“Men in Black II” (2002) assumes you saw the original, so it doesn’t spend a lot of time justifying all the aliens and strange plot twists. Actually, it doesn’t spend a lot of time doing anything. It’s barely over 90 minutes long. I will say this: As far as being a hybrid of sci-fi, action and buddy cop flicks, it does about as good a job as the original. Even the surprising undercurrent of poignancy remains, though barely. They just don’t seem to be trying very hard. Or maybe Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones just make it look easy.
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If you had to, off the top of your head, name 10 Eddie Murphy movies, “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” (2002) probably wouldn’t make the list. I get that. But while it’s no “Coming to America,” it’s not terrible (did I just write that sentence?). Pluto is a cleaned-up con man who runs a lunar nightclub in 2090 or so. A bigger criminal puts the muscle on him, and Rat Pack-style, shoot-some-guns, help-some-pals, get-the-girl, robot-assisted, autonomous-vehicle, box-office-bomb hijinks ensue. The film exudes sprezzatura (look it up) and Murphy is a 21st century Dean Martin. Fly me to the moon indeed.
Even after all these years, “He Got Game” (1998) might still do the best job of any movie when it comes to depicting the pressures and temptations of being a great athlete in the ghetto. It also has all the Spike Lee hallmarks: intelligent music choices, inventive editing and cinematography, and a strange mix of professional and amateur actors. The latter hurts the movie’s flow, because, frankly, some of the performances are awful. Ray Allen does OK as a high school basketball phenom. Among the pros, Denzel Washington is his usual amazing self and Jim Brown makes a welcome comeback.
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