Hey folks, Harry here with The Man Of A Half Dozen Faces' look at MEN IN BLACK 2.... well, a draft of the script anyways... It looks like this'll be a post strike (if there is a strike) production, as Will hasn't quite finished ALI yet. So, given that the film wouldn't hit production for a while still, I imagine there will be tweaks and changes throughout.... So beware of spoilers, but realize things could change between now and release.....
finished reading the MIB 2 script dated 4/17 and wasn't too impressed but i think it'll work. it feels like a rehashed plot of the first movie just reverse the roles of Jay and Kay. i watched the first MIB right after and well, i guess they could complement each other. maybe it's not as continuousture series, but it tries it's best and almost succeeds. there are a few holes which i'll go over in a sec.
it starts off with the MIB on a mission, much like the first movie. except now Jay is the head agent and he's breaking in his partner, Tee. keep in mind that Jay has been doing this for 5 years now and it feels like the job's finally getting to him. he's not the same go getter that he was hired as, but a by the book veteran. but instead of putting up with his partners' rookie attitudes, he would rather go solo by neuralyzing them any time they screw up.
Serleena is the new villianess. somewhat similar to Edgar, but with more intelligence. i mean from what i can tell, she's supposed to be like a brain creature anyways, made up of these neural roots. she's here looking for something, something which only Kay knows about, but hey, Kay was sent back to the real world in MIB 1, so Jay has to bring him back in to remember what Serleena is looking for and once again, save the world. and just so you don't think that sounds too easy, they haven't perfected the process of deneuralyzation. so this also turns into a mystery about Kay's past days in the MIB and not just straight forward action.
there are a couple things i didn't care for. at first they wrote in that his wife that he returned to had left him. three lines of backstory that made it seem okay to be reacquainted with MIB. now, she's way, way in the background and at the end of the story she seems insignificant as Kay rejoins MIB. and they play up a romance that happens in Kay's past about 10 years after joining MIB. at the end of this script, i'm just wondering about Kay and his wife. that and the Jay romance with Jenna/Rita which would work better had Jay been doing the MIB thing a lot longer than 5 years.
but these things can be overlooked, i guess as there are some funny moments like Kay getting introduced to MIB hq much like the first movie with Jay. Kay's kept all of his mannerisms. and more scenes with Frank the pug and Jeebs.
if i were Amy Pascal and John Calley, yeah, i'd greenlight this movie too. and make this a great franchise. it's not the strongest storyline, but if i wanted to take 2002 and make that Sony's signature year of box office hits, oh yeah baby. MIB 1 made $250M, combine a sequel and Spidey in the same year? ouch.
The Man of a Half Dozen Faces
