- This topic is empty.
- Posts
Just got back from the first showing of MIB II in Central Oregon! The movie was fun entertainment, although it doesn’t have the zing that the first movie had. Some cute moments, some good laughs, once was good for me, and I’ll probably rent it a couple times.
The music: What I could hear was good, but apart from a select few tracks, Elfman seemed limited by the storyboard to short segues between scenes. There was some music during action sequences, but it was largely obscured by the sound effects.
He did have some fun with a retro sound when the evil alien-ess appears as a Victoria Secret model, and then at the END of the end credits, he got really 70’s. It was quircky and funny.
I don’t think it will rank among Elfman’s greats, or even as high as the first MIB, but I don’t think that’s really Elfman’s fault as much as it is the layout of the movie restricting his creativity.
Friendly arguments welcome.
My brother saw the movie and said it was ok.
I’m not convinced.
The music, I have no clue!
But I’m sure everyone here would still be throwing the MIB2 aside for Mars Attacks!
-Em
(Or ’till recently, ElfSpawn, as Ria put it.)Mars Attacks was a better score and a better movie, but the score for MIB2 has a few tracks that are among the best written this year (true, two of the best cues are really source music which was hard to really hear in the film).
As for the movie… well, it tried to hard. I thought the first movie was more intimate and that made it charming, but this one was too big and gaudy. My favorite part was when they went to David Cross’ house to watch the video (I love Mr. Show and the recently released DVD is great). I thought it odd however, because I thought he died in the first one. The stuff with Paul Warbutton was great but sadly to small. It’s a short movie, but they crammed a lot into it (too much for my tastes). My friends and me had a good time and the animated short before the film was hilarious — better than the feature film. I hope this starts a trend (getting back to the old days) of seeing short cartoons (and other films) before a feature. Pixar has done it to all of their films, and I hear that there is a Dexter’s Laboratory short in from of the Powerpuff Girls Movie. I will probably get the DVD to MIB2 even if there is no Elfman related material, just to get that short.
I thought MiB 2 was played for laughs and largely turned into what Ghostbusters 2 did — however schmaltzy. You know — you already know these guys, so where’s the mystery of it all? People compared it to MiB 1, and said “Well, this baby here stinks to High Heaven!” I just thought it was clever here and there and it kinda went overboard with the tongue-in-cheek comedy a few times. Actually the only real sense of drama– if you can call it that without shaming yourself – i caught onto was Jay’s standoff with Big Jeff at the end of the train, the neuralyzer scene with the girl at the diner, Jay telling Kay about his wife, Kay’s awakening on the corner and at the video store, and the ending with the whole “that’s-life-we-can’t-hide-from-who-we-are” line (i guess you can thank Elfman for making these scenes what they were) But then it goes into that little bullpen session in the locker room and then you realize that this is a comedy…By the way, is it just me, or did anyone ever notice what happened to Johnny Knoxville’s character? I sure as hell didn’t catch that…he just disappeared like a fart in the wind from the picture, as dumb and semi Beetlejuice-y as he was. And i didn’t see what the whole deal was with the giant alien carcass that the dog was taking refuge in…Some say he was humping it…I didn’t see that at all. i did, however, get to see two dogs humping right in the middle of an intersection at red light on the way home. That was pretty funny…
This movie is ok as long as you remain open-minded about it when you go in. And for some reason i don’t think they’re gonna make a third…PS — what the hell does Michael Jackson’s scene have anything to do with the movie anyway?It seemed more like Barry threw in some stock footage of Michael asking or auditioning for a part in the first MiB, and was getting turned down by Zed…i didn’t get that. I also didn’t get why they didn’t include the two one-eyed aliens at the front of the headquarters viewer. I guess they got tired and went home…the same was said of Linda Fiorentino’s character, but that didn’t seem very rational…I guess it really IS kind of lonely to be an agent. Go figure.
So, I really must ask because I”m cheap: if I didn’t particularly care for the first installment (also keep in mind that was 16 then), should I spend the money to go see the second? (I know, I know, it’s an Elfman score…which means that I WANT to go see it, I really do. However, if the film is going to be as disappointing – for me – as POTA was, then I think I’ll skip it and just stick with the score…)
-E
If you didn’t like the first film(I thought it was superb) then you’ll probably not like the sequel. I haven’t seen it yet though.
“If you didn’t like the first film(I thought it was superb) then you’ll probably not like the sequel. I haven’t seen it yet though.”
LOL!!
Hey, what really got me into watching MiB was the loose reference to the Blues Brothers, and the fact it was a post Addams Family effort by Barry. I’m neither a fan of Smith or Jones…They’re ok, but only in THIS movie.
Well, I just got back from seeing MIIB. And… I dunno. Kind of a mixed bag. Disappointing because the concept of the MIB really is awesome. There are millions of ideas which can be spun off it and I really hope that if a third movie is made it will be more creative and less goofy than this installment. (Maybe Tim Burton can have a crack at it. This is definitely his kind of material.) Not to say the movie is a total waste. There are a few scenes and gags that I loved: Kay sticking his finger into the minature world, MJ’s cameo, the flush, the locker in Grand Central Station, the final shot, Jay trying to get out of that pile of plastic tubing… hehe. I guess it wasn’t so bad after all. I think I’m more bummed out that the presentation I saw wasn’t as good as it should’ve been. The sound just didn’t have that quality I have come to know and love at this particular famous theater in Hollywood. This especially affected Elfman’s beautiful score. It just wasn’t loud and clear enough. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to see it again somewhere else to fully appreciate the score and sound mix.
What happened with Linda Fiorentino’s cameo that I read about?
It’s good as far a sequels go–I mean, the first one was better, just because it was new, you know? But Men in Black II is still pretty snazzy.
Danny’s score is great; I for one like how he mixes old scores and new scores when doing sequels. I mean, it sounds familiar, but different–if that makes any sense.
Oh, and the dog is so damn cute! (Not as cute as my dog–but then I don’t think any of them are). When in doubt, go where the cute dogs are–go see the movie.
Im surprised he made a love theme out of the MIB theme…then again, he used the MIB theme pretty much throughout the whole cd.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.