3 gibbles out of 5

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Sonnenfeld has a particular feel to his films that generally makes them not a problem to watch, images zipping by without need to contemplate them too heavily.  That’s not to say his films are empty – there’s a good blend of weird humor and story, and the bigger audience pleasing gags are generally well woven into the story or overall feel of his films.  When I saw MiB at the theater, I could’ve sworn it was only about fifteen minutes long.  It wasn’t that I was blown away by anything in particular, it just registers in some portion of the brain that accepts it without question.  The imaginative sets help, of course, and while Will Smith’s film persona has been tweaked slightly over the years, even if you hate him you can somehow enjoy his screen presence at the same time.

What’s all this blab mean?  That Men In Black is average, but it’s an overly inventive, well-put together average that can rightfully snub its nose at other average flicks.

The movie rings of the best 80s fantasy movies in that it takes a normal childhood dream – of aliens, of secret societies – and casts it into a world of adults, allowing us to experience some good ol’ crossover appeal.  Watching the movie several years on, I was struck with how out of time it feels.  CGI and Michael Bay have allowed kiddie stuff to get the PG-13 treatment, but instead of something sort of loving it’s generally loud and dumb.  Perhaps MiB has its source comic book material to thank for the grounding, but the timelessness of the vision is, I believe, Sonnenfeld’s .

Anyhow, Will Smith finds out that aliens are real and joins a secret agency, coached in his learnings by Tommy Lee Jones, and together they stumble across a world-threatening plot that requires some smart quips from Willie to fix.  There are no surprises to how this turns out, but we’re here for the wacky looking hi-jinks and star power and the film delivers, making the most of its duotone look for its seemingly massive sets and to clash with Sonnenfeld’s more colorful backdrops.

After you blink and the credits come, up you sort of want to roll your eyes to the Will Smith tune that starts playing, but you admittedly sat through the whole movie with a half grin on your face, so things aren’t all bad.