Men in Black II

An ungainly, comedy-deficient, B-movie rush job (despite being five years in the making), MIB2 is burdened by phoned-in performances from alien-busters Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, who are stranded in a plot that goes largely unexplained despite almost nonstop expository dialogue. The two are reunited after Jones' memory is restored (he was blanked at the end of the original, you will recall) because only he knows where to find "the Light of Zartha"--an alien object hidden on Earth for no reason other than to lure a morphing, tentacled space baddie, played by Lara Flynn Boyle, who vamps around in her undies and takes over MIB headquarters during the search. Plus, if the Light of Zartha isn't off Earth by midnight, it will destroy the planet. Why? Well, let's not kick the crutches out from under this stupid script; it's limping along as best it can under the lazy direction of Barry Sonnenfeld, who has also returned from the original MIB with a lack of enthusiasm that seems to be contagious. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras on this two-disc special edition include, on disc one: audio commentary from director Barry Sonnenfeld with the option of Telestrator diagrams, an “Alien Broadcast” feature where viewers can access transmissions from the “Alien Broadcast Network” during the film, and “Frank's Favorites,” which include several teasers and a promo for the "MIIB Crossfire" video game; and on disc two: “Special Delivery: MIIB Orb,” which contains nine featurettes of various lengths on topics including production design, sound effects, makeup, and looping, a five-minute blooper reel, an animatic sequence of alien character Serleena, five multi-angle scene deconstructions, a two-minute alternate ending, “Creature Featurettes” on seven alien characters, the five-minute featurette “Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide to Comedy,” Will Smith's music video “Black Suits Comin',” filmographies, a gallery of theatrical one-sheets, and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a butt-kicking extras package for a wimp of a film.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—May 8, 2012—Sony, 88 min., PG-13, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2002's Men in Black II sports a great transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Extras include audio commentary by director Barry Sonnenfeld, eight featurettes on the various creatures in the film (26 min.), “Cosmic Sounds: Elfman in Space” with composer Danny Elfman (13 min.), “Rick Baker: Alien Maker” with the makeup effects artist (11 min.), a “MIIB ADR” featurette on looping dialogue (10 min.), the production featurettes “Design in Motion” (10 min.) and “Squish, Splat, Sploosh: The Stellar Sounds” (8 min.), a multi-angle scene deconstruction (8 min.), “Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide to Comedy” (6 min.), a blooper reel (5 min.), an alternate ending (2 min.), an animated sequence (2 min.), the music video for “Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)” by star Will Smith, the BD-Live function, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a lame sequel.]