Your thoughts on the original Men in Black... (1 Viewer)

[Seth Paxton]

I agree 100% with Vickie's assessment. At the time the biggest hit of the film was Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan comedy, no one expected him to be so good at it. He really stole the show because of that, though Smith is at his best in this film.

In fact, I think WWW failed because it dropped the charming humor for the more spiteful and mean-spirited sexual/racial humor and put effects ahead of the story. It seems clear to me that they thought they could make WWW into another MIB, but as always they missed what was good about MIB and kept only the shallowest elements.

My only complaint with MIB at the time, and still, is that it was TOO SHORT. With Linda I thought they could have had another 15 minutes of comedy there that they didn't go for.

As for MIB2, I was down on it with the earliest trailers as being too much CGI, but the latest trailers, esp. the one in front of S-M, have shown the exact same type/quality of jokes that made MIB such a big hit. I'm pretty damn excited about the new film now since it looks to still place comedy first, CGI 2nd.

 

[Seth Paxton]

BTW, maybe it's just me but I really dig Sonnefeld's style. Several of his movies have played well but then seem to not catch on deeply with critical viewers, yet I really enjoy them all.

Primarily -

Get Shorty (my 2nd fav Leonard film after Out of Sight - yes, more than JB. GS captures the EL spirit better I think)

Addams Family (1 and 2)

Men in Black

But then I thought WWW was a train wreck, so go figure.

Certainly though he has a good eye for making films look good. Just look at the cinematography work he did before shifting into direction:

Blood Simple

Raising Arizona

Miller's Crossing

When Harry Met Sally...

Big

So despite WWW, I really dig where he is coming from as a filmmaker so far, although I haven't seen Big Trouble yet (but liked the ads, so maybe its one that I will like despite it not doing well)

 

[AdrianJ]

I'm with Seth on this one. Maybe it is just Sonnenfeld's style that I like. (Wild Wild West was a train wreck by the way. I wanted so much to like it since it stars one of my favorite stars in Kenneth Branagh). This movie is a comedy and everything within it are meant for the comedic experience. If you try and take it seriously, the movie will utterly fail. I've seen this movie 3 different times and each time, I laugh more. If you were underwhelmed the first time, change the way you view the movie and give it another shot.

 

[Brian_J]

I also enjoy this movie and believe this is what a "popcorn flick" is all about. It never takes itself to seriously.

Also, when I went to see Spider-man the other night the preview for MIB2 got the most laughs and buzz of any one of the seemingly endless reviews there were. It looks pretty clever.

Brian

 

[Mitty]

I like it. It's a big, fun, goofy movie. Will Smith is funny because he's playing the same cocky character he usually plays, but he keeps getting the proverbial rug pulled out from under him. Tommy Lee Jones deadpan approach is perfect. He didn't make the same mistake Jack Nicholson made in Mars Attacks and keep "winking" his lines with a knowing smirk.
Actually, MiB is pretty much what Mar Attacks wanted to be, but failed. Of course, I don't wanna completely disparage 'Mars' since it did try to go a little further out on the edge when compared to MiB.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

MIB is absolutely hilarious. If there were different actors in the roles, I don't think I'd find it very funny, but Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith work really well together, and Smith is funny as hell. It of course wasn't trying to be serious or thought provoking, just a goofy fun movie.

There are so many one liners in this movie that make me laugh every time I watch it.

On a related note, anybody been on the MIB ride at Universal Studios Florida? That was pretty damn fun, especially the part at the end where Will Smith comes on the video and tells you high a score you got.

Can't wait for the sequel!

Edit: I also saw the trailer in front of Spider-Man, and the line Will Smith had at the end after the driver of the car got sucked into the steering ("Yeah, we had a black driver, but he kept getting pulled over.") had the audience really laughing.

 

[Vickie_M]

Seth: So despite WWW, I really dig where he is coming from as a filmmaker so far, although I haven't seen Big Trouble yet (but liked the ads, so maybe its one that I will like despite it not doing well)

Same here wrt Sonnenfeld. I haven't seen Wild Wild West (it looked really, really bad and I got sick of the previews when I was going to see The Matrix over and over again) and though I haven't seen Big Trouble, it did look like fun and I'll be seeing it on DVD.
Clever comedies like Men In Black are rare and I wonder why people don't see what I see in it, but that's the way the world works. I'm also dumbfounded by people who don't adore movies like Raising Arizona and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? too, so, what's to do? Not much!
I can see it from another angle. My husband is a huge Marx Brothers fan and I've never been able to get into them. I appreciate their cleverness, their interesting silliness (as opposed to the Three Stooges' inane silliness) and their influence on comedy, but they're just not funny to me. (Except when Margaret Dumas is onscreen). And, of course, my husband can't understand why I don't see in them what he sees in them.
Luckily, we agree on MIB, RA and OB,WAT!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Vickie for me it's because I loved the concept and wanted to see it played straight not as a comedy. Ghostbusters covered this territory already - and much better job of it too.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I found MIB to be a very funny film! I especially enjoyed how Jones and Smith played off of each other.

Crawdaddy

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I liked it slightly more than Scott, but I found it to be fairly forgettable summer fodder(from that most horrendous of movie summers, 1997) and I never even bought the DVD, which is rare for me; I buy nearly every blockbuster film when released to DVD.

The trailer for the sequel attached to Spidey was funny and looked better than the original so I may be seeing this one after I've had my fill of both AOTC and Spidey.

 

[AdrianJ]

I found MIB to be a very funny film! I especially enjoyed how Jones and Smith played off of each other.

I think you hit it right on the head there. The chemistry between the leads is really what separates this movie from most other comedies.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah I have to admit Men in Black does'nt age too well. It's not as funny after you've seen all it's Joke's I thought D'inofrio's Bug Man was really skirting into Christopher Lloyd territory in his performance, I almost half expected to hear him say "It's your planet Monkey-boy!" But it was a funmovie Having seenthe trailer I'm not sure it really needed a sequel as it looks like more of the same, except this time the rolls are reversed.

 

[Rob Lutter]

I LOVED MiB when I saw it in theaters... it is a VERY entertaining POPCORN flick. Nothing less... nothing more.

 

[Kami]

I love the movie. Definitely not near my top 10 list but it's something I enjoy watching every once in a while. Looking forward to MIB2.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I loved MIB and got a big kick out of the MIB 2 trailer in fornt of Spider-Man. I thought MIB was a very clever comedy and it never took itself seriously.
How can you not laugh at the chair screeching scene during the test. I almost piss myself everytime I watch that scene.
The other great line in the MIB 2 trailer was "This is the last suit you will ever wear..........again."
-Dean-

 

[Richard Kim]

I really liked MIB. Yeah it's a popcorn film, but I really dug its wry sense of humor, which distinguishs it from other summer blockbusters.

I also have to agree with an earlier poster that Linda Fiorentino was gorgeous in that film. Anyone know if she's coming back in MIB2?

 

[Dave Poehlman]

When I saw the teasers for MIB, I really was excited about it. I thought it was a great premise for a film. Then when I saw its "Ghostbuster-esque" delivery, I was really let down.

It is a decent movie.. I just wish the subject matter could have been a little deeper.

 

[MickeS]

I like MIB as a comedy, but Scott's right, it really is annoyingly stupid, and some of the gags are very childish. However, thanks to Smith and Jones, it really is a lot of fun.
It failed to live up to its potential, and it doesn't come close to what I see as the obvious reference movie for this kind of film, "Ghostbusters".
I'll be seing part 2 though.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Add me to the love it list. Can't wait for MIIB and the trailer infront of Spiderman definately makes it look like a winner.
The opening scene with the Dragonfly sets the entire tone of the movie right there. Great stuff.

 

[David Rogers]

Men In Black is a classic. A SF comedy, it has a serious plot (in that it's consistent and fits with the reality of the story) and never loses sight of the lighthearted tone that makes it successful. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are brilliantly cast together, and their chemistry is a large part of the formula. Another is the incessant and liberal use of the MiB gadgets, from the cars to the translators to the neuralizer to the rank-and-file staff of the MiB headquarters. I feel the film gives a great sense of the world around the world mere normals are allowed to believe they live in. The way the film ties into any number of conspiracies from the real world, explaining them away with MiB humor, I feel works amazingly well.

Too bad some of you can't find the joy in it. Can't wait for the sequel.