History Film / MenInBlack

* EnemyRisingBehind: [[spoiler:After K blasted his way out of the Bug, he and J sit back to reflect on the moment while the upper half of the Bug crawls behind them to attack, only to be blasted at the last second by L.]]

* EmpathicEnvironment - It begins to rain at the end of Men in Black II, [[spoiler:as the Light of Zartha begins crying as her ship leaves. It ''always'' rained when she cried.]]

** Don't mention how Kay's wife left him because he spends most of his time stargazing and wondering if there's more going on out there.

* BerserkButton: Don't pull on Jeffrey's flower head, or else he will go into an [[UnstoppableRage immense rampage]] across the city and the subway system.

* AmnesiaMissedASpot: When J meets Dr. Weaver in the Morgue, they vaguely notice that they may have met before, but dismiss it as Deja Vu. In the beginning of the movie, they had met, but K had wiped both of their memories.

* AlmostDeadGuy - [[spoiler:The Arquillian Prince jeweler]], who survives long enough to give a cryptic clue to the protagonists.

* AlmostDeadGuy - [[spoiler:The Arquillian Prince jeweler]] in the first film, who survives long enough to give a cryptic clue to the protagonists.

* AlmostDeadGuy - [[spoiler:The Prince in the first film, who survives long enough to give a cryptic clue to the protagonists.]]

* DroolHello: Indirectly. After K enters the morgue to find out what's happened to J, he tries to light a cigarette but the match is put out by a drip of slime. He looks up, and now we know what happened to the registrar...

* BrickJoke: Jay learns that some aliens living in New York work as cab drivers. A while later, Laurel mentions [[spoiler:before her mind is wiped for the second time]] that she more or less knew that aliens were real and was gonna go on a rant about dealing with a cab driver before [[spoiler:being mind wiped]].

* BrokenMasquerade: K's introduction to aliens on Earth - and more-or-less how the ''MenInBlack'' got started.

* CrackingUp: The Bug does a neck crack after it crawls out of the pit wearing the Edgar suit..

* EverythingsCreepierWithCockroaches: There's a giant roach alien who devours a human and uses his skin as a disguise. He also leaves swarms of roaches wherever he goes, and loves sugar (preferably in water).

The film series is only moderately based on the original comics, mostly borrowing the concept and wardrobe of the agents. With a smart sense of humor, the deadpan delivery of Tommy Lee Jones as the [[SeenItAll seen-it-all]] Kay and the much lauded performance of Will Smith as Jay, the first Men In Black movie was one of the most popular films of 1997. A sequel was made in 2002. Some publicity was garnered on advertising posters from the fact that they are literally "Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones".

A second film came out in 2002, and although it was somewhat well-received, it was considered a "more of the same" {{sequelitis}}. '''''[[ThreeDMovie Men in Black III]]''''' (stylized '''''MIB[[superscript:3]]''''') is set to be released on May 25, 2012, with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith reprising their roles and the writer for ''TropicThunder'' and ''Idiocracy'' on writing duties. The film's plot revolves around TimeTravel to the [[TheSixties 1960s]].

* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: It's clearly implied that most aliens view Earth as a very unimportant planet. In fact, that's kind of why these aliens come here. It's described as an intergalactic Casablanca.
** It's sort of a deconstruction if you think about it, many aliens come here because Earth is an unimportant planet, but with so many alien species mingling every day (some of who are considered royalty on their homeworld) makes it one of the most important planets in the galaxy.

:: Subverted somewhat in that K neuralyzes Jay after he identified the gun, anyway.

-->'''K:''' You did ''not'' just see a room full of shiny weapons, you did ''not'' just see four alien nightcrawlers, and you ''will'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking love and cherish each other for the rest of your lives]].
-->'''J:''' And there's a chance that the rest of your lives is only the next few hours, so you'd best get with the loving and the cherishing. Oh, and she ''(points to the daughter)'' can stay up as late as she wants and eat candy and cookies and shit.

** Also, when kidnapping Laura, she threatens that if Bug-Edgar does anything to her (after claiming that she's Earth's ruler or even a goddess), Earth will declare war on his species in an attempt to get him to let her go. Unfortunately, this gave Bug-Edgar a lot more incentive to kidnap her than before ("War? Good. That means more food for my family. All 78 million of them. That's a lot of mouths to feed, Highness.")

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: ElvisPresley, Dennis Rodman, Al Roker, SylvesterStallone, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Jay's third grade teacher]].

* AliensStealCattle - For a movie about aliens and UFOs, it's notably averted. When the Bug arrives at the farmhouse where Edgar lives, a cow is seen grazing near the truck, but then the cow leaves the truck shortly before the Bug's spacecraft totals it while landing, and Bug-Edgar doesn't express any interest in the cattle on the farm.

* ThisIsSPARTA!:
** From the first movie, when Jay catches up to the perp he's chasing:
-->'''Jay:''' N! Y! P! D! Means I will [=kNock!=] Yo! Punk-ass! Down!
** "WE GOT A ''BUG''! IN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM!"

* DarkIsNotEvil: They are [[MIB Men In]] ''[[MIB Black]]'' after all, but also Earth's "best, last, and only defense against the scum of the universe". Lampshaded in Will Smith's music video.