Review of Men in Black (1997) by Blake P — 23 Jun 2012

On the verge of retiring, secret agent K (Jones), who works for a top-secret part of the CIA that hunts aliens, decides to hire a young, likable New York cop (Smith), and have him play the part of his new partner.

Instantly, the rookie cop's identity is gone, his name is changed to J, and he has to instead spend his days making sure aliens aren't causing any trouble. A new threat, intergalactic terrorist "Edgar" (D'Onofrio), suddenly arrives, and plans to destroy the human race.

The two agents have to stop him before it's too late, but with the continuous arrivals of a beautiful mortician (Fiorentino), it just might be harder to keep the secret of the alien race intact. "Men in Black" works so well because it came at a time where big science fiction blockbusters were huge-- "Independence Day" just came out, as did "The Fifth Element".

What's so good about "Men in Black" is that it doesn't really parody sci-fi, but it instead creates a whole new spectrum, and in the meantime makes it tongue in cheek, and well, just plain fun.

The screenplay is really funny, and every character is hilarious and unique, and even the teeniest, tiniest bit part makes you life. The alien monsters are all terrific as well, and the villain is a hoot.

And for being 15 years old, the special effects are still looking pretty darn sharp. Paired up with Sonnenfeld's smart outlook on the right time to blow something up or have alien goop fly to the sky, "Men in Black" always makes the right move.

And Smith and Jones gives simply excellent performances. "Men in Black" is never boring, and at a simply short running time, it goes by quickly, and does its job. If you like it though, just a warning-- skip the sequel-- see the third.