Men in Black: The Series

I remember buying a video of MIB: The Series back in the late 90's when i was a teenager & i loved it. The video only had a bunch of episodes on it (about 6 I think) but i watched the hell outta it because i was already a mega Men In Black fan. I loved the MIB movie & saw it at the cinema in 1997 & it blew me away & i was already a mega Will Smith fan, i still am & consider him to be my all-time favorite actor & rapper!!!, & I've always loved Tommy Lee Jones & add in amazing Alien Creatures & i was hooked!!! MIB is still one of my all-time top 10 fave movies (i also love part 2 & enjoy part 3) & MIB's main monstrous villain EDGAR the bug is one of my favourite movie villains ever!!!

MIB was a big part of my life in the 90's & i still love it all.

Anyway, i loved all things Men In Black, action figures, the movie soundtrack & books & then i discovered the underrated yet excellent animated version.

First off i have to say how beautiful the Animation is, its made by the same incredible artists who did another one of my favourite animated series ever: EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS!!! They also did the fun Godzilla series too & i think maybe the groundbreaking 90's Batman the animated series, i think so as the art is so similar. Anyway MIB the animated series is full of fun with it's witty humour like the movie & silly playful banter between Agents Kay & Jay & other families faces like Zed & Frank & a whole cast of new awesome creatures to battle against or save.

The series isn't as dark as some of their other work such as Extreme Ghostbusters or Batman, but it still feels slightly darker & edgier than the movie did. Maybe it's the look of the characters, the animation & the creatures but it felt edgier with a hint of darkness at play.

The colourful cast of Aliens look Awesome & the stories are done very well & the episodes are alot of fun & Jay & Kay are very well portrayed in cartoon form, different enough to be there own versions of the hero Agents in their own universe as it doesn't really follow on from the movie.

The voice cast is great & i just really enjoyed it. The colours & look of the show was beautiful.

The 90's gave us some of the greatest Cartoons of all-time in my opinion with greats such as: Extreme Ghostbusters, Batman, MIB, Biker Mice From Mars, Gargoyles, Tales From The Crypt Keeper, Swat Kats, The Mask, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes, Street Sharks, The New Adventures Of Johnny Quest, Pirates Of Dark Water, The X-Men, Spiderman, Skeleton Warriors, Swamp Thing & many, many more forgotten or underrated gems.

Awesome music/theme tune at the beginning & the end of the show.

If you liked Extreme Ghostbusters or Batman series from the 90's then you will love MIB.

This show had a great tone, great voice work, and pretty good writing. If it had been willing or able to take itself more seriously a là Batman: The Animated Series, it could have been a top-tier show. Instead it seems every episode had a mandated appearance by Jeebes, Frank, or The Worms. To me, they were never funny, and the show would have been better without them. Also, I never liked the second Kay as much as the first. If they could bring it back today with the same voice cast and make it more serious, I'd watch the hell out of it.

I love the Men in Black franchise so so much! And I had such great expectations for this show. I'm not saying it's not a good show, I just expected a lot more!

No, it's not the sequel to the summer blockbuster, but it's still a great series. We have Kay and Jay together, defending the earth from dangerous aliens, along with Elle at the sidelines and in the labs, and Zed the boss overseeing the whole operation. The stories sometimes seem contrived, but they are entertaining because they reveal some element of our world that makes perfect sense but is incredible. The best part of the series is the interaction between Kay and Jay. Kay has that deadpan attitude, and Jay is the wild eyed wonder. My only gripe is Kay's voice, which doesn't sound anything like Tommy Lee Jones. However, a re-cast in the second season has solved the problem. The animation is very smooth, and the art style is very quirky. The look is very stylized. However, there isn't as much detail to faces. But the settings, like MIB headquarters and vehicles, mainly the Ford LTD with tons of gadgets, are all rendered well. By the way, this series apparently takes place after the movie (there is at least one flashback to it). If you're wondering how Kay rejoined the MIB, there's a comic book called Men In Black (Retribution-note: that word is not on the cover) that bridges the gap.

I remember watching this series back when it premiered in 1997 during Kids WB's infancy and I've watched it progressively become worse. The show began decently enough - re-establishing the partnership between Agent J and Agent K that made the movie so memorable. The voice actors, particularly Keith Diamond as Agent J deliver their lines admirably. The writing was and still is relatively top-notch, with a healthy dose of humor.

The rest of the series is extremely flawed. While the character designs are okay, the colors are extremely drab and lifeless, VERY characteristic of Sony animation. The soundtrack just drones on, particularly the monotone theme. Danny Elfman's movie score is WAY better. Heck, they even brought over an instrumental version of Will Smith's catchy but forgettable rap song that played during the closing credits. Why couldn't they use the original movie theme? But the soundtrack is the least of the series' problems.

While the series does right to bring back Agents J, K and Elle as well as Zed, some of other character additions are questionable. The Worms? They were mildly funny break room puppets in the arcade, but their squeaky voices and obsession with coffee in the series is definitely pushing it. It wouldn't be half as annoying if they didn't build ENTIRE EPISODES around them. Jeeves? Maybe, but if he keeps selling contraband to alien terrorists, why doesn't he get arrested? The head-shrinking thing was funny just once. Frank the Pug? Why?

The show fails to be fully faithful to the movie - it seems like the MIB shoot first and ask questions later in the animated series. As a result, the slick image of the MIB from the movie is totally lost. Sometimes it's a wonder that they blow so many things up and get into firefights and are never noticed.

The new characters are just plain bad. Agent Elle's partner Agent X is just terribly annoying. Elle was way better as a lab technician. And what's up with her personality shift? She's gone from the cool personality in the movie and up until season five to a crazy hothead. Even more annoying is the over-happy new alien lab technician. Someone should blast that moron with a noisy cricket.

Men in Black: the series may be decent enough for little kids, but for older viewers, it's certainly a far cry from Batman: The Animated Series. While is does try to add some coherent continuity and decent storylines, it's extremely disappointing for fans of the movie like me and cartoon enthusiasts.