Great Sci-Fi Film!!!

Rating: 9/10 (1 August 2013)

Men in Black (MIB) (Columbia Pictures, 1997) is a sci-fi-thriller set in the 1980s. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, it stars well-known actors such as Tommy Lee Jones who plays K, Will Smith as J, and Linda Florentino as Laura. K recruits J to join a top secret government program that monitors and controls aliens living on earth. As alien monitors, they also work to keep peace among the alien nations who send representatives to earth to keep them safe knowing that the U.S. government is monitoring all alien activity. However, things go wrong when an alien bug lands in upstate New York without authorization, and begins a killing spree as it seeks a galaxy hidden on "Orion's Belt".
The film is a combination of conspiracy theory and alien sci-fi as K and J work in the government's top secret division, monitoring aliens and setting back the memory of civilians who encounter the aliens. The alien creatures, their human interaction, intergalactic travel, and ability to destroy plants with their battleships, is reminiscent of Star Wars. Throughout MIB, the camera angles use various techniques, from objective to subjective, with significant use of camera panning to set the stage for many of the scenes. The use of panning allows the viewer to gain familiarity with the setting before the action begins on the scene, such as in the morgue when the camera pans the sheet covered body of the tall alien before K and J come in to take care of the bodies and wipe the short term memory of coroner. Camera tilting is used to imply urgency or build suspense such as the "give the kid a weapon" scene. The motif of men in black is maintained as all members of the secret government program wear black after they are recruited into the program. The black is like a status symbol playing on years of Hollywood stereo casing of secret government agents, which makes it a humorous parody of conspiracy theories, mind altering technology, and laser weapons. Overall the film is was quite enjoyable for its pure entertainment factors, with just enough suspense to hold an audience's attention. Conspiracy theorists should love this film for its almost believability as aliens disguise themselves and live as ordinary citizens with a controlling government running secret programs to hide what ordinary people suspect, but have never been able to prove the existence of like sasquatch. Now I think I'm going to watch MIB II to see if the sequel is a good as the first!