Men in Black came out at the time when audiences especially needed it. Most people seem to forget that there was a distinct dark period of movies that existed between the 90s and the early 2000s, where summer movies were very bad and very dated due to how obsessed they were with new technology, mainly CG. From literal disaster movies like Twister and Independence Day, to failed comic book experiments like Batman & Robin and most Marvel movies, to any kid-related material. This is why when Men in Black came out during the summer of 1997, people were blown away from seeing an actual good movie during this period. In the universe of the film, It turns out that the world is home to various alien species that are being kept secret by the Men in Black, an organization responsible for keeping the reality of life on other planets from the public to avoid panic. Veteran agent Kay (played by Tommy Lee Jones) finds that he needs a new set of hands to help him out and he finds that in off-the-walls cop, Jay (played by Will Smith). Effectively having his mind blown when he’s introduced to the Men in Black (an secretive organization specifically designed to deal with exterritorial threats and keep them secret to the public), the two are immediately send on a mission to track down a hostile bug alien (voiced by Vincent D’Onofrio) that is looking for a belt that contains a galaxy within it. Discovering that the abduction of this galaxy could result in the destruction of earth from another alien race, the two agents have to find the bug before it dooms Earth. People quickly fell in love with this movie; giving them a sense of creative fun and visual strangeness that wasn’t overblown and felt more focused on making an entertaining movie than on its effects. What’s so strange about how obsessed people got with this film is that the movie on its own, is largely just good, nothing ground-breaking. It has good acting, effects, and writing, but has a story so paper-thin and one that lacks any sense of depth or even emotion.

This dramatic outcry of love for the movie more than likely is because it was release during a time when summer movies were just always expected to suck, and this felt like a nice pleasant surprise as it managed to be both effective as well as creative (another quality of summer films that had sorely been lacking for a while). Even though it has a few noticeable issue, they aren’t problems that dramatically ruin what the movie is trying to accomplish. Its all concept and charm as oppose to logic and story-driven; the plot is pretty basic and never has any sense of development, scale, weight, or even anything resembling an arc. Characters don’t develop in meaningful ways, the motivations for practically everybody is either never explained or thrown at the audience in a pretty underwhelming way, and it doesn’t really feel like much is accomplished by the end of the movie. Despite how this would normally be a huge issue with any other movie, this movie doesn’t feel tethered down by its plot, but rather feels like it embraces its world and its concept. The idea is a lot of fun, something that would fit really easily into a sci-fi satire , something akin to Looney Tunes. The original idea came from the comic series, The Men in Black, written by Lowell Cunningham in 1990. It’s comfortable in its absurdity which allows the audience to not focus on the finer details and just become lost within itself. While cliches like earning a new partner, the budding relationship between two opposites, hunting down an illusive enemy, a wildcard not fitting in with authority, etc, are usually pretty distracting, since the movie doesn’t care about having a real story, it never even develops these cliches to the point where they can be annoying. The length could prove to be an issue for some because the lack of care put into the plot could result in people losing focus really quickly, but because the actors are so charming and the writing is delightfully goofy, it keeps the audiences attention throughout that time.

The characters are also barely developed in any meaningful way. This isn’t to say that they don’t exhibit character traits; this style of movie and world allows every character to be a little bit odd and distinct which helps this movie out wonderfully. The main leads are both fast-talkers, but one is more street and wild, while the other is sophisticated and cold, it’s a nice blend of the trope and that level of almost child-like energy feels like its part of every character in this movie. It is noticeable how limited the characters’ backstories are; Will Smith doesn’t even have one outside of his job, and Tommy Lee Jones is only slightly brushed upon so that he can have a fitting conclusion. While the two work off each other, it never feels like either is changing by the end of the movie, to the point where the conclusion almost feels out-of-nowhere because of how little has been set-up. It’s the correct direction for this kind of movie, but it doesn’t feel like it really earned it, rather just did it so it could have some form of a bookend. The acting is a lot of fun and works with the writing to give some generally likeable characters. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are both very good and work off each other very well, the villain is appropriately over-the-top and while lacking any real motivation, is still home to some funny scenes, and most of the extra or side characters all have that extra level of strangeness that makes them a lot more interesting to watch despite how little time they get on screen.

The writing is the right level of cartoonish while also having a slight element of quick wit and even tongue-and-cheek so that it never feels like its talking down to the audience or that it’s too simplistic for older audiences to get into. It’s a movie that definitely feels more tailored towards older kids and teenagers, as it does have a fair share of goofy but graphic death scenes. It does have some legitimately funny moments that aren’t even written to be that clever or unique, but it has enough set-up within its world and good actors saying the lines that it usually works out pretty good. The effects for the movie are also a pretty nice mix of practical and computer generated, with the sets done by Bo Welch having a nice sense of space and weirdness without being designed that crazily, and the computer effects on a majority of the alien creatures aren’t too bad to look at either for the time. It is beneficial that since it’s a comedy, it doesn’t need overly realistic CG, which means the aliens can have a hint of uncanny valley without it being distracting. The movie isn’t hampered with many elements that would date the movie as much as others from its time, outside of a few choice cinematography moments and even involving Will Smith who is in himself a dated time bubble of an actor, so it allows the movie to still be watchable at any time without feeling too old.

Men in Black is an overall good movie that features a fun concept, good actors, fun writing, and effective effects which results in an overall entertaining flick. It does still mean that the movie isn’t anywhere near as amazing as people have laid it out to be in their heads. When people finally get around to seeing this movie for the first time after hearing all the buzz about it, they will get an enjoyable but shallow movie; one that will leave them with some nice laughs, but one where they’ll forget the names of the lead characters pretty quickly after watching it. Its nothing outstanding, but in a time period where the norm was abysmal, good had to be held on a higher pedestal. Check it out for yourself and see if this is a movie that you desperately want to avoid having wiped from your memory.