Men in Black II (2002) DVD Review – UK

The Men in Black are back, but when a dangerous alien arrives on Earth searching for a mysterious source of power, Agent J must restore the memory of the one man who knows how to stop her.

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The Men in Black are back, but when a dangerous alien arrives on Earth searching for a mysterious source of power, Agent J must restore the memory of the one man who knows how to stop her.

Runtime

1 Hour 28 Minutes

US rating

PG13

Region

Region 1

Sound

Dolby Digital 5.1

Aspect

1.85:1

Release year

2002

Details

With Agent K returned to civilian life, Agent J is now one of the top agents at MIB and finding it increasingly difficult to locate a partner who can match his high standards. Zed is becoming fed up with J neuralyzing an endless stream of unsuitable agents and the rest of the organisation are beginning to wonder who will be next. His solution is to partner J with Frank, an alien disguised as a talking pug who, unfortunately for J, isn't exactly the most discreet of companions.

When a mangled body is discovered in a park, J is dispatched to investigate and soon discovers that the murder has alien connections. Serleena, a plant-based, shape-shifting Kylothian, has arrived on Earth and disguised herself as a lingerie model. She's searching for the mysterious Light of Zartha and has no intention of allowing anything, or anyone, to stand in her way.

J's investigation leads him to Laura Vasquez, a young woman who witnessed Serleena's arrival and whom J should immediately neuralyze according to MIB regulations. However, something prevents him from doing so and he begins to suspect that Laura may somehow be connected to whatever Serleena is looking for.

When Zed discovers exactly what Serleena is searching for, he realises that only one person knows the full story. Unfortunately, that person has been neuralyzed, now works at a post office and has absolutely no recollection of his former career protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe. J must retrieve his former partner and somehow restore K's memories before Serleena finds the Light of Zartha and destroys the planet. Sounds like another day at the office.

Picture & Sound

As with the first film, the picture quality is of the highest order, with a consistently high bit-rate and no obvious signs of artifacting or outlining. Colours are bright and vibrant, definition is superb and the multitude of blacks and grey scales are handled with ease. The source material is also virtually spotless, with no noticeable scratches, dust or other print imperfections.

The only problem with such a good transfer is that it really does show up some of the poorer special effects. The majority are excellent, with Serleena's spacecraft and the MIB car being particularly impressive, but Serleena in her natural form, complete with an assortment of sprouting tentacles, looks rather too obviously computer generated. If you can have an unrealistic-looking alien, then unfortunately this is one.

As with Spider-Man and the first Men in Black, Danny Elfman has provided the musical score. However, unlike Spider-Man, the music doesn't overwhelm the soundstage and there's plenty of room for some excellent surround effects. Dialogue remains clear and easily audible across the front, whilst the numerous alien encounters, weapons and action sequences provide plenty of activity in the rear channels.

There's also some suitably wall-shaking LFE when required, giving the subwoofer plenty to do without becoming excessive. This is exactly what an action-comedy soundtrack should sound like: lively, spacious and capable of making plenty of noise when the film demands it.

Menu & Extras

The menu is brilliantly animated and scored, with Agents K and J walking into the Worm Guys' apartment. There you'll find Frank and the various Worms inviting you to make a selection and, once you do, the screen zooms into another animated and scored menu. This really is DVD menu design at its best and a pat on the back must go to whoever put it together.

Columbia TriStar seem to have started something with the way they're presenting their major DVD releases. Spider-Man arrived on two discs and now Men in Black II receives similar treatment. Some may consider it another excuse to extract additional funds from the customer, but in both cases there's enough worthwhile material to justify the second disc.

Similar to the Spider-Man release, an MIB symbol can appear at certain points during the film, allowing you to branch off into a short featurette covering a particular plot point, character or special effect. If you don't want your viewing interrupted then don't worry, as the material is also available separately on the second disc along with a considerable pile of other extras.

These include an amusing gag reel, featurettes covering everything from Rick Baker's makeup effects and Danny Elfman's score to Frank the Pug and the various alien characters, plus a Will Smith music video and several multi-angle scene deconstructions. However, the best extra has to be the superb computer-animated short The ChubbChubbs! on the first disc. It's almost worth putting the disc in just to watch that again.

Overall

Men in Black II has been cleverly constructed to bring the original partnership back together, but unfortunately that's also one of its biggest problems. The film takes far too long to reunite J and K and, until Tommy Lee Jones finally returns to the action, it feels as though something important is missing.

Will Smith is as likeable as ever and has no problem slipping back into the black suit, but the opening section demonstrates just how important Tommy Lee Jones was to the original film. The humour worked because of the contrast between J's wisecracking enthusiasm and K's permanently unimpressed expression. Without Jones there to bounce off, Smith spends much of the early film competing for laughs with a talking dog - and Frank frequently gets the better lines.

Once K is back, things improve considerably. Tommy Lee Jones once again proves that sometimes the funniest thing you can do in a comedy is look completely serious, and the chemistry between the two leads remains intact. Watching J effectively become the experienced agent whilst K has to rediscover the bizarre world he once inhabited also provides a neat reversal of their relationship in the original film.

Lara Flynn Boyle makes an entertaining enough villain as Serleena and certainly looks rather better in her chosen human disguise than she does as a mass of computer-generated tentacles. Unfortunately, she never feels particularly threatening and the Light of Zartha storyline isn't nearly as memorable as the galaxy-in-a-marble antics of the first film. Johnny Knoxville's two-headed Scrad and Charlie is also rather underused considering the possibilities.

There are still plenty of good moments. Frank gets some wonderfully sarcastic lines, Tony Shalhoub makes a welcome return as Jeebs and the Worm Guys are given considerably more screen time. The sequence at the post office is also a nice reminder that there are rather more aliens living amongst us than anybody suspects. At only eighty-eight minutes the film certainly doesn't outstay its welcome either.

However, that's also part of the problem. Everything feels slightly rushed and there's a definite sense that we've seen most of it before. The original Men in Black had the advantage of introducing an entire hidden universe of aliens, gadgets and secret government organisations. This time around the surprises aren't quite as surprising and the story often seems content simply to revisit familiar characters and jokes.

That's not to say Men in Black II isn't entertaining. There's enough action, impressive effects and genuinely funny moments to make it an enjoyable ninety minutes, particularly once K and J are reunited. It simply lacks that little something which made the original such an enjoyable and distinctive film.

The DVD itself is another matter. The picture and sound are superb, the animated menus are amongst the best I've seen and the enormous collection of extras gives you plenty to explore once the film has finished. Whether the film itself warrants repeated viewings is more questionable, but that impressive two-disc package certainly makes the decision considerably more difficult. A good sequel and a great DVD, but unfortunately not quite a great film.