Men in Black — Illegal Aliens Run Amok... The Legal Ones Have Green Cards
Written: May 14 '07 (Updated May 14 '07)
Product Rating:
Special Effects:
Pros: Nice, outrageous story; great concept; entertaining; Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan attitude
Cons: I'm sure everyone did the MIB dance at least once
The Bottom Line: Men in Black was a great, surprise hit that helped solidify good comic book movies. I bet even more people are surprised that it was adapted from a comic book.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Jay: You do know Elvis is dead, right?
Kay: No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home.
Or he could be writing for Epinions.
Black suits, top-secret agencies and… aliens? Sounds like the White House cabinet to me. But the 1997 movie Men in Black proved to be otherwise. Based on The Men in Black comic book created by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers and originally published by Aircel Comics (later bought out by Malibu Comics, which is now owned by Marvel Comics), this independent franchise proved to be a successful hit on all levels, thanks in part to the chemistry between Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.
Call the Men in Black for Bug Extermination
James Edwards, a NYPD officer, stumbles across a bizarre situation that leads him to the mysterious organization known as Men in Black, or MIB for short, where he becomes one of the newest MIB field agents. As a member of this organization, one that the government doesn’t even know exist, all traces of his former life and identity have been erased. He is now known only as Agent J (Jay). His partner, as learns the ropes, is the ever-stoic, stone-faced Agent K (Kay).
So exactly what does the MIB do?
This top-secret agency monitors all alien presence on Earth, which has been established as a neutral zone of sorts. The MIB’s job is to make sure that humans and aliens co-exist peacefully, even though the majority of the human population doesn’t even know that aliens are living amongst them. If ever someone accidentally finds about the truth, the situation is resolved when agents use a Neuralizer to wipe out memories.
But trouble arrives in the form of a Bug (an alien species that looks like a cockroach), as it is trying to locate and steal a tiny galaxy. Unfortunately, it could be hidden anywhere. Even worse, the government of the planet Arquil doesn’t wish for the tiny galaxy to fall into wrong hands. They are willing to destroy the Earth in order to prevent this calamity. Both Jay and Kay have to find the Bug in a race against time before doomsday comes knocking on Earth’s door. Jay definitely gets a crash course on his new job.
I clearly remember when this movie came out and was dubbed to be another Will Smith summer blockbuster (the first being Independence Day the previous year). But I was more amused at the vehicle for this new summer hit—Men in Black. I was pretty familiar with the comic book and didn’t realize that Columbia Pictures acquired the movie rights. This made the whole experience even more profound and I wanted the movie to succeed for the sake of getting good comic book movies onto the screen. Thankfully, the movie delivered.
Will Smith (Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K) play off each other so well. While Smith may get all the funny lines, it’s really Jones who sells it for the audience with his deadpan demeanour. How that man never cracked a smile is beyond me. And it’s Jones’ performance that really convinces the audience of the seriousness of his job and the situation at hand.
The whole premise is truly outrageous but director Barry Sonnenfeld makes it works in this capacity. The key point is the believability of the entire organization and the interaction with different aliens. The special effects to create this illusion are fantastic and seamless. And having Rip Torn as Zed, the chief to the whole organization, completes the entire package, though I keep hearing “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball” in my head all the time (I know, wrong movie).
The funny thing is how this movie became the highest-grossing film based on a comic book, and the majority of movie goers didn’t even realize it was adapted from the funny pages. Of course that record was shattered in 2002 when Spider-Man came onto the scene. Now it just makes me wonder about something. Marvel Comics acquired Men in Black when it purchased Malibu Comics in 1994, even though the movie rights went to Columbia Pictures in 1992. Though the movie was released in 1997, does Men in Black actually become the first blockbuster hit for Marvel, even before X-Men and Spider-Man?
Men in Black was a delightful surprise and has become a guilty pleasure whenever it comes on. It definitely showed that a good comic book movie could be made if all the right elements fall into place. I think the secret is not telling the world that it’s based on a comic book.
MEN IN BLACK follows the exploits of Agents K (Jones) and J (Smith), members of a top-secret organization established to monitor alien activity on Ear...More at HotMovieSale.com
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