Bovie Movie

Otherworldly villains are on the loose again, and it’s up to Earth’s interstellar police force to bring them to justice in this sequel to the sci-fi comedy blockbuster Men in Black. Agent Jay (Will Smith) has become a high-ranking member of the Men in Black, the secret government task force designed to deal with unruly visitors from other worlds, while his former cohort, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), had his memory wiped clean and now lives a simple but contented life as a mailman. However, an especially nasty alien threat has reared its not-so-ugly head; Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a shape-shifting Kylothian alien who is in pursuit of another escaped visitor who holds the key to powers that would allow her to destroy the world. Making Serleena all the more dangerous is the fact she’s taken on the appearance of a lingerie model, making her irresistible to most men. When the rampaging Serleena takes control of the MIB offices, Jay is forced to turn to the only man who can help him save the world — the former Agent Kay. After restoring Kay’s memory, the two remaining Men in Black set out to conquer Serleena with a motley band of friendly aliens, including a handful of worm creatures and a talking dog named Frank (voice of Tim Blaney). Jay, meanwhile, has his head turned by Laura (Rosario Dawson), an attractive waitress who was an unwitting witness to an alien attack. Men in Black 2 also features Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, Patrick Warburton, and Johnny Knoxville.

Hollywood’s plundering of classic TV series has produced its fair share of turkeys, but this is a glorious exception. This is partly owing to director Barry Sonnenfeld’s wise decision to stick with the black humour of Charles Addams’s original and very popular New Yorker cartoons and, perhaps more importantly, some inspired casting — Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia are note perfect as loving Morticia and Gomez, while Christopher Lloyd was equally born to play Fester. However, these stars are almost surpassed by the astonishingly agile Thing and by Christina Ricci’s splendid performance as the young Wednesday. The plot — a confidence trickster (Lloyd) poses as Fester to steal the Addams fortune — is a tad contrived, but Sonnenfeld makes a confident transition from cinematographer to director (he proved himself again with Get Shorty in 1995) and the result is a witty family comedy that has enough sly humour to keep adults chuckling throughout. The massive success of the film inspired the cast to return for a sequel. 

It may be superficial and predictable, with special effects bloated out of all proportion, but this western fantasy from Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld is still good-natured fun thanks to the winning charisma of Will Smith and some fabulous Jack-in-the-Box gadgetry. Little more than Lethal Weapon in the Old West, shaken and stirred with a touch of James Bond, the plot has Smith and Kevin Kline as mismatched US secret service agents using anachronistic contraptions and fancy disguises to stop mad genius Kenneth Branagh from assassinating President Grant (Kline again). The script is remorselessly smutty, the one-liners are below average (“No more Mr Knife Guy”) and the giant mechanical spider climax endlessly drawn out, but the wildly inventive gizmos (the best being the metal collars that attract magnetic blades) give entertainment value and draw a shield over the numerous flaws. 

This smash-hit science-fiction comedy, based on a short-lived 1980s comic strip, has secret agent Tommy Lee Jones and new recruit Will Smith as part of a top-secret agency responsible for regulating all alien activity on Earth. While investigating an alien sighting, the pair become involved in the search for a missing galaxy to appease an interstellar force and avert the Earth’s destruction. Great special effects, inventive alien designs and Smith and Jones’s hip, hilarious double act make director Barry Sonnenfeld’s Lethal Weapon-style buddy picture a fast-paced pleasure.