assembled here, but as much as I enjoy Will Smith in most movies he makes, at times he actually felt boring to me here.
Next, the powers-that-be managed to convince the main cast to reprise their roles from the first film, and lastly bring back the director that made them successful in the first place. So, 5 years after their first big screen adventure, Agent's K and J (Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith) are back again to save mankind from the worst scum of the universe, in Barry Sonnenfeld's "Men in Black 2". This is actually one of those rare cases when the potential for a sequel is there, but the studio should avoid going through with it for the simple fact that you most likely won't be able to do better than what you already have done. The rest of the cast was fun, and giving more screen time to Frank the Pug and the 'Worm' guys was a nice touch. Honestly it didn't matter what anyone did in this movie, no matter what was tried they just couldn't match the original, which is unfortunate since the characters are so fun and story potential is everywhere, but in the end you still can't do better than what's come before.
The only problem is, he doesn't remember anything about his life in 'MIB'. However, with all that being said, the story did suffer some from the fact that it had lost its freshness and originality since the first one was so much of a surprise and audiences didn't know what to expect, but this time we had a pretty good idea. After successfully saving the planet from a deadly alien threat and raking in big money at the box office, the boys at 'MIB' were livin' the good life and enjoying all the perks of being beloved by moviegoers. Well, the obvious answer would be to make a sequel and cash in on the original film's success, which is exactly what Columbia Pictures did. "Men in Black 2" finds Agent J (Will Smith) having a difficult time keeping partners while protecting the Earth from alien threats. "Men in Black 2" is still a fun movie, though not as good as the original, but that doesn't mean the movie's not worth seeing or owning. However, there is a slight problem with this plan, how do you top what's already been done.
Yes, there are some problems with this movie in some areas, but most are overcome early on, leaving audiences with a rather enjoyable movie experience. The surprise factor is gone, the freshness has worn off, and it's possible that due to the mediocre animated series that was spawned from the original movie has diminished people's interest in the series. The story was a good follow-up to the original, with plenty of humor, though not as much as I'd hoped for before Agent K returns, but still the jokes were funny. I understand that the goal was having his character in the place of Tommy Lee Jones' at the beginning of the movie, being the serious career agent, no longer the care free rookie, but he came off like he was bored, leaving his performance feeling stiff.
So, did Columbia's plan of action work for this film or was it to fall prey to being yet another inferior sequel in an already long list. What happens when a movie is so successful that it makes tons of money, turns its young lead actor into a mega-star, and catches audiences completely by surprise with how good and unique of a movie it was. Though the schtick is the same as before, it's still fun to see these two characters interact on screen, easily erasing the crappiness of the children's animated series.
To solve their possible problems Columbia Pictures brought on two writers that can handle the type of material needed for this type of movie, meaning plenty of action, humor, and sci-fi fun. After he de-neuralized his former partner/mentor Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), J feels he's better as loner agent than partnered up. However, when a deadly new threat comes to Earth in the guise of a lingerie model (Lara Flynn Boyle), J and 'MIB' must bring in the one agent who will stand a chance of stopping this threat and saving humanity once again, Agent K.
Tommy Lee Jones returns to playing the role that he does best, and apparently it's the only role he knows how to do, the no-nonsense serious man with a mission and a really dry, subtle sense of humor. Now, I will say that once Tommy Lee Jones' character was back in play, Will Smith lightened up and the movie quickly picked up and felt more like the original, but the early part of his performance does put a bit of a damper on things. The action was energetic like before, though a little more over-the-top in places than even the previous film had done, and the sci-fi elements were inventive.
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