Movie Review – Men in Black (1997)

Since the 1950s, eyewitnesses to UFO events have often been visited my mysterious government agents.

Those government agents, often dressed in solid black suits, would “convince” the witnesses to remain quiet about their sighting.  It’s believed that those agents would use fear and intimidation techniques to silence the witnesses.  Other conspiracies claim that the government agents (often referred to as “men in black”) would go as far as actually erasing the memory of the witnesses, removing their knowledge of any UFO or alien event.

In 1997, a new vision of the men in black was presented to the world in the hit action-comedy film, Men in Black.  Men in Black follows the progress of a new recruit as an MiB agent.  He’s teamed with an experienced agent and the two of them track a menacing alien (referred to as a “bug”) through New York City.  It’s up to the agents to stop the bug before the Earth is destroyed.

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and with music composed by the great Danny Elfman, Men in Black stars Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Kay (K), an experienced agent in the MiB agency.  Will Smith plays Agent Jay (J), a hotshot NYPD officer and MiB’s latest recruit.  Vincent D’Onofrio plays Edgar the Bug, an innocent farmer who was killed by a Bug alien and then had his body used as the Bug’s suit.  Linda Fiorentino is Dr. Laurel Weaver, a deputy medical examiner who’s fate is changed by the Bug and MiB agents.  Rip Torn is Chief Zed (Z), the head of the MiB.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Men in Black begins with the U.S. border patrol stopping a van carrying about a dozen illegal immigrants across the border.  It seems like a routine stop until a black sedan and two INS agents, Agent Kay (K) (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent Dee (D) (Richard Hamilton), detain one of the immigrants.  They take the immigrant into the desert and the immigrant is revealed to be Mikey, an extraterrestrial alien.  The INS agents, of course, really work for the Men in Black (MiB) agency, an organization that monitors and assists extraterrestrial lifeforms on Earth.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

During the interrogation, Mikey spots the border patrol agents and runs to attack them.  Agent Kay is forced to shoot Mikey, killing the alien and scattering its bluish remains on the border patrol agents.  An MiB clean-up crew quickly arrives on the scene and Agent Kay uses a neuralyzer to erase the border patrol agents’ short term memory.  Kay then implants with a fake memory, going so far as blaming one of the agents for poor use of his weapon and thus causing a small explosion.

After the incident, Agent Dee reveals that he’s retiring and no longer wants to be an MiB agent.  Kay uses his neuralyzer and erases Dee’s years of service in the MiB.  Now Kay is going to need to find and train a new partner.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In New York City, young NYPD officer James Darrell Edwards III (Will Smith) chases a man through town.  It’s a crazy chase as the man can run faster than a normal human and he can also climb right up the side of a building.  Officer Edwards uses his street skills to purse the man and he ultimately catches him on top of a building.  Before he can be arrested, the man reveals himself to be an alien and then jumps off the building, committing suicide.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Outside the city, a UFO crashes near a farmhouse.  The farmer, Edgar (Vincent D’Onofrio), goes out to investigate the crash as it happened to destroy his pick-up truck.  The alien quickly attacks and kills Edgar.  It then climbs into Edgar’s body and uses it as a suit.  Edgar the Bug then returns to the farmhouse and acts strange to Beatrice (Siobhan Fallon), the farmer’s wife.

Back at the police station, officer Edwards’s commander is suspicious of his report that the criminal’s weapon disintegrated and that he jumped off a building to commit suicide.  Somehow Agent Kay gained a copy of Edwards’s report and he shows up inside the station to further question the incident.  Kay explains that it *really* was an alien, and that he needs for Edwards to identify the weapon that he saw disintegrate.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Agent Kay and Edwards head out to a pawn store run by Jack Jeebs (Tony Shalhoub).  Jeebs doesn’t cooperate during Edwards’s questioning, so Agent Kay shoots him in the head.  What looks like a murder turns out to be a freaky experience for Edwards as Jeebs regenerates a new head.  He then shows Edwards a collection of alien weapons, and Edwards identifies which one he saw earlier that night.  Apparently that weapon was to be used in an assassination, but Jeebs doesn’t know the target.

Agent Kay uses his neuralyzer to erase Edwards’s memory of the event and then takes him out to dinner as a cover-up.  At the end of the meal Agent Kay gives Edwards a business card with a mysterious address, telling him to be there the next morning.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Edwards shows up at the address and is surprised that he’s one of several candidates for a job, but none of them know what’s happening.  Everybody takes a written exam followed by a firearms drill in a dark room.  Edwards appears to shoot an innocent target and he’s forced to explain his actions.  Chief Zed (Rip Torn) administrates the tests and is uncertain about Edwards being the next MiB agent, but Agent Kay insists that he’s the best choice.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

As Zed erases the minds of the other candidates with a neuralyzer, Agent Kay gives Edwards a brief history of the MiB organization.  He offers the agent job to Edwards, but Edwards thinks that Kay and Zed are crazy, and he denies the offer.  Agent Kay goes into a break room and gets a cup of coffee.  Edwards watches in amazement as the other occupants in the break room are friendly worm-like aliens.  Agent Kay takes Edwards outside and gives him further insight into the organization.  He gives Edwards until sunrise to make up his mind about joining the MiB.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Sure enough, Edwards decides to join the MiB organization.  He arrives back at headquarters and Agent Kay gives him a brief tour of the building.  As we see, the headquarters looks like an airport terminal (a spaceport in this case) and aliens are being processed after arriving on Earth.  Kay also explains that the MiB is an independent agency without any government oversight, and it’s funded through patents from outer space items, such as Velcro.  After the tour, Edwards goes through processing (which includes having his old identity erased) and becomes Agent Jay (J), the newest MiB agent.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Zed receives a report of a resident alien trying to flee town, so he sends Agents Kay and Jay out to investigate.  Jay is a bit disheartened when he discovers that the agents drive around in a Ford P.O.S. car.  The car has more power than it appears, and Jay is pleasantly surprised when the car peels out and races down the streets.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In town, a jewelry store owner named Rosenberg (Mike Nussbaum) meets with another man for lunch at a diner.  It turns out that both of them men are actually aliens, with Rosenberg being a high-ranking member of his race.  Edgar shows up in the restaurant disguised as a bus boy, and he easily kills Rosenberg and his companion.  He grabs a small container filled with diamonds, thinking that it contains something else.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Meanwhile, Agents Kay and Jay find the alien trying to flee town.  Kay talks to the man while Jay helps his wife deliver a baby there in the car.  The investigation doesn’t reveal much except that the man was willing to face charges for leaving New York City without permission.  Hunting for more tips, Kay and Jay visit with the farmer’s wife after they see her story in a tabloid newspaper.

Beatrice, the farmer’s wife, doesn’t reveal much information except that her husband had a sudden demand for sugar water.  They go outside to the crash site and Kay tests the soil.  Sure enough, it’s bad news.  A “Bug” has landed on Earth.  Kay reports his finding to Zed and then he and Jay head to the city’s morgue in search of more clues.  A Bug alien on Earth means dead aliens in the city.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

At the morgue, Agents Kay and Jay meet with Dr. Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino).  She takes them to one of the two dead men who recently arrived.  One of them was an alien that they both saw back at MiB headquarters.  Jay goes with Dr. Weaver to the second dead man, the jewelry store owner Rosenberg, and they both discover that inside of the Rosenberg’s skull is actually a tiny alien.  The alien uses its last few breaths to tell Jay and Dr. Weaver that in order to prevent war, the galaxy is on Orion’s belt.  The alien dies and neither of them know what it meant.  Agent Kay recognizes the dead alien as an Arquillian prince, an alien species at war with the Bug species.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Back at headquarters, Agent Kay is caught using the satellite system to monitor a woman.  We learn that this was the woman that Kay was supposed to date the night that aliens arrived back in 1964.  Meanwhile, Zed explains to Jay that the Orion constellation has three stars on its “belt,” so the Arquillian’s warning cannot be true.  Galaxies are composed of thousands of stars.  Aliens are fleeing Earth and an Arquillian battle cruiser is spotted in Earth orbit.  Things are about to get serious, so Zed has Kay and Jay equip themselves with weapons.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Kay and Jay head to Rosenberg’s jewelry store to look for more clues.  The place has recently been ransacked but none of the jewelry was taken.  Jay notices that Rosenberg had a serious fascination with his pet cat.  He then spots Edgar outside the store and tries to shoot him but misses.  Edgar gets away and Jay is reprimanded for using his weapon in public.  As a result, another MiB clean-up team has to clean the area and erase the memory of all the witnesses.  Zed calls Kay and tells him that they’ve deciphered part of the Arquillians message, and they want the galaxy.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Kay goes to Frank the Pug (an alien informant), and he and Jay learn that size isn’t everything.  The galaxy that they’re seeking is actually really small and about the size of a marble.  Jay sees a cat and realizes that “Orion’s belt” actually referred to the collar on Rosenberg’s pet cat.  He and Kay head back to the morgue to look for Orion the cat.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Edgar has the same idea, but he beats the agents there.  He holds Dr. Weaver hostage when Jay tries to talk to her about the cat that arrived with Rosenberg.  The situation escalates when Orion appears and Edgar grabs him and rips off his collar with the galaxy.  He uses Dr. Weaver as a human shield as Jay and Kay hold him at gunpoint.  Edgar escapes from the building with Dr. Weaver, and Jay and Kay return to headquarters empty handed.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Back at headquarters, everybody watches the screen as the Arquillian battle cruiser fires a warning shot at Earth.  They only have an hour left before the planet is destroyed to keep the galaxy out of the Bug’s hands.  Knowing that the Bug’s spaceship is impounded and he’s trying to leave Earth, Jay realizes that he’s going to use the spaceships from the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing, New York.  Kay and Jay climb into their car and race to the scene before the Bug can escape.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

As Edgar climbs the tower with the spaceship, Dr. Weaver manages to escape his grasp.  She lands in a tree as Agents Kay and Jay arrive on scene.  Edgar fires up the spaceship, so Kay and Jay use some big guns to shoot and disable the ship.  The spaceship crashes through the Unisphere and slides to a halt in front of the two MiB agents.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Edgar is furious at the agents and he rips off the human skin, revealing the true form of the Bug.  The Bug snatches and eats the two agents’ guns.  Agent Kay wants his gun back, so he has the Bug eat and swallow him whole.  Agent Jay tries to fight and stall the Bug while Kay retrieves his gun.  It’s a losing battle for Jay, but he stalls the Bug long enough and Kay shoots his way out of the Bug’s stomach.  Kay gives Zed a call and tells him that he has the galaxy.

The Bug isn’t dead.  It tries to sneak up and attack the MiB agents, but before it strikes it’s shot and killed by Dr. Weaver.  She’s impressed and tells them that they have an interesting job.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Once things are settled, Agent Kay tells Jay that the Bug was one of many memories that he doesn’t want in his head.  He wants out of the MiB.  Agent Jay wasn’t his partner but rather his replacement.  He gives Jay and neuralyzer and then Jay flashes the last thirty or so years of K’s memory.

Men in Black (1997) – (c) Columbia Pictures

Men in Black ends with Agent Jay seeing a tabloid newspaper with Kevin Brown (Agent Kay).  He’s seen with his girlfriend of long ago, and the cover story is that he’s finally awakened after being in a coma for thirty-five years.  Meanwhile, Dr. Weaver is now Agent Elle (L) and partner of Jay.

A short scene has a camera flying away from the Earth only to reveal that the Milky Way galaxy is actually a marble being used as a toy by a couple of aliens.

So in Men in Black any good?

That question is going to rely on whether or not you like the punk attitude used by Will Smith’s character throughout the movie.  His character and attitude dominate the film, transforming the professional and very dedicated Men in Black agency into one that’s more upbeat and “cool.”

Will Smith – “Men in Black” music video

For me, Will Smith’s character ruins Men in Black.  Agent Jay is a young and brash person who doesn’t take his role as an agent seriously at any time.  He brings the “street” into the agency in a mockery of the professional organization.  He may have been fine as an undercover cop in the NYPD, but his attitude clearly doesn’t belong in MiB.  It’s also a little too convenient that Agent Jay is the person who solves the mystery of the galaxy on Orion’s belt along with figuring out that the Bug would use the flying saucers from the 1964-65 World’s Fair.

The “urban” Agent Jay character is also a slap in the face to the U.S. military and students at the military academies.  The film implies that just because James Edwards was a fast runner with street smarts, then he’s better than the top graduates of the military academies.  Last time I checked, the academies have not only rigorous physical fitness requirements, but you have to be an academic all-star to be accepted into the programs.  According to the film, a young NYPD policeman with plenty of attitude is better than the top candidates from the military academies.  Yeah, sure.

Men in Black is simply an average/okay film.  It’s not bad, but it’s also not a great film by any means.  Men in Black feels like a pretty short film with a running time of just over 90 minutes.  Just as Agent Jay is starting to take the MiB agency and his partner seriously, all of a sudden they’re battling the Bug and the movie is finished.  This film feels like it wastes so much potential to be an outstanding movie.

One of the other problems with Men in Black and its short running time is that we really don’t see much of the organization as a whole.  We don’t see any other agents throughout the film, nor do we see much else of the organization as this rookie comes out of nowhere and miraculously becomes a regular agent over the course of a couple of days.

Men in Black (1997) – movie trailer

When watching Men in Black, you need to keep in mind that at no point does the film take itself seriously.  Instead of making a dark and evil film about the conspiracy involving the allegedly real men in black, the producers made this into a fun and almost cartoony sort of film.  This goes along with the plot holes along overall simplicity of the movie.

The success of Men in Black helped inspire Universal Studios Florida to add it as a major attraction in the theme park.

Opening in April of 2000, MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack became the next major ride to open in Universal Studios Florida.  The ride is themed to an exhibit from the 1964-65 World’s Fair entitled “The Universe & You – Are We Alone?”  Of course, this is just a façade and inside the building we’re really at the MiB headquarters.  We’re new recruits and about to go through an alien shooting drill.

After boarding training vehicles we enter the training zone with a bunch of what look like cardboard targets.  Fake aliens pop out of windows and we shoot them with lasers from our guns.  The training suddenly ends and Chief Zed informs us that real aliens are running loose through the streets of New York City.  Our vehicles leave the training zone and it’s a shooting gallery as we try to target as many aliens as possible.  A scoring counter keeps track of everybody’s individual score.  At one point it’s revealed that the vehicle opposite us has aliens in disguise, and we’re to shoot at their vehicle and make it spin.  The end of the ride as us being eaten by a massive alien.  We push the “red button” and escape from the beast.  Agent Jay tells us how we did as a whole and then uses a neuralyzer to “erase” our memory of the event.

Kay – “All right, kid, here’s the deal. At any given time there are approximately 1500 aliens on the planet, most of them right here in Manhattan. And most of them are decent enough, they’re just trying to make a living.”
Jay – “Cab drivers?”
Kay – “Not as many as you’d think.”

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Zed – “You’ll dress only in attire specially sanctioned by MiB special services. You’ll conform to the identity we give you, eat where we tell you, live where we tell you. From now on you’ll have no identifying marks of any kind. You’ll not stand out in any way. Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You’re a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu and dismissed just as quickly. You don’t exist; you were never even born. Anonymity is your name. Silence your native tongue. You’re no longer part of the System. You’re above the System. Over it. Beyond it. We’re ‘them.’ We’re ‘they.’ We are the Men in Black.”

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Kay – “We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public!”
Jay – “Man, we ain’t got time for this cover-up bullshit! I don’t know whether or not you’ve forgotten, but there’s an Arquillian Battle Cruiser that’s about to…”
Kay – “There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!”