Marvel Mondays #19 - Men In Black (1997)

Confession - unlike the 18 films we've reviewed so far in this blog, Men In Black (based on a comic by Marvel imprint Malibu) was a film I actually DID see at the cinema when it was first out. Based on a comic from Marvel imprint Malibu, this film is almost unique in terms of the blog so far in that it was a) a seriously big money effort and b) actually a success at the box office (probably only the first Conan film can halfway lay a claim to those accolades out of the 18 films we've reviewed here previously). Anyway, I first saw this film as an 18-year-old way way way back in 1997 and enjoyed it but I have to admit to having not seen it pretty much since then. So, the $64,000 question - how has it held up over the last 20 years? And yes, saying that really does make me feel old...

Truth is, it's held up pretty well. If you're familiar with the more recent Marvel films then this is probably the first one that really bears any kind of resemblance to the modern day ones with snappy dialogue, a decent plot, some cool special FX and generally being an enjoyable watch.

Unlike the B-movies we've reviewed so far, I'm not gonna go too far into plot spoilers as I'm guessing that either a) you've seen it already and b) hopefully if not, you might check it out based on this review and I don't wanna give stuff away. The basic plot though is that the film follows the titular MIB, a government organisation monitoring extra-terrestrials on Earth. The film starts with two of them, K (Tommy Lee Jones) and D (all of them have one letter names y'see) interrupting a Mexican lorry trying to cross the Rio Grande with some immigrants on board. Deducing that one of them is actually an alien, they take him away from the border patrol guards to take him into custody. However, one of the guards, sensing something isn't right, follows them over the hill and nearly gets eaten by the alien. D tries to fire his gun but is too hesitant leaving K to turn the alien into goo. An MIB team arrives shortly afterwards and use a neuraliser (a sort of stick-shaped camera device) to wipe the guards' short term memories while they clean up the site. Afterwards, D and K have a chat and D decides that he's too old to do this job anymore. At his request, K neuralises him and heading back to New York to look for a new partner.

Among those at the trials is an NYPD officer James Edwards (Will Smith) who's been on the MIB's radar after apprehending a super-fast alien a couple of days before. He manages to pass the tests ahead of reps from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines and becomes K's new partner J.

Meanwhile, out in the sticks, a vicious alien bug crashes on a farm, killing the redneck who owns it (Vincent D'Onofrio who would later turn up as Wilson Fisk in the Daredevil TV series) and using his skin as a disguise. He heads to the city and kills a couple of aliens disguised as humans in an Italian restaurant - it turns out that these were Rosenberg, an Arquillian prince, and his chief servant. The bug is searching for a galaxy which J, K and the coroner Laurel (Linda Fiorentino) find out from his dying words is on Orion's belt. But can they get to it (and prevent the Arquillians from destroying the Earth) before the giant cockroach does?...

Along the way we get rocket cars riding upside down in tunnels, aliens disguised as pugs, miniature guns which fire with the power of a bazooka and a fun old joyride of a film which still holds up well today. Smith, Jones and Fiorentino all put in good performances while D'Onofrio is suitably menacing (not to mention disgusting) as the slowly decomposing farmer/bug.

I won't go into too many more details with the plot as I think this is a movie well worth tracking down and watching for yourself if you haven't already and suffice to say it pretty much cruises it straight to the top of this list. It's also a significant moment here - the first time Marvel gave the green light to a big budget film that wasn't just a decent movie but also a box office smash as well (it cost $90 million to make but grossed over six times that) and it was a portent of what was to come - slowly the B-movies and straight-to-TV adaptations we've become used to would fizzle out and Marvel movies would become the big blockbuster events we all know and love today. There's still a few bumps to negotiate on this particular road before we hit the MCU films but suffice to say we're on our way now.

Needless to say, following the success of the MIB, there were two sequels made and we'll cover them in good time on this blog. Next week though, we're back for one last trip into Marvel B-movie waters with the first appearance of the Agents of SHIELD on this blog. But suffice to say, it's not exactly the same as the TV series...

FINAL RATING: 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽 (8/10)

CURRENT MARVEL FILM TABLE

1. Men In Black (1997) (8/10)
2. The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) (6/10)
3. Conan The Barbarian (1982) (6/10)
4. Conan The Destroyer (1984) (6/10)
5. The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk (1989) (6/10)
6. Doctor Mordrid (1992) (5/10)
7. The Punisher (1989) (5/10)
8. Doctor Strange (1978) (5/10)
9. The Fantastic Four (1994) (4/10)
10. Red Sonja (1985) (4/10)
11. Captain America 2: Death Too Soon (1979) (4/10)
12. Spiderman (1977) (4/10)
13. The Death Of The Incredible Hulk (1990) (3/10)
14. Spiderman: The Dragon's Challenge (1979) (3/10)
15. Howard The Duck (1986) (2/10)
16. Captain America (1990) (2/10)
17. Captain America (1979) (2/10)
18. Generation X (1996) (2/10)
19. Spiderman Strikes Back (1978) (2/10)

NEXT WEEK: Before there was Samuel L Jackson there was...The Hoff!