Editing Men in Black (1997 film) (section)

===Critical response===
On review aggregation website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''Men in Black'' holds an approval rating of 91% based on 93 reviews, and an average score of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, ''Men in Black'' is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit."<ref>{{cite web | title = Men in Black | website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]] | url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/men_in_black/ | access-date = June 4, 2023 | archive-date = January 17, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100117115929/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/men_in_black/ | url-status = live}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/men-in-black |title=Men in Black Reviews |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=2017-03-10 |archive-date=2017-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428043903/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/men-in-black |url-status=live}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/QmxhY2s= |title= Men in Black |work= [[CinemaScore]] |access-date= June 12, 2019 |archive-date= August 9, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190809140724/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/QmxhY2s= |url-status= live}}</ref>

[[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the film as "a smart, funny and hip adventure film in a summer of car wrecks and explosions".<ref>{{cite news|last=Siskel|first=Gene|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-07-04-9707040101-story.html|title='Men In' Black' A Clever Romp|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=July 4, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604015322/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-07-04-9707040101-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film three stars out of four, giving particular praise to the film's self-reflective humor and Rick Baker's alien creature designs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/men-in-black-1997|title=Men in Black Movie Review & Film Summary (1997)|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|date=July 1, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604015322/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/men-in-black-1997|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Janet Maslin]], reviewing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote the film "is actually a shade more deadpan and peculiar than such across-the-board marketing makes it sound. It's also extraordinarily ambitious, with all-star design and special-effects talent and a genuinely artful visual style. As with his ''Addams Family'' films and ''Get Shorty'', which were more overtly funny than the sneakily subtle ''Men in Black'', Mr. Sonnenfeld takes offbeat genre material and makes it boldly mainstream."<ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/01/movies/oh-aliens-business-as-usual.html|title=Oh, Aliens: Business As Usual|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 1, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604015322/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/01/movies/oh-aliens-business-as-usual.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Writing for ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', [[Todd McCarthy]] acknowledged the film was "witty and sometimes surreal sci-fi comedy" in which he praised the visual effects, Baker's creature designs and Elfman's musical score. However, he felt the film "doesn't manage to sustain this level of inventiveness, delight and surprise throughout the remaining two-thirds of the picture."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=McCarthy|first=Todd|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/men-in-black-1117432622/|title=Men in Black|magazine=Variety|date=June 29, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608040150/https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/men-in-black-1117432622/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Owen Gleiberman]] of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' graded the film a C+, writing "''Men in Black'' celebrates the triumph of attitude over everything else – plausibility, passion, any sense that what we're watching actually matters. The aliens, for all their slimy visual zest, aren't particularly scary or funny (they aren't allowed to become characters), and so the joke of watching Smith and Jones crack wise in their faces quickly wears thin."<ref>{{cite web|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|url=https://ew.com/article/1997/07/11/men-black-6/|title=Men in Black|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=July 11, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604015325/https://ew.com/article/1997/07/11/men-black-6/|url-status=live}}</ref>

John Hartl of ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', claimed the film "is moderately amusing, well-constructed and mercifully short, but it fails to deliver on the zaniness of its first half." While he was complimentary of the film's first half, he concluded "somewhere around the midpoint they run out of energy and invention. Even the aliens, once they stop their shape-shifting ways and settle down to appear as themselves, begin to look familiar".<ref>{{cite web|last=Hartl|first=John|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970701/2547298/men-in-black-sci-fi-zaniness-that-finally-crash-lands|title='Men in Black': Sci-Fi Zaniness That Finally Crash-Lands|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=July 1, 1997|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401173740/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970701&slug=2547298|url-status=live}}</ref>