Review Hub - Men In Black

Originating from a Malibu/Marvel comic, The Men In Black by Lowell Cunningham, the original Men In Black film proved to be a massive success, in part due to the chemistry between lead actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Despite the mixed reception of the second film, the film series would prove to be a successful franchise, even including its own Saturday morning cartoon adaptation, Men In Black: The Series. After another go many years later with the original duo, a soft reboot was made involving a different main cast, that being Thor: Ragnarok's Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. While the future of the Men In Black franchise is a little uncertain, we will continue to review any future installments on this blog that we feel interested enough in seeing.

Below is a list of links to every Men In Black review on this blog, presented in order of release.

Men In Black

Men In Black II

Men In Black 3

Men In Black: International

Stubs - Men In Black: International

Men In Black: International (2019) Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, Laurent Bourgeois, Larry Bourgeois, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson Directed by F. Gary Gray. Screenplay by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Based on The Men in Black (Comic Book) by Lowell Cunningham. Produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald  Runtime: 115 minutes. USA Color  Science fiction, Action, Comedy

Even if you agree with Rick Sanchez's critique of Men In Black II as a "joyless cash grab," there is some room left for new stories. At least that's the hope of director F. Gary Gray and the cast of Men In Black: International, that opened this past Friday.

Men In Black 3 - Time Has Helped The MIB

After overcoming another multiple of five years, 10 after Men in Black II as opposed to five after the original film, the Men in Black movies return to theaters with Men in Black 3, which just like another franchise covered here has switched from a Roman numeral to an Arabic one. I decided I wanted to see this installment, as I had already seen the others, and after an opening day matinee screening, I don't regret it like I thought I would. I admit that while I did end up liking it better than the second one, there are some things that keep it from having the same charm as the first.

The plot this time (pun intended) involves time travel. More specifically, an alien named Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes from Lunar Max prison, aka space jail, in a quest for vengeance against Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). To accomplish this, he uses a device to travel back in time to assassinate him before he, Boris, can be arrested for his past criminal activity. Agent J (Will Smith) feels the effects that this event has on his timeline, in fact being the only person alive who knows that there is a difference. After his situation is understood by Agent O (Emma Thompson), he too travels back in time in order to prevent Agent K's death, while also trying to learn about his partner's past.

Time travel is a premise that I have usually associated with the point when a franchise runs out of ideas, save of course for franchises like Back to the Future that are explicitly about time travel. Initially of course I did associate Men in Black with this when I heard about this plot's involvement. As I watched however, I forgot all about that and just tried to appreciate this film's take on it, and it actually does it nicely. Elements of it did seem to be reused form other plots, but it adds somewhat of a different spin on this by requiring a time jump on top of another physical action, breaking a tiny laser beam on a small item, as well as the visual representation of going across time. I found the characterizations of characters in the past to be interesting, especially Past K (Josh Brolin), as well as new characters like Griffin, who can see all possible paths in time, a power which he humorously describes as a "huge pain in the ass". The performances from the actors were fun to watch and really helped to sell the world that they inhabit. There was also plenty of humor in the movie, mainly from Will Smith, which helped the presentation out a bit; an example of this would be a scene that involves a specific side effect of experiencing a time fracture: a craving for chocolate milk.

If there's one thing to comment on, it would be the special effects. It's not necessarily the quality of the effects, but the way they were pulled off. A little research told me that the aliens in the present were rendered in modern CGI, whereas the ones in the past were created with the more traditional methods of makeup and animatronics to give the movie more of a retro feel to suit the time period. This is a pretty clever way of marking the time periods and, although I admittedly didn't really pay attention for that, it's a commendable effort that shows just how well a traditional alien can look. On the subject of the CGI though, there is a master quality to it that make all the technology seem that much more cool to look at, also making some aliens like Boris appear all the more gross (though there is a distinct lack of slime this time around, not that I missed it).

While I do like some things about this movie, there is one really big issue about MIB headquarters that bugged me the whole time, specifically the changes made to the layout. To clarify, I don't hate the new look of the HQ, I actually kind of liked it and I understood that plenty can change over the course of ten years. What did bother me about it though was the effect that time travel had on it, specifically none. Even 40 years in the past the MIB had a sleek design in their building, resembling a combination of Apple and Vector's home in Despicable Me, rather than the rougher look already established in the previous two movies. It's a glaring continuity error like this that made it odd to look at their HQ while watching, briefly making me wonder if the crew even watched their own movies. Another, more minor, issue is the fact that just like the other two movies, the MacGuffin once again involves jewelry of some sort.

All in all, Men in Black 3 is a very solid entry into the franchise. The performances and humor work hand-in-hand with a somewhat memorable score to help create a rather enjoyable time travel movie that I would actually recommend those curious enough to watch at least once. If you can ignore the glaring continuity error present during the visit to the past, then perhaps you'll enjoy it even more.

Now let's hope that if they end up making a Men in Black 4, we won't have to wait 15 years to see it.

Men In Black II

It appears that not even a decade on the shelf can keep a franchise down, since today brings us a new, third installment in the Men In Black movie series, based on the Marvel comic book of the same name. As such, I have recently re-watched the first movie in preparation for it, followed by the second one, which I will be talking about here. While I liked the first movie better than I thought I did after another viewing, I'm not sure I share the same sentiment for this movie.

Before I continue, I would like to acknowledge that in the five year gap between these two films, there was a Men In Black animated television series that ran for a total of 5 seasons. I remember seeing advertisements for this show as a kid, although I never actually watched a single episode. Fortunately, based on what I have read, this cartoon is not required viewing in order to fully understand what happens in MIBII, though it doesn't seem too far off that the second movie was made to ride off the series' popularity, and fans of it may notice a few shout outs. If you are indeed a fan of the series, you may be happy to know that, likely as a way to promote MIB3, you can now obtain the first season on DVD.

The movie begins with footage of an episode belonging to a fictional TV show called Mysteries of History, where the host, in this episode, talks about the myth behind the Men In Black, mentioning them as a mysterious organization dedicated to protecting the Earth from aliens. Following this is a hilariously low-budget reenactment of a nonexistent case file from the organization, detailing a visit to Earth from Laurana, Queen of the Zarthans, to hide an artifact called the "Light of Zartha" with the MIB. Laurana is closely followed by another alien named Serleena, Queen of the Kylothians, who wants the Light for herself. The MIB however launch the Light into space, causing Serleena to chase after it and the Earth saved in the process. Cut to 5 years after the events of the first Men In Black, Agent J (Will Smith) neuralyzes his partner Agent T (Patrick Warburton) after an encounter with an alien worm in a subway. Meanwhile the villainous Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) returns to Earth to retrieve the Light of Zartha, and the only to stop her is with the assistance of Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). The problem is, K had already been neuralyzed 5 years ago and J must bring him back into the fold.

The plot of the movie is easy to follow, what with a run time about 10 minutes shorter than its predecessor, though a few plot elements seem to have been rehashed from the first movie as well. For instance, both movies involve an alien from another world disguising themselves as a human being, albeit in different fashions, in an attempt to retrieve an alien artifact disguised as a piece of jewelry in an attempt for conquest. Granted, the Light of Zartha is revealed to be a person by the end and not an artifact, but the comparison remains.

However, despite these rehashes, the boss battle at the end of the movie is a bit anticlimactic compared to the first. Whereas The Bug at the end of the first Men In Black put up somewhat of a fight and there was a discovered way to weaken/distract him, the battle with Serleena seemed quick and easy by comparison and she didn't seem to do much to actually fight back. At least there was a final conflict, I guess.

The humor of MIB is retained here, leading to some really funny bits throughout the film, though all the best lines seem to come from Will Smith. A few times there were some bits of sexual humor that the movie could've done without, such as a tiny alien city in a locker room having a XXX theater and Zed (Rip Torn), mentioning the Kama Sutra. At least J reacts appropriately to these moments, pointing out how wrong/disgusting they are. Despite this, the movie can be a laugh riot when Mr. Smith is on screen.

Product placement is abundant in this movie, although it pops up in a place that doesn't really make any sense. Where is this place? MIB Headquarters. Yes, apparently the Men In Black have decided that a Duty-Free Liquor store, a Sprint Store, and a Burger King were great things to have in a top-secret facility. One could argue that these things exist in this particular locale because there are shops in airport terminals, but it seems odd for a private facility that's trying to stay hidden to have public shops in it and only really seems to serve as blatant advertising to the viewer.

Speaking of things that don't make sense, there's one error present in the movie that I honestly didn't notice in any of the times I've seen it for the past 10 years until now, and even then I had to have it pointed out to me by someone else watching with me. In the first MIB, they establish that the headquarters has a lift that you need to take to the floor of the main lobby whenever you exit the elevator. This continues throughout the sequel until a scene near the end where, for convenience to the plot, the lift magically disappears in favor of taking K and J straight to the floor and a hailstorm of bullets is fired by a robot disguised as a trash can. I'm sure there are plenty of other errors I could have pointed out here, had I noticed them, but this one really stands out.

Despite all the things I've just said, Men In Black II isn't a bad follow-up to the first movie, in fact it's a fairly decent flick, but after seeing it close to its predecessor, I can't say I like it as much I remember. It has some funny moments and most of the visual effects hold up after a decade, though as you see the movie more you may notice a few things that are off, such as the thing with the elevator. Still, MIBII is enjoyable in its own way and works as good preparation for the third film.

Now it's time to see how good MIB3 is.

Stubs - Men In Black

MEN IN BLACK (1997) Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rip Torn and Tony Shaloub. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Screenplay by Ed Solomon. Based on the Men in Black Marvel comic series by Lowell Cunningham. Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie McDonald. Run Time: 98. Color. U.S. Science Fiction, Comedy.

It’s summer, which means Hollywood will be coming out with its big blockbusters, several of which will be sequels. So far this summer, it is business as usual. The first big mega film of the year has been Marvel's The Avengers, which is in essence either the ultimate sequel or a film with five prequels depending how you want to look at it. This summer, we’re supposed to line up for Madagascar 3, Batman (the reboot) 3, Ice Age 4, Bourne 4 and Men in Black 3. Lots of new ideas in tinsel town.

Leading up to MIB3, I’ve started to watch its prequels, beginning with the original Men in Black. This was back before Will Smith and family became an entertainment entity all to themselves. He was still the kid from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fresh off his previous summer hit, Independence Day. Tommy Lee Jones’ career had started in the early 70’s playing a Harvard student in Love Story. He had worked pretty steady since then, perhaps the highlight of his career coming with an Academy Award for The Fugitive in 1993.

Teaming Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith together for a big blockbuster must have seemed like not much of a gamble. The film would go on to reap $589 million, which believe me used to be a lot of money, and it would spawn a sequel five years after that and a second sequel ten years after that.

In Men In Black, Jones and Smith play agents K and J respectively, this probably has more to do with their locker assignment at MIB headquarters than anything else. Men In Black is a secret agency without ties to any one government, but manned primarily by Americans and all of the action takes place, true to its Marvel Comic roots, in and around New York City, which is apparently space alien central. The first time, though, we meet K and his then partner Agent D working along the Mexican border. Interrupting a Border Patrol stop, K and D are looking for a particular type of illegal alien. Not one from south of the border but from outer space. In the back of a smuggler’s truck, they find a man who doesn’t speak or understand Spanish.

When one of the border patrol agents gets too close, K has to blast the alien which sends blue gloop everywhere. This is only the first time someone gets glooped; there is more slime in this movie than a Nickelodeon Awards show. Since the border patrol agents know too much, K has to use a neuralyzer to wipe out the memories of the agents and then next to his partner D, who isn’t up to the job any longer.

As a replacement, K convinces Chief Zed (Rip Torn) into letting him pick James Darrell Edwards III (Smith), a New York policeman who singlehandedly runs down an alien criminal on top of the Guggenheim museum after a long chase through the streets of Manhattan. He is trained on the job as they are confronted with the invasion by Edgar the Bug (Vincent D’Onofrio), who has come to Earth to steal the “Galaxy”. In doing so, he kills not only Edgar, a Mid-west farmer whose skin he wears over his own cockroach body, but two Arquillians who are protecting it. Along the way, they pick up Dr. Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino), who despite being zapped a couple of times by the neuralyzer, is still helpful to the agents. It is in her morgue that one of the Arquillians, barely still alive in his robot human body, tells the agents that the Galaxy is on Orion’s belt.

The agents and the Bug both figure out that the Orion in question is a cat once owned by the Arquillian and the belt is actually Orion’s collar. But the Bug beats the agents back to the morgue and takes Dr. Weaver along as a snack for the trip back to his home planet.

When the Arquillians learn of what is happening they dispatch a fleet to destroy Earth, rather than let the Galaxy fall into enemy hands. J and K have an hour to stop the Bug from leaving the planet and from stealing the Galaxy. Saving the girl is a secondary idea.

The ending takes place at the site of the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, which was put on to hide the fact that aliens had landed there. The two Observatory Towers, one of a handful of buildings still standing, were actually alien ships, one of which the Bug is going to fly home now that the MIB have his original space ship.

In the end, K jumps inside the Bug to retrieve his weapon and while J distracts him, K blows the Bug up from inside with more slime to go around. But the Bug is not dead and while K tells J that he has trained him not to be his partner, but to be his replacement, the Bug creeps up behind them. They are only saved because Dr. Weaver picks up J’s weapon and blows the Bug away before he can attack.

J neuralyzes K, who returns to civilian life and to the woman he had to leave behind when he joined MIB. Dr. Weaver, now Agent L, is J’s new partner and all seems right with the world for the moment.

In MIB, Will Smith proves again that he can be funny and heroic, traits that would bode well for his career. His films were usually all box office hits, no matter how good they were, until he apparently stopped acting in 2008. He has become a producer (The Karate Kid) and promoter for his children’s movie ambitions. MIB3 will be his first film in front of the camera since that year’s Seven Pounds.

Tommy Lee Jones has continued to act and was in two films in 2011, including Captain America: The First Avenger, and will be in three films this year.

Linda Fiorentino’s career has slowed to a crawl. Her biggest splash had come in 1994’s The Last Seduction, in which she played a sexy femme fatale opposite Bill Pullman and Battleship director, then actor, Peter Berg. She hasn’t appeared on film since 2009’s Once More With Feeling.

The aliens are nightmare fuel if you are the least bit squeamish about insects, as they all seem to be some form or another of that species. But the teaming of Smith and Jones paid off. As mentioned before, the film was a big success at the time.

The film is fun, but not always a laugh riot, to watch, unless you find bug guts funny. There are some funny lines, mostly spoken by Smith, but it is a sort of gross out comedy, having more in common with Ghostbusters than the work of Woody Allen. Still it was smart summer fare at the time and it does hold up very well.

When you watch the film, knowing that there is a sequel or two to follow, you can’t help but wonder why it took so long to put them together. We’ll take a closer look at MIBII next week on this same blog.