Men in Black II

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

There is a device called a neuralyzer which is vital to the operations of the Men in Black. Put on the shades, hit the button and the flash wipes out the subject's short-term memory. This is useful when someone has witnessed the MIB at work, maintaining Earth's status of intergalactic neutrality while keeping the planet's population happily oblivious to the aliens in our midst.

After the flash either MIB agent Jay (Smith) or agent Kay (Jones) makes a post-hypnotic suggestion: you didn't see us, give up smoking, lose some weight will ya, be nice to each other, that sort of thing.

It's fitting then coming out of Men In Black II you might feel a little like you've been neuralyzed. Something has forcibly told you that you had a good time, but you can't remember how, why, or just where the time went.

Yes, Men In Black II is short - it feels like it gave up trying to tell a new story from the first MIB - the refreshingly funny 1997 surprise hit Ñ and is just happier being a truncated add-on to the original.

Yes, there is de-neuralyzing business for agent Kay to go through, because he was zapped into retirement at the end of the first film and ended up as a brutally efficient small-town postmaster.

But after that it's much the same save-the-world romp, only dumbed down, lacking the spark in the wit department, and showing us nothing we didn't see last time around. Apart from, that is, Lara Flynn Boyle playing the evil underwear model from outer space - the guise her inner alien takes on while wreaking havoc on Earth in pursuit of something that will make her ruler of the universe, or something.

Unfortunately, this woman in black lingerie isn't a fun villain.

It doesn't help that Smith - very much the multi-media superstar, not the actor - dominates the screen time. The first MIB had much fun with the odd buddy dynamic, the second just dresses the pair the same and lets them bicker a little.

There are some laugh-out-loud gags, especially care of the mini-universes the story bumps into along the way. But as a comedy it relies on a talking pug dog and a certain celebrity cameo to keep the laugh count up.

And, another thing: at one point Jones describes some wimpy alien invaders as "the Backstreet Boys of the universe". But later, when perplexed by vehicle controls which look adapted from a certain famous brand of videogame console (this film is rife with product placement), he and Smith argue about why he doesn't know how to use them. "What's a Gameboy?" Jones asks. So marks off for the pop-culture-inconsistent script.

And pop culture has of course moved on - the original acted as a flip-side parody of the X-Files era. If you're not just so over aliens already, Men In Black II will sure squeeze out any remaining appeal.

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Lara Flynn Boyle
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Rating: PG (supernatural themes)

Running time: 88 mins

Screening: Village Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas