Men in Black II (PG-13, 2002)

At the end of Men in Black, agent J (Will Smith) erases the memories of his partner, K (Tommy Lee Jones), so that he can return to a normal life. As MEN IN BLACK II begins, a scary-looking alien (disguised as a Victoria's Secret model and played by Lara Flynn Boyle) returns to earth and only K knows how to deal with her. J has to track K down, restore his memory, and work with him to save the planet from the scum of the universe.

The original Men in Black is one of my all-time favorite movies, just for originality and sheer attitude. Director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch, and stars Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, and Vincent D'Onofrio achieved near perfection with a tone that was just off-center and the essence of cool. The story and special effects were perfectly satisfying, but the movie was all about throwaway lines like "Now I'm going to have to buy the white album again" and "We're not hosting an intergalactic kegger down here."

The sequel has flickers of the original spirit, but it is like a fifth generation photocopy, a blurry reproduction rather than a re-imagined original. Sonnenfeld, Welch, Jones, and Smith return, along with MiB1's Rip Torn and Tony Shaloub, but the movie squanders our pleasure at seeing favorite characters return and then makes things worse when the additions and new characters are not up to their level. Worst of all, the underlying story line is lackluster, with plot holes and a brief running time that suggest that we may get a lot of deleted scenes on the DVD.