Retrospective: Men in Black (1997)

MEN IN BLACK (1997)

A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2003

50th anniversary of the Roswell incident created a lot of interest for all
things related to UFOs, alien abductions and government
conspiracies. That interest later helped the makers of
INDEPENDENCE DAY and allowed THE X-FILES to become
mainstream TV show. This cultural phenomenon also paved the way
for MEN IN BLACK, 1997 science fiction comedy directed by Barry
Sonnenfeld, a movie that represented the parody of all those films
and TV shows.

The plot, based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham, borrows
its premise for the urban legends that inspired THE X-FILES - aliens
exist and they are regularly visiting Earth, but all knowledge of their
existence is suppressed by mysterious government agency known as
Men in Black. In the film, Men in Black are known as Division 6, and
their mission is not only to suppress human knowledge of aliens, but
also to deal with those aliens who abuse planet Earth's hospitality.
Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones), one of the most experienced
Men in Black, recruits NYPD detective James Edwards (played by
Will Smith) into organisation and two of them start the investigation
of particularly nasty alien who had taken over the body of a farmer
(played by Vincent d'Onofrio). In order to stop him and his evil
plans, they would get assistance from coroner Dr. Laurel Weaver
(played by Linda Fiorentino).

Just like any other summer blockbuster, MEN IN BLACK shows how
modern Hollywood invests all of its creative energy into style at the
expense of substance. The plot is paper-thin, characters are one-
dimensional and even the protagonists' one-liners are forgettable. But
the target audience would hardly care, because Sonnenfeld filled the
film with marvellous special effects, combined with good deal of
visual humour. And the acting is more than passable - Will Smith
seems quite comfortable under the shadow of Tommy Lee Jones;
Linda Fiorentino also handles the thankless role of token female
protagonist quite well and Vincent d'Onofrio is again quite
impressive in role that demands another physical transformation. All
that isn't enough for MEN IN BLACK to earn the place in
anthologies, but for not audiences demanding some light
entertainment 98 minutes of this film could represent time well-
spent.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Review written on September 4th 2003

Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian

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