As it had always been my habit, I check the superb review query engine (www.mrqe.com) for the reviews from various top critics before going to any movie. Reviews  of MIB 2, have long stopped me from going to theater - it was that bad. Roger Ebert gave only 1.5 stars, for god's sake. Don't believe me? Check http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^Men+in+Black+II+(2002).

But something got me thinking. What is happening to comedy these days? They suck. Sci-fi? With exception of Spielberg's excellent Minority Report, I have not seen anything worthwhile. Everything sucks these days and I realise it is just my narrow mind. I should open up and try and enjoy this movie. And on top of that you have Lara Flynn Boyle in leather to drool over.

MIB 2 begins with Will Smith's Kay with a new partner. We soon learn that he had many partners after Jay (Tommy Lee Jones) has been neuralised. None can stick and he had to erase all their memories. Then comes Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) who drops in looking for the 'light' while, being a bad gal and all, creating plenty of mess. Basically, this is a 'remake' sequel, where the filmmakers, to play it safe, just rehash the plot of the original so that the movie will not alienate the audience who had loved the original. Naturally, it had never worked.

In addition to remake, the filmakers also added more scenes featuring Frank the pug and the worm guys, since they were the amongst the favourites from the original. I was not interested in the dog, where there were many misssed opportunities for comedy. The worm guys, well, they had more screentime but seemed not so important.

Of course, I must say something about Ms. Boyle. All I can say is, " you are one lucky bugger, Jack." Honestly, she is not much of an actress. Someone else might have chewed her alien character, and even steal the whole show from Smith and Jones. Here, she just looked good in leather. Damn, that's one hot babe.

Since I knew what to expect, I enjoyed the film. I already knew that it will be a poor follow-up. The thing that really disappoint me was the background score. Something wrong with the revered composer Danny Elfman, these days. His Spider-Man score was lacklustre. Here, it is almost non-existent. What happened Danny-boy? Or is it the music editors fault. Did he edit away most of Elfman's stuff? Whatever it is, it never worked. I feel sorry for Elfman. Hope he will spring up and show who he really is.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are probably the main reason why it is still safe to see this movie. They still have the chemistry and comedy is so easy for them. This time around, the director (I think) experimented a bit with silence as a punchline. I don't really see it working. It used to work those days, but here? Nope. Both these guys need good lines because they got the best tool for comedy, timing and delivery.

Don't let the critics pull you back. Go for the movie and whatever it offers, it is much better than some of those craps they are putting out for sale these days. Hell, I shall dream of Ms. Boyle today.