A Look Back At Men in Black

Released in 1997, Men in Black was a huge hit at the box-office. It was the #3 highest grossing film of that year, earning around $589 million worldwide and coming in just behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This success led to a franchise consisting of three sequels (you can check out my review of the most recent one, Men in Black: International HERE) and an animated T.V. show. So, how does the original hold up after 20+ years?

The film has a relatively simple and accessible premise; There are aliens living amongst us, and there is a secret organization known as the Men in Black in charge of monitoring and policing these aliens while they're on Earth. One of these senior MIB agents, Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) needs to select and train a new agent. His choice is a NYPD officer named James Edwards (played by Will Smith) and, upon accepting, Edwards becomes Agent J. Of course this is a movie, and it's only about a hour and a half long, so Agents J and K soon find themselves in pursuit of a vicious alien with the fate of the entire planet at stake.

Overall, as a sci-fi version of a buddy-cop movie I think it works well. Most of the dialogue between Smith and Jones is fun and I think both actors turn in solid performances. The visual effects are a bit of a mixed-bag. While a lot of the make-up effects look great, some of the CGI hasn't held up as well but, none of it is distractingly bad. I think it's a pretty well-paced film, the Danny Elfman musical score is solid, and the whole movie is full of memorable moments and quotable lines.
I give this one a 3.5 out of 5