Men in Black Movies

In celebration of this summer's new blockbuster Men in Black 3, let's look at the very successful action-sci-fi-comedy franchise. For those of you who have been braindead for the past 15 years, he series stars former rapper-turned actor Will Smith, and Academy-Award-winning Tommy Lee Jones. This series coincides with Superhero Summer because, little known to many people, Men in Black was actually a comic book. Starting out as an independent comic book, created by Lowell Cunningham, and published by Aircel Comcis, which was bought out by Malibu comics, which was then ought out by Marvel (which explains why the opening credits list it as a Marvel comic book, and why it's not connected with any other Marvel films). The comic book was a lot darker than the movies, much like the Ninja Turtles comic was to the cartoon, as the agents kill witnesses instead of wiping their memory, and the main antagonist, Ecks, was a rogue MIB agent who left after discovering that the agency wants to dictate the entire world. There were several changes made for the film, like how Agent Jay is white in the comics, and is black in the movies, and the MIB don't kill people or dictate the world.
Men in Black:
Following the success of dumb-fun blockbuster Independence Day, Will Smith had a string of good and bad blockbuster movies. This was one of them, and proved a massive success, proving more iconic and successful than the actual comic book, so much so, people forget that the comic even existed, and its pointless to even mention the comics, as the film really only relates to the comics in that it follows the MIB and has the same character names. It even got a spin-off animated show, which was mediocre at best. The plot follows New York detective Jay, who witnesses an alien event, and is recruited by Agent K to join the Men in Black, a secret organization that protects Earth from alien threats, and helps friendly aliens blend into the environment, as humans aren't ready to meet extraterrestrials. K shows him the ropes, all while trying to stop an evil and disgusting alien from destroying Earth, one who proves to be both a nasty and terrifying villain. The cast is top-notch. The charm and coolness of Will Smith is unmatched, and he is perfect as an MIB rookie, and his comedic antics are hilarious, especially in training sequences. Tommy Lee Jones is a great mentor, appearing tough and stern, but revealing a more loving side to J. Linda Fiorentino is great as Dr. Lauren Weaver, who is charmed by Smith, and confused and terrified by the alien events. Vincent D'Onofrio is horrifying as Edgar, a farmer who is skinned, and then worn as a disguise by an alien cockroach. The creature effects on Edgar are great, and the alien bug is disgusting, and brutal, killing tons of aliens and people to reach his evil goals. He is one of the scariest sci-fi baddie sever, and is one of the few threatening villain in a comedy movies. Rip Torn as Zed is good, but not super-memorable. The alien effects are amazing, and hold up today, all the alien races and species are imaginative and original. The action scenes are few, but awesome, especially the ending with the giant super-guns and the final form of the Edgar bug. This movie is a fun blockbuster, that doesn't take itself to seriously. Check it out! 4/5 stars.

Men in Black II:
Now, I saw this film before I saw the first one, and I liked this one better as a kid. But, really, it doesn't live up to the hype. The plot follows J as an experienced agent of the MIB, upset that K is retired, and annoyed by his new partners. K must be brought back into action when an old threat attacks New York. Will Smith is as cool as ever. Tommy Lee Jones is always great as K, my problem is in the supporting cast. Really, a Victoria's Secret model as the villain, who is not threatening in the least. Johnny Knoxville, who barely is in the movie? A bland love interest, Tony Shaloub in a pointless cameo, this is just stupid. The villains don't live up to the horrifying Edgar bug at all. The action is not as good as the first film, and even these scenes have needless product placement. The effects are as great, with even more interesting aliens. The ending shock is a total rip-off of the first one. This one doesn't even have a cool music video like the first one did. Even Wild Wild West, another shitty Will Smith blockbuster, had an awesome music video and song to go with it. This is nowhere near as funny, witty, awesome, fun, or entertaining as the first film. 2/5 stars.

Well, hopefully this new MIB film lives up to the hype, after all, they've spent years on this thing, and they got the original actors back, so this must be god. Right?...