did you ever wonder if dennis rodman was actually from this planet ?
or if sylvester stallone was some kind of weird extra - terrestrial ?
i used to think that about my 7th grade english teacher , ms . carey .
but after seeing this movie , they may have confirmed my suspicions .
as the story goes , at any time , there are over a thousand aliens living among us here on earth .
the men in black ( mib ) are the watchdogs that oversee the cosmic citizens , guardians of our beloved planet from nasty - tempered aliens , and secret service to the stars .
based in new york city ( where weird is the norm ) , the mib organization gives human form to our space - faring emigrants so that they may walk and live among us unnoticed .
but to enforce the laws of earth , the mib carry weapons that are powerful enough to meet or exceed destruction quotas in one single blast .
they carry other - worldly technology to erase people 's short - term memory when common folk see the mib in action .
and their best leads on cosmic things - gone - awry are the supermarket tabloids .
little do we know that there are much stronger battles of good v .
evil going on in the depths of space .
one of the aliens - as - human on this planet is an important diplomat that is carrying something very precious .
it holds the ' key ' , literally , to universal peace .
a giant cockroach - like alien soon arrives on the planet and steals this ' key ' .
in the wrong alien hands ( flippers ?
mandibles ?
tentacles ? ) , it can be used as a weapon .
therefore , it must be recovered and returned to it 's rightful owners .
otherwise , to ensure universal safety , earth will be destroyed , along with the ' key ' .
now , it 's the mib who must prevent this catastrophe .
the mib agents on the case are " k " , played by tommy lee jones .
he is crustier than burnt toast and even more serious than al gore .
the stars in the sky no longer spark wonder in his eyes .
he is accompanied by a flippant rookie , " j " , played by will smith .
but , despite this shoot - em - up , protect - earth - from - destruction premise , this is nothing at all like a typical summer action movie .
and , this is n't an independence day knockoff .
rather , this is a stylishly offbeat sci - fi comedy that pokes fun at what the government always denies ?
that there are real aliens that live here , and that the government does its darndest to cover them up .
but to give it some sense of excitement and to keep it within the parameters of the summer movie recipe , there must be some kind of earth - hangs - in - the - balance scenario .
yet , this movie is very appealing .
the abundance of wierdness ( talking aliens , pee - wee atomizers , a mortician who ' lives ' for her work , and lots of yucky bugs and slime - splattering galore ) , is played straight , like as if this were normal ( of course , we are in nyc ) .
it gives it a deadpan feel , which makes it all the more funnier and odder .
jones plays the venerable seen - it - all agent with seriousness and maturity .
smith is likeable and makes a great comic partner to jones ' straight man routine .
they click like dorothy 's ruby red shoes .
the look and feel of the movie is made even better with direction from barry sonnenfeld ( the addam 's family ) .
this guy has a knack for ' gothic ' comedy , and successfully transfers his macabre sense of humor onto the screen .
and , an appropriate dose of special effects helps to bolster the oddness of their task without diverting attention from the human actors .
the story moves well
, and before you know it , the end credits are already rolling !
the result is 100 minutes worth of fun in the form of ewwwws and blechhhs , aaaahhhs and wows .
let the men in black protect and color your world .
likeable and makes a great comic partner made even better successfully moves well a stylishly offbeat sci - fi comedy very appealing 100 minutes worth of fun