johnlinkmovies

Liz and I cracked open a bottle of wine and decided to watch something that was pure fun. Neither of us had seen MEN IN BLACK in several years, and we were in the mood to laugh. Decision made.

I watched MEN IN BLACK (1997) on 1.10.12. It was probably my fifth or sixth viewing of the film, but first in several years.

I mean, some movies just aren’t that complex. Fun actors having a good time playing wacky characters. This is probably Tommy Lee Jones funniest role, and Vincent D’Onofrio is absolutely off the wall in the best way possible. I love that there was an entire LAW AND ORDER series which starred the little girl from WHAT ABOUT BOB and the nutjob alien from MEN IN BLACK.

Will Smith just sort of does his thing. His wardrobe is bizarre, even by late 90s standards, but perhaps that was to offset the clean cut black suit look. But he’s funny as hell in this, especially in the recruitment scenes.

I remember being swept away by the experience of this movie as a 15 year old. Seeing it now, much of the fun is in the nostalgia. There is no denying it is funny, but I may have been less amused if I didn’t see it for the first time until now. But that is why rankings these rankings, and movie appreciation in general, are so necessarily subjective. I can’t deny that watching this is to feel young again.

MEN IN BLACK III in 2012? Sure, I’ll see it even though the second effort was not stellar. I wonder if it will still hold the same sort of fun. But my expectations are very measured, so I certainly won’t be surprised or disappointed if it is mediocre.

SCORES

FILM: 4; MOVIE: 8; ACTING: 6; WRITING: 7

4+8+6+7+0=25

FINAL SCORE: 6.25

~ by johnlink00 on January 11, 2012.

Posted in ~ M ~, ~~~ 1997 ~~~
Tags: comedy, sci-fi