Dragged back by dollar-sign squabbling and catapulted through production by a threatened actors' strike, Barry Sonnenfeld had a tough time with this sequel to 1997's sci-fi smash. But that, frankly, is no excuse for simply running his MIB blueprint through the photocopier and hoping no one notices the fade. The action's still zany, the aliens never weirder, but this time Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones must take on the scum of the universe (Lara Flynn Boyle's busty medusa and a two-headed Johnny Knoxville) without the help of a good script.

There's fun to be had here, but the smart spoofery only glints where it used to sparkle, and nothing hides the fact that Sonnenfeld is just pushing buttons to see if they still go `ker-ching!'

DVD Extras:

This double-discer isn't quite as bloated as the first Black pack, but there's still a lot to wade through. It's all slickly presented, flab-free stuff, although there's barely a whisper about the difficulties that plagued production. That said, numerous featurettes go backstage on every aspect of the movie, from Danny Elfman's score and Rick Baker's monsters to the foley artists' wacky sound effects and during his commentary, Sonnenfeld adds the bonus of drawing on the screen to point out areas of interest (Sadly, not much use on this movie.) Chuck in a mick-taking MIB training vid (see right), a blooper reel, music video, script, concept designs and more featurettes, and you have another predictably smart release from the men in suits.