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Men in Black

Men in Black

Action · Adventure · Comedy · 1997

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

Movie details

Men in Black

“Protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe.”

1997 Action · Adventure · Comedy 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.3 / 10

673.3K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

91 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

72 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Men in Black?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Guardians of the Galaxy

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Men in Black: International

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The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by

Ed Solomon

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones

Kay

Will Smith

Will Smith

Jay

Linda Fiorentino

Linda Fiorentino

Laurel

Vincent D'Onofrio

Vincent D'Onofrio

Edgar

Rip Torn

Rip Torn

Zed

Tony Shalhoub

Tony Shalhoub

Jeebs

Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Beatrice

Court is in session

Put Men in Black on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.