At last, someone remembered how to make a good sci-fi movie! In a year of otherwise ho-hum fare, Men in Black has earned not only some critical respect, but will also win this year's contest as number one box office draw, edging out The Lost World. And the movie deserves both, for with its clever, funny script and dead-on acting by Smith and Jones, Men in Black gets it all just about right, succeeding at mixing the sci-fi and comedy genres where recent experiments like Mars Attacks! crashed and burned. Also noteworthy is Linda Fiorentino, who had practically vanished from the map in recent years, almost unbilled in a great supporting role. While the plotline about chasing an interstellar bug around New York is a little spare (clocking in at around 90 minutes) and devoid of much depth, it's so damn funny that you'll almost forget about all of that... another trick that recent offerings haven't pulled off either. So, is the success of Men In Black a fluke, the beginning of a franchise that will roll over and die like Batman's did? Who knows, and either way it goes, the original is a film that deserves to be seen.

Men In Black