Twenty years ago, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones took an obscure comic book and made the biggest movie of the summer(has it really been that long?). That wasn't supposed to happen, with Spielberg's dinosaurs and Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy as our other multiplex options. It shouldn't have been a surprise, though. "Independence Day" ruled the previous year, and audiences' appetite for alien ass-kicking clearly hadn't been satiated. A 28 year old Will Smith was poised to pounce on our disposable incomes like Muhammad Ali in his prime(no wonder he wound up playing the champ) for the second year in a row, and the stage was set for a franchise that couldn't fail. But did it? Sure, the belated sequels made money, but both felt more like a studio obligation than an organic extension of the interplanetary conflict that we all got caught up in on July 4th, 1997. I can't shake the feeling that the MIB brand could have and should have been so much more. Join me as I celebrate the anniversary of Agents J and K and recap their black-suited cinematic adventures.
"Men in Black"(1997)
The MIB had an extremely short shelf life on comic book stands in 1990-91, making it easy to forget where it all started. But Hollywood was just beginning it's love affair with graphic novels, and the potential of this killer premise was immediately recognized. Director Barry Sonnenfeld was deemed the perfect fit for the material based on the tricky combination of darkness and light that he brought to two "Addams Family" films. Would Clint Eastwood and Chris O'Donnell have made a suitable tag team, as studio execs initially proposed? The movie gods made it so we never got to find out. Will Smith's cocky charm and Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan delivery provided that magical chemistry that just can't be concocted in the Columbia boardroom. The sight of this mismatched pair in Ray-Bans and Reservoir Dog suits just registered right from the get-go.
A clever cross between "Ghostbusters" and "The X-Files", this top-secret government agency that policies extraterrestrial activity on Earth proved too much for a mass audience to resist, and Smith's radio-friendly theme song really sealed the deal for anybody that still wasn't convinced. We didn't need a neuralyzer after watching the dynamic duo pictured above, foil the plot of Vincent D'Onofrio's alien fugitive. We liked what we saw, and wanted more. An animated series ran for four seasons while Sonnenfeld and company figured out a way to deliver on the endless possibilities hinted at in the finale. Linda Fiorentino was conspicuously absent from follow-up plans. She didn't miss much.
"Men in Black II"(2002)
The public had to wait five long years to see J and K back in action. I know Big Willie is a busy man and "Ali" was quite the undertaking, but a lot changed during that time, not least of which was 9/11(the Twin Towers reportedly had to be written out of the climax at the last minute). There's something to be said for striking while the iron is hot, and fantasy lovers were now preoccupied with "Stars Wars" prequels, "Spider-Man" and "The Lord of the Rings". There just didn't seem to be as much enthusiasm this time around. Unfortunately, we can't talk about the Smith-Sonnenfeld tandem without talking about "Wild Wild West". Why these two didn't move ahead with "MIBII" before the new millennium instead of pouring their energy and resources into one of the worst films of 1999, I'll never know.
Now onto the movie itself. It was a mistake to sideline Tommy Lee Jones for the first half, and a bigger one to hire C-listers like Lara Flynn Boyle and Johnny Knoxville for a pale retread of the first film's villainy. The FX(always a salvation in movies like this) are nothing special, and an 88 minute running time indicates a clear lack of interest and inspiration on the part of everyone involved. When a talking dog and a Michael Jackson cameo steal the show, you've made a disappointing sequel. "II" finished up with a respectable $190 million at the domestic box office, but few were left clamoring for a third installment. That doesn't mean we wouldn't get one.
"Men in Black 3"(2012)
"MIB" became a trilogy for one reason and one reason only- because Will Smith decided that it should(he probably realized around 2009-2011 that "I Am Legend" and "Hancock" wouldn't become franchises). However, a ten-year gap wouldn't lead to a creative renaissance for Sonnenfeld, as evidenced by the cartoony jailbreak opening. Josh Brolin does a nice TLJ impression(the cranky 65 year old Oscar winner only appears for a total of fifteen minutes) and Emma Thompson replaces raging drunk Rip Torn as the team leader. Otherwise, it's business as usual. Danny Elfman's bouncy score makes the veteran composer the saga's unsung hero. A 1969-set time travel storyline only reminded me how much better "Back to the Future" was at this sort of thing.
"MIB3" survived a summer smack-down with the MCU("The Avengers" was by far 2012's highest grosser) to collect $179 million in the U.S.- an encouraging number considering how long J and K had been away. There's been some recent talk of a crossover with the "Jump Street" team of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. I think I speak for the entire world when I say "no thank you". Mr. Smith isn't likely to return if such a scenario does come to fruition. Here's hoping that any reboot attempts(perhaps an inevitability) are constructed carefully. Fighting aliens was fun once. I believe it will be again. Maybe that's just me being overly optimistic, because there's a billion cable channels and I know I'll end up seeing it despite my kneejerk objections. Resistance is futile. The entertainment industry may be more powerful than any government agency. They don't even have to erase your memory. They know you're bored. They know you're curious, now sing it with me- "HERE COME THE MEN IN BLACK..."
Updated June 2019
"Men in Black: International"(2019)
Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson tanked in the latest iteration of the once-lucrative property, providing undeniable evidence that nostalgia needs to be reined in every now and then. There's no need for a neuralyzer just yet, because nobody saw the London-set adventures of the newest MIB recruits, despite their Marvel credentials indicating(to studio suits, at least) that this would be a "Jurassic World"-size relaunch. Will Smith and Barry Sonnenfeld must be smiling right now. Director F. Gary Gray("Straight Outta Compton", "The Fate of the Furious") failed to justify this film's existence or it's $110 million price tag, with action scenes and alien encounters predictably playing out with little comic energy or imagination. What was fresh and funny in 1997, is tired and lazy twenty-two summers later(spoiler alert- Liam Neeson is no hero!).
An anemic $79 million domestic box office total places "International" far below the other "MIB" sequels that no one liked. An appealing cast has been castrated, as "Toy Story 4" makes us forget all about Men in Black 4. Spielberg will have to live without his profit percentage on this one. Hemsworth will have to pay the bills with one franchise instead of two. Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters just got a bit harder to pull off. Hollywood will try again one day. They always do. For now, R.I.P. MIB.
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