Men in Black II on DVD

Maybe you can go home again.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are reunited with director Barry Sonenfeld in what’s basically a remake of the first Men In Black - not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

This time around, however, instead of a big and evil alien bug, they’re after a weirdly tentacled critter who in human form is Lara Flynn Boyle. She’s after the light of Zartha, which she believes is on Earth despite the MIB's prevailing opinion that it left the planet many years before.

No one really knows what to do this time, how to stop the menace from outer space, so they’re forced to “deneuralize” Agent K (Jones) because he was the only one who knew the fate of the light. Much of the action revolves around getting K to remember his past life as a MIB, as well as Frank the Pug trying to be J’s new partner. There's some pretty funny stuff there.

Meanwhile, the MIB headquarters is under attack and time is running out for the intrepid MIB to save the Earth.

It’s a pretty good yarn overall, though it doesn’t really break new ground. Still, the things that were most popular about the original, such as a fast and specialized car, Frank the Pug, the hedonistic worm creatures and Tony Shaloub’s Jeebs, are all back and in some cases their parts have been expanded. Oh, and J (Smith) gets a love interest this time around, a witness named Laura Vasquez (Rosario Dawson)

The aliens are neat, as are the optical special effects - and if you want a commercial for the new Mercedes E class that’ll get your adrenaline going, this movie’s it.

Smith and Jones make a good team and it’s interesting to see their roles reversed, then reverse again as K takes over as "alpha Male in Black."

The DVD quality is excellent, but be warned that Columbia Tristar is inflicting separate anamorphic widescreen and Pan&Scan versions on the public. This means people who buy the P&S version and who upgrade to a widescreen TV will have to either watch their DVD stretched/zoomed to fill the rectangular screen or (perhaps the intent) buy a new widescreen copy.

That said, we were sent the P&S version and despite having to watch it stretched the picture quality was excellent, sharp and bright and colorful - it really made us pine for an anamorphic version.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and it’s also excellent, with pretty good use of the surround channels.

And they’ve really piled on the extras, with a second disc’s worth. First up is a running commentary by director Barry Sonnenfeld (with optional “telestrator” diagrams). You also get 14 production featurettes covering a wide variety of production issues including Looping MIB II, Alien Esoterica, Serleena Animatica, Rick Baker (special makeup effects), Danny Elfman (original score), Bo Welch (art/production design), Foley Artists, Frank the Pug, Jarra, Jeebs, Jeff the Worm, Scrad/Charlie, Serleena, The Worms, Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide to Comedy. There’s also an alternate ending, Will Smith’s MIB II music video, some multi-angle scene deconstructions and a short blooper reel.

Add to that some DVD-ROM content, “alien broadcast,” an animated short film and marketing campaign stuff and you have a pretty complete DVD package.

If only they’d have put both widescreen and P&S in the same box….

Men In Black II, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
88 min. Pan&Scan or anamorphic widescreen (sold separately), Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rip Torn, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shalhoub
Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald,
Written by Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro, directed by Barry Sonenfeld.

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