If only mainstream sci-fi films could learn

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2012)

I could have reviewed this film after Men In Black 3 came out, but whatever.
I was seven when I first saw this. I remembered the heavy promotion and the music video of Will Smith's resurgence into hip hop. I remembered two things: This film is kinda weird and I want a pair of Ray Bans.
Weird in a good way. It's not a conventional sci-fi film. I would go on to say that it's a dark comedy. Everything about sci-fi films is portrayed in such a different tone. It has an unusual blend of wonder, eeriness, and comedy, which you could tell right off the bat with the opening music.
I found the idea refreshing. We've all heard of the mythical men in black, supposedly shadowy figures that silence UFO witnesses. Here they portrayed much more light heartedly, as people doing a job. The exposition in this film is actually subtle. The humour derives itself on the fact that most characters are so deadpan and that they're very used to dealing with extra terrestrials. Instead of a film where we're trying to understand how to defeat the antagonist, we're looking at a film where it's just all in a day's work.
Another source of great humour is the dynamic between Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. The grizzled emotionless veteran and the young idealistic new recruit. Agent J shows us the human perspective while throwing in that genuine Fresh Prince comedy.
What baffled me is how lowered the scope is of this film. The climax involved the destruction of the earth by an alien battleship and they bleakly made it clear that it doesn't matter.
"There's always an alien battle cruiser, a Korillean death ray or an intergalactic plague about to wipe out life on this miserable little planet and the only way these people get on with their happy lives is that they do not know about it!". Basically put, we don't matter, we are insignificant in the bigger picture.
I remember that parts of this film freaked me out, especially scenes with the Edgar bug. But that has to be the best silver screen villain ever.
I loved it and it will be one of my favourite sci-fi films ever.