Steven Spielberg produces, Barry Sonnenfeld directs, and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are the Men in Black. Men in Black is based on a comic, but I never read it, so I have no idea how faithful to the source it is. This is your basic buddy cop movie, but with aliens and dated CGI. Tommy Lee Jones plays Agent Kay, a member of the Men in Black, a secret organization that controls extraterrestrial life on Earth. Will Smith plays Agent Jay, the newest MIB recruit.
Will Smith annoys me. He plays the same exact character in all his movies… He is cocky and goofy at the same time, and I hate that I don’t hate him. He seems like such a douche, and still seems cool. At this point in his career he already played a cop and he already saved the world from aliens. It was really quite a stretch for him to play an agent who saves the world from aliens. His training sequence in the beginning is one of the highlights of the film. The other potential candidates, each one representing a different branch of the military, can’t think outside of the box. Jay uses his common sense and succeeds in recognizing that aliens aren’t as much of a threat as a little girl with a Calculus book. It’s a good introduction to the MIB world.
Vincent D’Onofrio plays the main villain, a farmer whose body is taken over by a Bug. He does a great job. He is terrifying and intimidating, way more than the giant cartoon cockroach that he transforms into at the end. Tommy Lee Jones is a badass as always.
There are a few cool ideas about aliens and galaxies. The galaxy on Orion’s belt… the reveal that our own galaxy is just one of many galaxies encased in marbles that giant aliens play with… heavy stuff bro. Just hit this joint and think about it. This movie was really just a vehicle for Will Smith to act like Will Smith for two hours. And that song; that fucking terrible song. I’ve been to more than one middle school dance where a bunch of awkward teens stumbled through those steps.
A fun movie and a good start to a decent franchise. The second movie was enjoyable, and the third one looks promising. Josh Brolin as a young Tommy Lee Jones? Sounds good to me.
Critically Rated at 12/17
criticallyrated 