Men in Black 1997
I remember seeing this movie the first time and being very impressed with it. I think I only saw pieces of the two sequels so I wound up buying the trilogy on Blu-ray and watched the original over again. It really holds up well and while 1997 was still early for creature CGI, it still looks pretty decent. There are also some very good practical makeup and effects. And the whole movie is a great combination of action, adventure, and comedy, with a strong sci-fi flavor. In some ways it is a prototype Marvel movie since they use a very similar formula. Will Smith does a great job as a cocky rookie and Tommy Lee Jones is perfect in his deadpan role as a senior agent. Even the supporting roles are good, including Vincent D'Nofrio’s bug infested Edgar, but also Rip Torn, a number of aliens, and Linda Fiorentino as the suspicious coroner. Popular when it came out and now replayed on TV quite a bit, a lot of the scenes and lines are now iconic, which means they might lose their impact as happened for me with Ghostbusters, but for whatever reason, it is still just as fun.
Written: 21 Oct 2018
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital