Movie Review – The First “Men In Black”

Here’s my review of the original Men In
Black
. The review of the sequel should appear
at roughly this time tomorrow.

Premise

Aliens are real, and they like to come to Earth. A
secret
organization known as the Men In Black have been set
up to monitor
their activities and prevent the general public from
learning about
it.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Will
Smith
plays
James Darrell Edwards III

Tommy
Lee
Jones
plays Agent K

Linda
Fiorentino
plays Laurel Weaver

Rip
Torn
plays agent
Z.

Directed by Barry
Sonnenfeld


Written by Ed
Solomon
based on a comic book by Lowell
Cunningham

Complete cast and crew information is provided by the
IMDB and can be
found here.

High Point

The testing sequence.

Low Point

Some of the blue screening was apparent due to odd
lighting and
shading on the individuals being screened in.

The Scores

This was pretty original in concept,
although it played out
like the typical buddy cop film. The concept was
originally devised
for the comic book, though. I give it 3 out of 6.

Apart from the blue screening problems I’ve already
mentioned, the
effects are pretty good, and still hold up
after 5 years. In
an effects heavy movie, that’s a good thing.
Unfortunately, that blip
I already mentioned happens a couple of times, and it
jars me out of
the film. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story was pretty basic. There was very
little plot, to
leave room for the comedic bits and the action
sequences. What there
is holds together fairly well, though. I give it 4
out of 6.

The acting was great, but unoriginal. Every
major actor
(except, perhaps, Linda Fiorentino) was playing a
kind of character
they’ve played quite often. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response upon this viewing,
which was probably
my sixth or seventh, was not spectacular. However, I
remember
enjoying it a lot the first time, so I’ll split the
difference and
give it a 3 out of 6.

The production is excellent. The direction
is very good for
an effects-heavy comedy, and Danny Elfman’s score is
typically
fantastic. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this is a decent movie. If you’re
looking for a
cerebral sci-fi like Blade Runner, don’t
look here. If you
want a fun, fairly mindless summer blockbuster, this
is almost
perfect. Since it has never claimed to be anything
but the mindless
summer blockbuster, I’ll give it 5 out of 6 overall.

In total, Men In Black receives 28 out of
42.