BUGBUSTERS
a review of "Men in Black"
"Men in Black", this summer's wildly anticipated, big-budget offering from Amblin Entertainment and Barry ("The Addams Family") Sonnenfeld, is a very entertaining (if somewhat familiar) genre picture that aims to please and does so consistently. Will Smith plays James Edwards, a New York cop who stumbles across "level 6 agents of the INS" while attempting to apprehend what he thinks is an ordinary felon. It turns out (as it has in "Stargate", "ID4" and many episodes of "The X-Files", I imagine) that the Roswell cover-ups were indeed real and all of those UFO stories that we've heard over the years are true. In fact, aliens are still visiting Earth, and the main job of those who become the Men in Black is to monitor the aliens who are kept hidden on Earth and make sure that their existence remains undetected by the general public. "It's just like 'Casablanca'", says Smith's mentor K (played by Tommy Lee Jones), "except without the Nazis". Much of the feel of this film is similar to "Ghostbusters" in its pre- mise of a fantastic extraterrestrial subculture within the framework of a cas- ual, everyday job. The film is at its best when milking that contrast for laughs, often depicting the aliens as having little patience with humanity's persistently backward ways. The audience is introduced to the world and its characters, as well as the antagonist who wishes to bring about the end of the world (again, similar to "Ghostbusters"). Herein lies the main weakness of the script, as much of the climactic showdown between the villain (whose main mo- tivation seems to be to cause destruction in that movie-villain way) and our heroes is not so much a climax as another event in the film -- a plateau rather than an inspired capper. The film is so much fun, peppered with plenty of funny, smart dialogue, that it's a shame that the final sequence isn't one of the stronger gags in the film (as the marshmallow man was in "Ghostbusters"). Still, Lowell Cunningham & Ed Solomon's script is well structured aside from these problems, with clear set-ups which pay off pleasantly later. Predicta- bility is also a problem, but not to a point where it sinks the film. It simp- ly makes it less surprising than it could have been. It's clear that everyone involved here was enthusiastic about the pro- ject, and to its benefit all of the elements were mixed in good proportion to one another. Computer animation, make-up, practical and miniature effects are all used in concert here (each to its respective strength), and the results are exceptional. Kudos to the various effects teams for some terrific work! Danny Elfman has whipped up an especially versatile score for this picture, brash and agressive at times, subdued and tense at others. Jones and Smith (even the anonymity of their names seems intentional) work very well together here; rather than attempt to out-act each other, Jones plays the straight man (along with Rip Torn, who echoes a similar role in "Defending Your Life") to the film's loopiness. Both make the most of their roles and successfully cre- ate nicely contrasting characters. When the villain snatches a cab for his getaway, Smith bolts for the street, frantically searching amidst a sea of taxis, while Jones calmly descends the stairs toward their own car. Linda Fi- orentino plays Dr. Weaver (a morgue doctor who gets caught up in the proceed- ings) with her usual panache that has served her well elsewhere and makes her stand out in an otherwise limited role. It's a shame that she has little else to do but lay the foundation of the upcoming sequel franchise (what will they call the sequel? "People in Black"?). Vincent D'Onofrio is also quite unnerv- ing yet hilarious as the disguised alien antagonist, who nicely communicates the qualities of one who is clearly not used to a human form. Bo Welch contin- ues the visual snap he has brought to many of Tim Burton's films with produc- tion design that is beautiful, but with a sense of fun that compliments the picture. A design highlight is MIB headquarters, a silver-and-white spoof of sixties spy pop. This is clearly Sonnenfeld's best picture to date, one where the excep- tional efforts of a strong team help to offset the formulaic structure of a genre picture. How can you not like a film where an alien race apologizes for starting the process of Earth's destruction? With a terrific final shot. Recommended.
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- Jeff "When I'm Finished With You, They'll Be Stumbling Over YOU In The Dark" Pidgeon
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