Review of Men In Black (Limited Edition)

Introduction

Aliens are here, and they have Social Security numbers. Luckily, these pesky intergalactic critters are kept under wraps by the MIB, a bunch of besuited Cold War throwbacks with a penchant for glib sarcasm. Among them, humorless, straight-laced Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), aging boss-man Zed (Rip Torn) and the newest recruit, Jay (Will Smith) a wise-cracking, streetwise NYC Cop who stumbles on one of many xenophobe ruminations in the Big Apple, the aliens home away from home.

Video

Nice but techy. Saturated in visual effects, MIB starts to look as if its been animated, a feeling accentuated by Sonnenfeld’s typically hyper-real visual style. That said the mastered print is certainly clean as a whistle. Anamorphic too. Or, if you prefer, you can watch it in colorful fullscreen mode, if you don’t happen to be in possession of a widescreen TV.

Audio

Good, but not great. MIB doesn’t quite come alive sonically the way so many have before it. Still the Dolby 5.1 is crisp and defined.

Features

As with most DVDs overflowing with added value, there’s an awful lot of repetition here (although considerably less than the T2: Ultimate Edition). This is predictable, given there’s a ceiling on how much one can say about a single movie, or should that be, how much filmmakers are willing to reveal. There are two audio commentaries, director Barry Sonnenfeld, evidently something of a tech-head, revels in them both, although the rest of the cast and crew on the commentaries seem either less knowledgeable or less enthusiastic. And the plethora of sound designers, SFX specialists and make-up artists are all in competition for most boring human being of the year. I suggest a bit more sun, and more glucose in the diet. Making use of multi-angle capability better than any other R2 release, MIB contains character and scene deconstruction, going through a series of complex effects through evolving stages of their production. Its interesting, if a little arbitrary, although its worth it for the sight of a CG teddy-bear acting as a stand in for the ‘Bug’ in the final action scene. There are a series of storyboard comparisons and a fairly decent documentary entitled: ‘Metamorphosis of Men in Black’ which focuses on the original comic books translation to film and the movie’s complex visual trickery. Depressingly we get Will Smith’s ‘Men in Black’ music promo, but thankfully its easily ignored. A collection of theatrical trailers including an amusingly tacky ‘teaser’ for MIB:2. There’s a huge art gallery featuring over 1000 images (try and get through that!) A gimmicky, but pretty frivolous ‘Scene Editing Workshop’ where you can re-edit three very small scenes from the movie according to your own design, its diverting and quirky in its fidgety, rudimentary ‘deconstruction’ but one can’t help but think all this space could have been better used elsewhere. There are the usual production notes and cast/crew biogs. The Extended and Alternate scenes are dire in the extreme, considering Sonnenfeld is a renowned hack-maestro, this is an especially feeble collection, one wonders why they bothered. So, boiling over with ‘stuff’ but surprisingly lacking in insight.

Conclusion

Given the almost complete lack of plot continuity and a light-weight glibness that practically floats, this should be an unmitigated disaster. Surprisingly, its not, in fact, its almost a success. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, perfectly cast, spark up an engaging if derivative funnyman/straightman dynamic. Sonnenfeld’s quippy, rapid-fire style is well-suited, even if there are occasionally sluggish passages and a narrative that, ironically, takes too long to get rolling.

However, like Sonnenfeld’s earlier blockbusters, like ‘Addams Family Values’ it’s the cast that sells it. Jones flawless, teflon performance is the perfect contrast to Smith’s loudmouth ethnic quippery. Even the supporting cast (Vincent D’Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub etc) shine out from amongst the multi-million dollar spectacle. Unfortunately though, the film somehow still leaves an unsatisfying aftertaste. Perhaps because the inflated visual energy and the light-hearted punning is not buoyed by any sense of narrative urgency or character dimension. Perhaps its because Linda Fiorentino’s Medical Examiner is so peripheral, you wonder why they bothered. Perhaps its because the attempts at emotional dimension fall so painfully on deaf ears. Most likely however, its probably because ‘Men In Black’ is the cinematic equivalent of a balloon: tight as a drum, but its mostly just hot air.