Rating: Summary: I want an "Egger Suit" Review: This is a clever and hilarious movie. The birthing scene that so many people talk about is not interesting to me. However, I loved the wife of Edger. Edger is the one who was overtaken by the "bug." When she described the alien that took over her husband's body, she said it was like he was wearing an "Egger Suit." She was too funny. I'd love to see her life after she had her memory replaced......
Rating: Summary: Good!! Review: I like this movie because it has a a lot of good scenes where you laugh, the situations are ludicrous just like the aliens. And what about the screen where you can see Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone or Oprah like aliens? And it's full of irony besides good special effects. If you want to have a good time buy this one. By the way, has anybody realized that the green baby alien, that Will Smith has in his arms, has the same face as Jedi Knight Kit Fisto?
Rating: Summary: Different type of illegal aliens in New York Review: So much has been written about the brilliance of this gooey sci/fi comedy, that it would be redundant for me to tell you how great it is. But what I enjoyed most about "Men In Black" is that it is such a New York film. When Will Smith is being oriented to his new job by Tommy Lee Jones, he's informed that many New Yorkers are disguised space aliens. "Like cab drivers?" Smith asks. "Not as many as you think," Jones responds. The fact that the MIB have a car that can defy gravity is funny enough, but the fact that it needs such a vehicle to fight the perpetual traffic in the Midtown Tunnel is even funnier. An alien disguised as a dog in an I LOVE NEW YORK tee-shirt is fairly funny. But when it speaks with a New Yawk accent as thick as Bugs Bunny's it makes it funnier. When the edgar bug alien hauls a mideastern cab driver out of his cab, not funny. When he tosses his wooden-bead back massager at him, funny. But on top of that, when he throws the ubiquitous air freshner out, then its hysterical (without being racist). The whole concept that the World's Fairgrounds in Queens is a hangar for spaceships is just brilliant. And I've always wondered what that structure at the head of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was! Glimpses of the World Trade Center are a little bitter to take, even now. And there is that sense that this film is from an innocent pre 9/11 time but, really, the rest of the movie still rings true of the New York of today.
Rating: Summary: Great Sci-Fi Comedy Review: Mixing Science Fiction with comedy is a risky proposition, unless the film in question is a sendup of Sci-Fi films (I still can't decide if "Mars Attacks" was worth the matinee price I paid to see it almost a decade ago). "Men in Black", however, is a near perfect blend of Science Fiction and comedy. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are two of the most watchable actors out there, and the pairing of the two in this film is ingenious. The supporting cast,from Linda Fiorentino to Tony Shaloub, is top notch. The special effects, from the dragonfly flight during the opening credits to the spaceship crash near the finale are excellent. The writing is also much more clever than one might expect from a Sci-Fi picture - the film has to be viewed several times to catch all the barbs and asides Smith and Lee throw at each other. All in all, one of the most entertaining Sci-Fi films to come along in quite a while.
Rating: Summary: All in Good Fun Review: Firstly I'll agree with David a few reviews up in that they've stuffed up the concept of what the Men In Black are supposed to be. I too in my days of reading constantly about alien abductions and the like would always find that the MIB were alien life forms, not humans. But all I could do was sit back and say "That's Hollywood for you" and try to enjoy it for what it was.
When I saw this in the cinema I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have as I went with someone who was not enthused to see it. Don't ever do that! Go alone if you have to. It's amazing how much that, even in a darkened room, a disenchanted person next to you can alter the atmosphere.
That being said, since I've bought it on DVD and watched it many times since, it's got to be a favourite. My kids like watching it with me, which is great as it means we can sit down together to watch something and I don't have to be suffering through some kiddie stuff. Sonnenfeld seems to have found his niche of material with this sci-fi/comedy stuff, and he's hilarious on the commentary, and very insightful compared to a lot of other commentaries I've heard.
The effects are great - Stan Winston is undoubtedly a master at big screen make up, and the cgi work wasn't overdone to the point where it bugged you, like a lot of films are getting to these days. I thought the pairing of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones was pretty inspired - I'm a big fan of Tommy and it was good to see him have some fun (or as much as he can) for a change. Vincent rocked as the bug, he's so over the top he's hilarious! And so gross!!! LOL
Look, it's Hollywood, so you can never expect too much. Enjoy it for what it is, and it's a movie where you can laugh, go "oh man, gross!" on occasion, and then have a sing to a Will Smith song at the end.
Rating: Summary: I REFUSE TO WATCH THIS!!!!! Review: This movie is the wrong interpretation of what "Men In Black" really are. They're not protecters of the universe by any means! In true retrospect & in my 16 year study as an Ufologist, "Men In Black" or "MIBs" for short are actually UFO aliens in disguise (pick up some of the old magazines of the 'UFO Universe' or get some old & new books about UFO's or watch the old show, "Sightings" on the Si-Fi Channel, or better yet, watch the show "Unexplained Mysteries" for a good lesson on this matter. I just couldn't believe they would make a movie (and another one) about MIBs who are human & go after aliens which is way out of proportion. That just stoops very low. Maybe some daring producer would make a movie about the "REAL" Men In Black & just scare the living daylights out of these people. I'll stick to "Communion," "The UFO Incident" & "Fire In The Sky." Thank you very much.
Oh and lastly, if I had my way, this would get no stars at all.
Rating: Summary: watch it again and again.... Review: I loved this movie from the first time I saw it several years back. As some of the other viewer's have remarked, the move is good because it's so enjoyable and humourus. I know that Will Smith is often cast in the same type of role, but I cannot help but laugh at his character more and more each time that I watch this DVD. If you're feeling down and just need a laugh, pop this one in the player!
Having moved to New York City, I can see how the storyline is at times frighteningly realistic. Half the people here DO look like the auto guy that Frank the Pug was hanging out with in the movie, and having ridden in way too many cabs, one can certainly understand Jay's assumption that cab drivers are aliens.
Having the bonus DVD with this deluxe edition is cool as well to see more of the behind the scenes bits to see how everything was made/done.
My final comment is that this one of those excellent movies that gets a little bit funnier every time you watch it, so it's definitly worth buying the DVD to have for your own. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: They ain't 'fraid of no aliens Review:
GHOSTBUSTERS meets THE X-FILES. This sci-fi comedy--directed with all the considerable panache Barry Sonnenfield can muster, and very clever in a shallow sort of way--posits that all those paranoid UFO nut babbling about the government sending mysterious "Men in Black" to cover up evidence of alien visitations are absolutly right.
Since the late 1950s, displaced bug-eyed Monsters have been assuming human form and quietly setting into new lives, mostly alongside the rest of the huddled masses yearning to breath free in New York City. "It's like CASABLANCA," says MIB Agent "K" (Tommy Lee Jones), the old alien hand, "But without the Nazis." The shadowy Men in Black license and moniter the intergalactic out-of-towners, and take care of the bad apples from outer space who try to spoil it for everyone. Following his longtime partner's retirment, "K" teams up with hotshot new kid Agent "J" (Will Smith) to stop an alien assassin (Vincent D'Onofrio) who's hell-bent on starting an interstellar war that will spell bad times for this island Earth.
Extravagant special effects notwithstanding, this is really a triumph of casting: The aplomb with which Jones plays straight man to Smith's street-smart wisacre is terrifically enjoyable. Ed Solomon's script (based on the Men in Black comic-book series) offers deadpan riffs on everything from the 1964 New York World's Fair, supermarket tabloids and Dennis Rodman to Velcro and microwaves (product of alien technology, don't you know), and Smith and Jones wring every last drop of smarty-pants drollery out of them.
Rating: Summary: Great light hearted comedy Review: One of the better Sci-Fi/Comedy movies to come out in the last few years. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones make a great team as the Men In Black, but Jones steals much of the show. His dry humor is great.
I'm being picky, but I spent half the movie trying to figure out how the giant cockroach fit into the "Edgar suit". It was a great concept, but I had a hard time suspending disbelief on that one.
A classic that will be around for a long time. Should be part of every Sci-Fan's collection.
Rating: Summary: Science Fiction Send Up Review: Just who are the infamous "Men in Black?" For certain paranoid individuals the "Men in Black" are members of a government agency that appear to cover up incidents involving aliens or possibly the paranormal. Barry Sonnenfeld takes the theory of a super-secret government agency to an effectively satirical extreme, generating a lot of laughs in the process.
This movie opens with Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent D (Richard Hamilton) interrupting a group of INS agents from their interception of a van load of illegal aliens. For those who have never seen the movie the opening is confusing at first, because Agent K finds a particular individual in the group of illegal aliens and pulls him aside, and then allows the remaining aliens to go free. We soon discover that the illegal "alien" that Agents K and D have pulled aside is more than a little different from your average illegal alien, as the alien suddenly sprouts teeth and appears to be ready to chow down on an INS agent.
Will Smith is New York City cop James Edwards. He encounters an extremely agile alien that he keeps pace with for a lengthy time, impressing Agent K. Agent K asks Edwards to come to a certain location the next day. Edwards's attempts to take a series of tests that make very little sense to him. Indeed, Edwards quickly learns that no one taking the test understands why they are taking it. While it seems to us that Edwards is doing poorly on the tests, he is selected to be one of the "Men in Black," and Agent K's new partner. Edwards is unable to believe that aliens exist, but he is quickly disavowed of that misconception as he meets a number of them in the Men in Black headquarters.
While we are introduced to Edwards and the Men in Black, an alien has landed and taken on the visage of Edgar, played by Vincent D'Onofrio. The alien has come to Earth to obtain a jewel that is being sought by another alien race. If the other alien race does not get the jewel back, they will destroy the Earth. Agent K and Edwards, who has now been renamed Agent J, try to locate Edgar and the jewel and save the Earth.
While my description of this movie makes it sound as though it is a cheesy B science fiction movie, this movie is actually a nicely plotted comedy that manages to make fun of the "Men in Black" conspiracy theory and science fiction movies and their aliens. Things we know can not be possible are shown matter-of-factly and generally always humorously.
Take for example the car Agents K and J use to travel about town. It appears to be a non-descript government car; in other words, boring. However, the government car has a few little features that make is quite different from the typical government vehicle. Agent K asks Agent J to fasten his seatbelt. After a few comments about low-performing government cars, Agent J finds himself on the ceiling of the car while the car travels upside down through a tunnel.
The casting of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in their roles was excellent. Tommy Lee Jones has an excellent deadpan delivery that allows Will Smith to twist into continuously humorous one-liners from beginning to end. When Tommy Lee Jones is the butt of Smith's jokes the expression on his face or the serious way in which he responds to Smith provides a number of laughs. Tommy Lee Jones also gets his moments. For example, Jones goes after a gun that the alien has swallowed. Later Jones says, with a straight face, that he really liked that gun, explaining why he asked a huge toothed bug-like alien to eat him.
The science fiction story is a framework for a series of jokes, both verbal and situational, that are the heart of this movie. Because the Men in Black portion of the movie is played straight the humor is wonderfully effective. This government agency is very serious about what it does, but Will Smith sees the humor in their taking everything too seriously. Of course, we see the same humor that Will Smith sees in a bunch of stuff shirt government types taking themselves too seriously, and that makes this movie a comedic winner.
|