MEN IN BLACK (1997) A film review by Nick Schaden Copyright 1997 Nick Schaden
"Men In Black" had everything going for it: hype, some favorable reviews, even plenty of original and good movie elements as I watched it. Unfortuately, while "Men In Black" is better than average, considering the real potential of this movie, it was a disapointment.
"Men In Black" tells the story of Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and newly recruited ex-cop Agent J (Will Smith) attempt to save the earth from aliens, in an elite covert private organization. All members wear black suits, ties, watches, etc. hence the name of the movie, "Men In Black". The movie's plot is as simple as other summer blockbusters, yet far supasses them by having a completely original screenplay.
Plot is just one of the strengths of "Men In Black". In addition, the acting is well done by both Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. The movie is moderately funny and witty, with "aliens" not neccesarly being those huge evil things we're use to seing from the likes of Ridley Scott's "Aliens". Instead the extra terrestials have a human form/disguise while down on Earth, allowing for plenty of wise cracks about Dennis Rodman, Sylvester Stallone and Newt Gingrich all as "aliens".
Unfortunately, these smart ideas fall quickly to several major problems with the movie. For example, the really funny humor for me only lasted until Will Smith is inducted into the MIB orgainzation (relatively early in the movie), much of the wit and ingenous of the movie seems to fall into place during that period. From there unfortunately, the humor went downhill, which was incredibly frustrating considering how well "Men In Black" started out as. In addition, for all the money spent on that picture the special effects didn't jump out at me as much as I had hoped for or expected. Furthermore, the movie's too short, 90 minutes wasn't enough time to develop a sound or more complex plot. Finally, it should be noted that Linda Fiorentino's character (Dr. Laurel Weaver) suprisingly large supporting role is relatively pointless: She isn't integral at all to the main plot (rather distracting from it), and her character seems to be doing little rather than flouting her legs to the male audience.
In sum, "Men In Black" starts with a bang: fresh plot, good acting, funny script, everything you could ask for. However, part way through, the picture loses steam and grinds to a halt somewhere marginally above average. This is sad considering with some tweaking and reworking "Men In Black" could have been one of the wittiest and funniest movies of the year.
Nick's Rating = +1
*** Movies rated from -4 (worst) to +4 (best), 0 = average movie ***
-- Nick Schaden Send your comments to: cpunut@uslink.net You can see all of Nick's reviews at: http://uslink.net/~cpunut/movies.html
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