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 isn'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 .
