Men In Black
Conspiracy theorists (reportedly a term coined by the CIA to mock people seeking to discover the truths which they eagerly cover up) can be all over the map sometimes, but one story that gets told often is that of calm, patient and efficient government agents who almost always take charge at the scene of some kind of spectacular event, engineering the cleanup (and cover up) of said event while sending the ignorant civilians home with a bullshit story that somehow they manage to believe. This concept was eventually used for the comic book series bearing the Men In Black name and finally this 1997 movie starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Itâs an interesting creation using extensive CGI and alien creature FX and actually changes some of the original comicâs ideas most notably the fact that aliens on Earth was but one of The MIBâs many responsibilities along with supernatural phenomena and spiritual calamities as well as a reportedly insidious undertone that implied that The MIB were indeed not only a top secret law enforcement unit in certain specialized cases but also the true rulers of our planet, completely self governed and basically answering to nobody. Here Sonnenfeld would refashion it as a straight up absurdist science fiction comedy and have The MIBâs jurisdiction be relegated strictly to alien beings on Earth both legally and illegally. Which is fine considering that Smithâs first forte as an actor was always comedy and Jones is of course one of the greatest deadpan performers to ever live which makes him perfect for being a straight man to Smith (who was initially reluctant to sign on after having just done Independence Day the year before and wasnât quite sure he was ready to do another alien invasion film so quickly before his wife Jada Pinkett Smith convinced him to take the part) for whom we get at least a partial amount of the film devoted to his backstory as Agent J, originally an NYPD cop named James Edwards who unknowingly chased down an alien disguised as a human the species of which is said to be very hard to bring down but he manages to do it anyway and in the process attracts the attention of The MIB when he is soon visited by Agent K (Jones), a guy who not only recruits him for the team but also makes it very clear to Smith that a big part of this process will require forcefully âwaking him upâ into knowing just how the world (and the universe) truly is, one filled with alien beings in disguise as humans (and mostly living in the largest major cities so as to blend in better) because the Earth is somehow considered to be the major living center of the whole universe which encourages alien beings from all kinds of different worlds to flock here so that they can be part of The (worldwide) American Dream. But there are also alien beings known to be so evil and vile that their very presence on Earth is not something to be desired, most notably âbugsâ, insect creatures that presumably love causing alien species to engage in war and destruction (especially if they donât need to get involved any further once the shit hits the fan) and when one of these bugs crash lands on Earth (an illegal act in and of itself) and then brutally kills and strips the skin off of an idiot farmer (Vincent DâOnofrio) so that it too can wear that skin as its human âdisguiseâ, The MIB realize that they have a big problem on their hands and have to stop the bug before it can carry out its (world ending) actions. The irony of course is that despite the fine, crisp comedic timing between Smith and Jones, it is actually DâOnofrio who pretty much steals the movie with his way over the top villain, that being a reptillian alien wearing the skin of a dead farmer and yet being so herky jerky awkward in his movements (not to mention the rapidly decomposing face) that he sticks out like a sore thumb wherever he goes and comes across as being too incompetant (or perhaps just not caring) to ever âblend inâ during the process of completing his mission which is to kill some high level aliens and steal some kind of major power source that must not fall into the hands of his species. In the middle of all this hoopla, itâs easy to see that there is not much substance here except for one key idea: as Smith is âawakenedâ to the true nature of our world (and joins a very select club in the process), it is clearly shown through the Jones character (who himself left behind a significant other when he was reluctantly made to join) that being âawakeâ to such things is not so much a gift as it is a burden, one where you literally have to treat people as the mindless sheep that they are even as your own life consists of constantly dealing with stressful, life or death situations with little to no reward for your efforts. Plus, even though you are as human as everybody else, you still give up a piece of your own humanity in order to âdo the jobâ and obviously now think differently than most people do (i.e. you almost become a non human lifeform yourself) which it seems that Jonesâ K has felt himself wearing down from for all of these years and rightfully so to the point where he is almost envious of the oblivious sheep still out there since finding a way to be like all of them again (and leaving The MIB) might be the only thing akin to finally finding some peace. Itâs interesting to consider that expanded consciousness and using more of your brain is in play here as it was in Defending Your Life since we actually get Rip Torn from that very same movie cast here as the bureau chief of The MIB, but sadly Torn is pretty much wasted except to help pile on the exposition that tells us what this organization is all about. Meanwhile, you have DâOnofrioâs crazed bug man stomping all over New York City and killing anybody who gets in his way (mostly in either a comedic, PG-13 style or in having the scene cut away before he does them in) as he rants every chance he gets about clearing the human infestation off of planet Earth. Itâs an hilarious performance with both the physical mannerisms (reportedly DâOnofrio wore leg braces to stifle his movements) and the almost staccato speaking voice of an evil creature trying to fit in without causing alarm or attracting attention and failing miserably at both. The cast also features the (very) welcome presence of Linda Fiorentino as the deputy medical examiner who starts getting a whole host of aliens disguised as human dead bodies sent her way and has to be subjected to the memory wiping neurolyzer on multiple occasions in order to make sure that she doesnât catch on to the truth. Fiorentino (who sadly retired from acting in 2009) is able to exude sex appeal even while playing silly or goofy (no mean feat) all while she finds herself in comedic peril situations throughout the film and remains pleasant to look at. Eventually DâOnofrioâs actions bring the attention of a large alien battalion who are said to be good guys but yet they inform The MIB that if DâOnofrio is not stopped within a short, specific timeframe that then they will indiscrimately destroy the Earth and everything on it in order to protect their own interests. Again, the nature of the climax (as it is with the whole film) is played off too much as being light comedy for any of the world threatening scenarios to hold very much weight, but at least it cements Smith and Jones as being a solid comedy team with fluid chemistry, so much so that when time came for a sequel with Smithâs Agent J now firmly entrenched in the mix, the necessity to bring Jonesâ Agent K âout of retirementâ so to speak in order to have them play off of each other again was just too great as by the time they got to Part 3 they finally gave Smith the chance to carry more of the movie (and franchise) by himself as they sidelined Jones in favor of an ill advised decision to cast Josh Brolin as a younger version of his character. Obviously knowing here that Agent K was not actually stepping down in this first movie certainly hurts the emotional resonance of the ending (in clearing his mind of this alien shit and going back to sleep like the rest of us he had finally set himself free), but in the end the one valuable, philosophical paradox of this effort sits atop a pile of mostly funny science fiction gloop, focusing more on the laughs to be mined out of this concept rather than the shock and awe aspects which if not quite as great in this area as Ghostbusters is still pretty damn entertainingâŚ
8/10