*. 1997! That surprised me. I seemed to remember this as coming out much earlier, sometime in the late ’80s perhaps. It feels so long ago now. Chalk another one up to the parallax of aging: objects in the mirror seeming closer or further away depending on how my memory is functioning.
*. When it came out I think most people recognized it as being the heir to Ghostbusters, with its team of well-armed alien hunters taking on various monsters. It was based on a short-lived comic book serial that came out in the early ’90s, coincidentally just a year or so before Mike Mignola’s Hellboy launched, which had a very similar premise (with the B.P.R.D. being like the special branch of the F.B.I. here).
*. I won’t go over the similarities between the two movies, but instead point to another interesting correspondence. Ghostbusters is a great movie that, somewhat surprisingly, has held up very well over the years. It was not, however, a successful franchise, only spinning off a bunch of disappointing sequels and resets. That’s why I think of Men in Black as its true follow-up, though in much the same way this movie also failed to launch as a franchise. The next Men in Black movies were far inferior and the attempted relaunch Men in Black: International in 2019 was very poorly received. I might go even further and draw in Hellboy here as well, another action-comedy with a similar theme that had a great launch and then fizzled out right away. In every case what we got was a one-off.
*. Why? Perhaps the basic premise was incapable of further elaboration. Successful, long-running franchises have been based on far less. If anything, Ghostbusters, Men in Black, and Hellboy had too much to work with. In each instance the first film was just a case of catching lightning in a bottle with a weird concept. I don’t know. That’s one attempt at an explanation. But back to Men in Black.
*. It really couldn’t miss. Loads of money. Steven Spielberg producing. Will Smith (acting like he’s trying to channel a bit of Axel Foley) and Tommy Lee Jones (channeling himself) both at or near the apex of their celebrity. Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Rip Torn all providing first-rate back-up. Rick Baker doing the monster effects.
*. All of this helps disguise the fact that there’s nothing much going on here aside from the initial concept itself. The plot is actually quite stupid and there are few jokes. Still, watching it again twenty years later I was surprised at how well it played. I don’t think it’s held up as well as Ghostbusters, but it’s still pretty good. I can’t say nearly as much for what was to come.
Alex on Film 
I did like this one, it was funny and stylish and Smith & Jones worked so well together. It didn’t really matter how daft the plot was. I never bothered with any of the sequels though am still tempted now and then to see International just for the Hemsworth, but so far I’ve resisted.
I was originally planning on doing all of the MiB movies at one go, but then I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. This was one is fun though, and for the most part it still is. The sort of movie where it seemed like everyone was having a good time making it.
The WP4 should have suits like this for evenings in the Cap’n’s bar.
I have a black suit. Got to have something for funerals. Not as well tailored as these though.
Not as good as Ghostbusters, not much is. The best of an awful trilogy, 2 and 3 are just pitiful.
Yeah, as I said to Fraggle I did want to post notes on all of them and then I chickened out. Maybe some day, but I don’t have a lot of interest in seeing those movies again.
International is probably the best of the three sequels, and it ain’t great. But has a lot of Hemsworth….
They didn’t want to lose Fraggle.
She is their key audience.
Nope. I’m really not. Hemsworth though…..
My point exactly…
Ah so, then we are in accord. For once.
Nothing wrong with digging a Hemsworth.
I’m not a big Will Smith fan, and subsequently I’m not a big Men in Black fan. It’s a decent film, stress on the decent of course. The plot’s ridiculous, but meant in good taste. A six out of ten if I’ve ever seen one. And don’t even get me started on any of the rest of the series…
I think Smith got by early in his career on a lot of charm. But that seems to have a shelf date. This movie is OK, but the rest of the series were pretty poor. They didn’t seem able to do anything with the concept, which should have been an easy winner.
Will Smith: Fresh Prince of Bel Air and downhill from there.
Yeah, the most frustrating thing about Men in Black is it’s a pretty good idea. Just not very well executed. Glad you didn’t have to review the rest of the trilogy.