Men in Black (Movie/Show Review #9)
I re-watched the four movies last month while I was sick in bed. The first one was a good dose of nostalgia. I was a kid when it came out and went with a couple of classmates to see it. Three of my classmates even dressed up in suites for the evening and made it an experience we never forgot. The movie catapulted Will Smith towards the highest stardom level — he was number one in the movie and music charts almost half a year in Germany and the US.
The movie was something bigger than the average blockbuster release. Hard to explain how it happened, but when I went to the movies, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I knew that it was a movie that offered something new even though, it wasn’t that new.
Under the hood, Men in Black is a typical buddy-cop-comedy in a sci-fi setting. However, the combination was novel, the effects were top notch, and it had Will Smith, who was the most likable guy in Hollywood in the late 90s.
The first movie had a couple of underwhelming elements: the main villain was weak and a bit too cartoonish for my taste and the flick was 10–20 minutes too short. Yet, Men in Black delivered as a cultural phenomenon on the big screen. It was action-packed, well directed, and most of all funny. It’s still a great movie to watch for kids and teenagers, today.
For some reason, they waited five years to release a sequel that cost more and delivered way less. Another ten years later, a third part was released that did it better than part two but couldn’t save the franchise which was getting too expensive for the studio to make a profit.
Men in Black is still a great franchise with lots of opportunities unexplored. Understandable, the studio went into a light reboot phase in 2019, leaving Will Smith and the original actors aside and moving on with a cheaper cast. The result was — as expected — a bust. Yet, there seems to be another installment of the MiB in the making.
I understand why they try again, as the premise is so good that it should still be able to find an audience. Unfortunately, the studio is hiring bad writers who rely on the premise alone selling the story. Even MiB part one from 1997 had a weaker story that only worked because the premise was so good and unique for its time. Part two already showed that the premise alone doesn’t make a good movie anymore. Part three was somewhat better, but still not fully convincing.
The reboot from 2019 relied almost solely on the world created in the three movies before it. A weak story, bad jokes, a mediocre directing job, and unconvincing lead actors resulted in a movie that nobody needed.
If you’ve never seen any of the movies, watch the first one for peak 90s movie blockbuster art and only watch part two and three if you enjoyed the first one. In general, don’t bother wasting time on the 2019 reboot. Only watch it if you’ve got nothing else on your watchlist.
You can read more about the movies here.