Never before has an advertising campaign so hurt a movie that had potential.  Summer blockbusters are supposed to be bigger and “badder” than the original, giving audiences what they crave more of from the characters.  Men in Black II, arriving in the SC Theater November 14 – 17, does none of this.
            The films plot is simple enough: Agent Jay (Will Smith) uncovers an alien attempt to destroy earth, (sigh) again, and surprise surprise needs help from his old neuralized partner Kay (Tommy Lee Jones).  Jay goes to find Kay, who is now leading a normal life working in a post office, and deneuralizes him to bring back his memory and help save the world.
            Despite the weak story, MIIB could have been a great summer movie with plenty of laughs, if it were not for the advertising campaign Sony had for the film.  Movie trailers nowadays do show too much of the film and MIIB is no exception.  Showing way too much of the movies jokes, audiences were thrilled to see the trailers and eagerly anticipated its release only to find they knew all the laughs.  The few gags that did escape the trailers were shown on television shortly after the release.
            Another bad move for Sony was product placement within the movie.  There is a Burger King in MiB headquarters (why?), Agent Jay uses a Sprint cell phone through out the movie, there is a Sprint Phone store in MiB headquarters right next to the Burger King (convenient for the employees of MiB, right?), and the steering mechanism for one of the vehicles Jay drives/flies is a Sony PlayStation 2 controller with the triangle, square, circle, and X on the buttons easily readable.
            One of the redeeming parts of the film is its cameo by….  Someone who will not be named here, so not to totally ruin the picture.
            Probably the best part of the whole movie for a first time experience is Will Smith’s song “Nod Ya Head (Black Suits Coming).”  The song is better than the original’s “Men in Black,” also performed by Will Smith.  Danny Elfman’s score on the other hand, does not live up to the original, which was not that memorable anyway.
            For a summer blockbuster, Men in Black II had huge potential, which was bled dry through bad advertising.  What should have been a hysterical comedy sequel on the first viewing will probably be a great funny movie a few years from now after the commercials and trailers are forgotten.