Men in Black II

"Same planet. New scum."

2002 1h 28m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🥫

38%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.2

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 10,945🥫38%Rotten Tomatoes●49Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 428,899

ActionComedyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Kay and Jay reunite to provide our best, last and only line of defense against a sinister seductress who levels the toughest challenge yet to the MIB's untarnished mission statement – protecting Earth from the scum of the universe. It's been four years since the alien-seeking agents averted an intergalactic disaster of epic proportions. Now it's a race against the clock as Jay must convince Kay – who not only has absolutely no memory of his time spent with the MIB, but is also the only living person left with the expertise to save the galaxy – to reunite with the MIB before the earth submits to ultimate destruction.

“Same planet. New scum.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Tommy Lee Jones
Kay
Will Smith
Jay
Rip Torn
Zed
Lara Flynn Boyle
Serleena
Johnny Knoxville
Scrad / Charlie
Rosario Dawson
Laura Vasquez
Tony Shalhoub
Jeebs
Patrick Warburton
Agent Tee

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Robert Gordon, Barry Fanaro, John Mann
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$140M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Men in Black Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

560+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Greg Gardiner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barry Sonnenfeld directs. Greg Gardiner behind the camera. Danny Elfman scores. Steven Weisberg cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2$140M budget — tentpole studio territory.
3Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
4Released 24 years ago.
5Part of the "Men in Black Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6560+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Greg Gardiner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Steven Weisberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith and Rip Torn carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Same planet. New scum.".
12IMDB entry: tt0120912 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1310,945 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 17 themes, including "new york city", "space marine", "saving the world", "flying saucer".
15Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Greg Gardiner
Original score: Danny Elfman
Editing: Steven Weisberg
Production design: Bo Welch
Costume design: Mary E. Vogt
Makeup / hair: Chad Waters
VFX supervisor: Jim Berney
Sound: Kevin O'Connell
Stunt coordinator: Charles Croughwell
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $140,000,000
Box office: $445,135,288
Return: 318% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Men in Black II (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 38% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 49/100
IMDB rating: 6.2/10 · 428,899 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

4 wins & 16 nominations total

Part of

Men in Black Collection

A series of American science fiction action comedy films based on Malibu / Marvel comic book series The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham. Stylized MIB and spawned 2 numbered sequels as well as a spin-off.

Also by

Barry Sonnenfeld

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

dgood8262017-06-30
I’d say the movie holds up a lot better all these years later because 1. it’s not right after the first MIB and my expectations weren’t super high and 2. after years of seeing Will Smith either not care enough about the movie to try or try too hard to get an Oscar it was awesome to just see him having fun and doing what he does best again. You can read more of my review here: https://imdgflicks.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/throwback-thursday-movie-review-men-in-black-ii/
Gimly2019-07-17
★ 5/10
I don't know that Men in Black II is really thaaat much worse than the rest of the trilogy, as most other people seem to think. I mean, in my opinion, it's actually better than the third. But these are all basically the same movie. So they can only go so right or so wrong from one to the other to the other. It's not awful (well, the faces on that poster are, my god), but it's not like... good. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.
Wuchak2020-05-24
★ 6/10
Fun sequel, but not as good as the first one Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Rip Torn return in this sequel about a secret government agency based in New York City that deals with extraterrestrial interactions on Earth. Like the original 1997 movie, "Men in Black II" (2002) is amusing & thrilling in the first half, but loses its mojo a bit in the second half where some of the jokes fall flat. If you’ve seen the first film, there’s no need to see this one; but, if you want more with slight variations, then check it out. It’s the lesser movie, but it still fills the bill for when you’re in the mood for fun & thrilling popcorn entertainment. On the female front, Linda Fiorentino is absent, replaced by Lara Flynn Boyle as the villain and Rosario Dawson as a pizzaria employee that catches Jay’s eyes. Meanwhile, the stunning Paige Brooks appears in a couple of small scenes. The next two sequels are: Men in Black 3” (2012) and “Men in Black: International” (2019); the latter is the only entry in the series (so far) without Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in New York City & surrounding area (e.g. Fire Island for the Post Office scene), as well as Los Angeles/Culver City/Pasadena. GRADE: B-/C+