Genre
Sci-Fi/Action/Comedy
Written By
Ed Solomon
Logline
When a New York cop is recruited to an agency that monitors alien activity on Earth, he and his new partner must race to save the world from an attack that would end life as we know it.
Why break it down?
Ever go several years without seeing an old friend, only to reunite and feel like no time passed at all?
Welcome to my experience watching
'Men In Black,' a flick I must have seen three hundred times in the two years between its release and my tenth birthday. But after our families moved apart…you know, we went to different high schools, I made new friends (like
'Barbershop' and the first
'X Files' movie), and somehow,
'Men In Black' and I sort of lost touch. Which is why seeing it again after all these years has been so great; it's been at least a decade, but nothing has changed! This movie still sits firmly atop my list of blockbusters that do it right, and aside from being a pristine example of three-act structure, it can teach us a number of things about the
RE-WRITE PROCESS, which, as anyone will tell you, is paramount to the success of a screenplay.
'MEN IN BLACK' IS AN EXAMPLE OF A THREE-ACT ACTION SCRIPT (much like
'The Mummy'), which can help us understand how three-act structure works across a range of other genres.
IT CAN ALSO TEACH US ABOUT PLANTS AND PAYOFFS - i.e., "motifs" that are established early in a story to be called back later on - which are usually incorporated during re-writes of a script. This is because often times, it can be difficult for a writer to know where to plant a motif until she knows exactly how (and where) to pay it off, which is why many writers will compose their film, find the
Payoffs they want to include toward the end, then
go back and
Plant them in a second, or 30th, draft.
In the synopsis that follows, these Plants and Payoffs will be marked in
orange. For an extra challenge, try predicting where in the script you think a Plant will be called back; you just might be surprised by how often you get it right. Other than that, pretty much every Plot Point shows up exactly where it should, so read up, keep an eye out for the beats, and we'll look at the film's structure after the jump. (Click the
[+] button for a summary of each scene.)
ACT I
00:00 - 09:45 (9.75 pages) [+]EXT. DESERT ROAD - NIGHT
We follow a dragonfly as it buzzes along a highway under the moonlight. Up ahead, the lights of an oncoming truck get bigger and bigger, until…
…
SPLAT! The dragonfly's guts are sprayed across the windshield. The driver, a rapist-mustache type of guy, is unnaturally pissed. In the back of his truck, twenty or so ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS watch quietly.
The truck comes to a stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint. The driver is nervous. CAPTAIN KIRK - a Border Patrol agent - orders the immigrants out of the car. They line up on the side of the road. But the whole operation is interrupted when AGENT K (Tommy Lee Jones) and his partner, AGENT D, show up:
Agent K picks one immigrant out of the group - a tall guy named MIKEY - and sends the rest of the immigrants on their way. The Agents take Mikey into the desert where nobody can see them, and order him to take off his "costume."
It appears, Mikey, that you are an alien.
Suddenly, Captain Kirk (the Border Patrol guy) strolls over the hill and sees Mikey in the distance. But before he can say a word…Mikey is roaring like a lion and running straight toward him! Agent D fumbles with his laser gun (because he's old and senile); at the very last second, Agent K shoots Mikey in the back, spraying his alien guts all over the place.
The rest of the Border Patrol agents show up and see the alien guts. Naturally, they're confused. Agent Kay asks them to look at a little handheld machine - a memory device called a "Neuralyzer" - and erases their memories by flashing it in their faces. He then proceeds to make up a fake story about the alien guts, which they believe because they can't remember anything.
Crisis averted, Agent K sits down with Agent D and they
talk about life:
FLASH-BANG OPEN
09:45 - 12:45 (3.00 pages) [+]EXT. NEW YORK STREETS - DAY
JAMES EDWARDS (Will Smith), a New York cop, chases a bad guy through the streets. The bad guy jumps over bridges, climbs up walls, all kinds of crazy stuff…but James keeps right up with him because he's a badass. Cornered, the bad guy pulls out a
strange laser gun, but James knocks it away.
The chase continues, but things take a turn for the weird when the bad guy full on spider-climbs up the side of the Guggenheim Museum. James runs to the roof and catches him. With nowhere to go, the bad guy tells James that Earth is in trouble, revealing himself to be an alien:
"Your world is going to end..."
The bad guy then jumps off the roof, killing himself. James stares down at him, shocked.
12:45 - 16:15 (3.50 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. FARM - NIGHT
A space ship falls from the sky, crashing into a pickup truck outside a secluded farmhouse. The farmer, EDGAR (Vincent D'Onofrio) walks outside to see what happened, and is immediately killed by an alien. It rips off his skin and wears it, disguising itself.
Edgar (now an alien) returns to the house, asking his wife for sugar water. She tells him he looks different, so he pulls his skin tight over his face and she immediately faints from shock. Edgar goes outside and pulls his space ship out of the ground…
| ⇡⇣ OPENING EXPOSITION
16:15 - 18:15 (2.00 pages) [+]INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
In his debrief, James tells his co-workers about the bad guy (09:45 - 12:45) being an alien, but they don't believe him. As he sits there trying to make sense of everything, DR. HOTLADY (Linda Fiorentino) - steps into the room:
Dr. Hotlady leaves, but runs into Agent K outside. He neuralyzes her (aka, flashes her with the memory eraser thing) and strolls into the interrogation room to talk with James.
18:15 - 21:30 (3.25 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. PAWN SHOP - NIGHT
James and Agent K drive to a pawn shop.
They walk into the pawn shop and talk to the owner, JEEVES. They ask him if he knows anything about stolen guns, but he pretends to know nothing…until Agent K straight up shoots him in the face. James is freaked out, but things get even weirder when Jeeves' head
grows back; he presses a button underneath the counter, and a wall of alien guns is revealed.
James recognizes the
bad guy's gun (09:45 - 12:45); turns out, Jeeves is the one that sold it to him. Agent K takes James outside and neuralyzes him (aka, flashes him with the memory eraser thing).
21:30 - 22:15 (0.75 pages) [+]INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
James wakes up in a restaurant, where he and Agent K have apparently been sitting for the last half hour. He has no idea who Agent K is:
Agent K gets up to leave, handing James a business card:
"MiB: 504 Battery Drive"
| INCITING INCIDENT
22:15 - 23:30 (1.25 pages) [+]INT. / EXT. FARM - DAY
A pest control guy shows up at Edgar's farm, where he finds hundreds of cockroaches crawling around. Edgar (who's now an alien, remember) stops the guy and kills the shit out of him. He wheels his space ship into the pest control truck...
23:30 - 31:15 (7.75 pages) [+]The following short scenes in THE MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS are part of one larger scene, which is why they're grouped together.
INT. TESTING ROOM
James shows up at the address from the business card Agent K gave him (21:30 - 22:15). He gets in the elevator, and finds himself at a TESTING ROOM, where a group of military recruits are waiting for him. AGENT ZED (Rip Torn) tells them why they're all here:
The testing begins. It's a funny scene, where everyone struggles to get comfortable in their seats and write on their tests. James finally gives up, noisily dragging a table over to his seat and writing on it. Everyone stares at him like he's an idiot. CUT TO:
INT. SHOOTING RANGE
A new test. Everyone shoots at a bunch of cardboard cutouts of aliens. James, however, shoots a cutout of a little girl. Zed asks him what the hell he was thinking, and he explains himself (it's funny).
Zed trudges over to Agent K, who's been watching the whole time:
INT. HALLWAY
Zed takes the other recruits into a room to neuralyze them (aka, flash them with the memory eraser thing), but Agent K keeps James behind. He explains to James that the Men In Black are a group of people who provide a safe place for extraterrestrial beings to seek refuge on Earth. James thinks he's crazy. But then, Agent K shows him these guys --
-- and James realizes it's not a joke.
31:15 - 33:15 (2.00 pages) [+]EXT. MANHATTAN - DAY / NIGHT
James and Agent K sit on a park bench, talking about the Men In Black. Agent K offers him the job, and gives him until sunrise to make his decision. Montage, as James sits on the bench all night contemplating.
|
PLOT POINT #1
ACT II
33:15 - 33:30 (0.25 pages) [+]EXT. MANHATTAN - THE NEXT DAY
15-Second Insert: Edgar (the alien bug) drives his pest control truck (which - remember - has a space ship inside it) toward the city.
33:30 - 37:15 (3.75 pages) [+]INT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - DAY
James shows up at the Men In Black headquarters, where he meets up with Agent K. They walk into the heart of the building, which is essentially a giant airport for aliens. Agent K shows him around, explaining how Men In Black works. James immediately starts touching things and accidentally messes some shit up.
Zed (23:30 - 31:15) interrupts, telling James it's time to get ready:
37:15 - 38:30 (1.25 pages) [+]INT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - MOMENTS LATER
James' social security number is deleted…his birth certificate wiped away…his name expunged from the record…
He finds his locker…puts on his Men In Black suit…and finally, is given his brand new code name:
NOTE: From here on out, we'll refer to James as "Agent J."
38:30 - 39:30 (1.00 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. JEWELRY STORE - DAY
Edgar (the alien bug) drives up to a jewelry store, where he watches an OLD MAN pick up his CAT and walk away.
39:30 - 40:15 (0.75 pages) [+]INT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - DAY
Agent J (formerly James) and Agent K receive orders from Zed:
40:15 - 41:00 (0.75 pages) [+]EXT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS / INT. CAR - DAY
Agent J and Agent K get into the Men In Black car. J is skeptical at first, but K hits the gas and shows him how fast the car really is. He warns J to never press the little red button on the stick shift, but doesn't explain why.
41:00 - 43:15 (2.25 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
Edgar watches from afar as the
OLD MAN and his CAT (38:30 - 39:30) walk into a restaurant. The Old Man sits down with a friend and they speak to each other in alien tongue:
The waiter brings them their food, but it's not their real waiter; it's Edgar (the alien bug), and he immediately kills them both. He steals the Old Man's package of diamonds (haha, what?!) and runs away.
| ⇡⇣ FUN AND GAMES
43:15 - 45:45 (2.50 pages) [+]EXT. DIRT ROAD - DAY
Outside the city, Agent K and Agent J pull over an alien (the one Zed sent them after in 39:30 - 40:15) and ask him why he's leaving Manhattan. Turns out, the guy's wife is pregnant; Agent K talks to him outside the car, while Agent J is left to deliver the baby himself.
The Agents get back into their car, where Agent K expresses a new concern:
45:45 - 46:00 (0.25 pages) [+]EXT. MANHATTAN - DAY
Agent K and Agent J check the
tabloids for suspicious activity, and find what they're looking for right away:
46:00 - 50:00 (4.00 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. FARM - DAY
Agent K and Agent J show up at Edgar's farm and talk to his WIFE, who explains what happened the night an alien stole her husband's skin. They neuralyze her, and go outside to take samples from the dirt.
50:00 - 57:45 (7.75 pages) [+]INT. MORGUE - DAWN
A cop wheels the Old Man (who Edgar killed in 41:00 - 43:15) into the morgue. With the Old Man is his
CAT, who is still alive. Dr. Hotlady (16:15 - 18:15) examines the body, and is shocked at what she finds…
Agent K and Agent J arrive, asking Dr. Hotlady if she's seen anything unusual. She explains that the bodies she received earlier don't have any internal organs…which leads her to believe the bodies are aliens. Awkward moment, as she and Agent J stare longingly into each other's eyes.
Dr. Hotlady and the Agents open up the Old Man's face, where they find a TINY ALIEN PRINCE inside. The little guy is dying, but before he does, he gives the Agents a clue:
Agent K neuralyzes Dr. Hotlady and the guys run off.
57:45 - 58:15 (0.50 pages) [+]INT. EDGAR'S TRUCK - NIGHT
Edgar opens up the package (which he stole from the Old Man after he killed him in 41:00 - 43:15). But to his dismay, the package is filled with diamonds. He freaks out:
58:15 - 61:45 (3.50 pages) [+]INT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - MORNING
Agent K and Agent J return to headquarters, where they struggle to figure out what the Tiny Alien meant by "The galaxy is on Orion's belt."
Meanwhile, Agent K uses the MIB satellites to look up his old girlfriend, who he's clearly still in love with. Agent J tries to talk to him about her, but they're interrupted when…
The satellites pick up an alien battleship just outside Earth's orbit. Panic sets in, as everyone realizes there's a dead alien prince (the Tiny Alien from 50:00 - 57:45) on their planet. Zed gives the boys their new orders:
| MIDPOINT REVERSAL
61:45 - 62:15 (0.50 pages) [+]INT. WEAPON ROOM - DAY
Agent K gives Agent J his weapon…the Noisy Cricket.
"K, I feel like I'm gonna break this thing!"
Midpoint
62:15 - 66:30 (4.25 pages) [+]EXT. / INT. JEWELRY STORE - DAY
Edgar breaks into the Old Man's jewelry store, frantically looking for something. What he finds is a picture of the Old Man's
CAT, which has an interesting ornament
(a marble) on its collar...
Edgar hurries back outside, where his car is being towed. He argues with the tow truck guy, but it's no use; his truck is being impounded whether he likes it or not.
Meanwhile, Agent K and Agent J walk into the jewelry store, looking around at Edgar's mess. Then, they hear a
gunshot; Edgar is right outside, and he just killed the tow truck driver! Agent J tries to chase him (funny scene, where he finds out the Noisy Cricket is actually a powerful gun), but Edgar just barely gets away.
Agent K calls Zed, who has translated a message from the alien battleship (58:15 - 61:45). It says…
Meanwhile, Edgar asks a random guy where the city morgue is (because now, he's trying to find the Old Man's cat). Agent K and Agent J walk back to the car, plotting their next move:
66:30 - 68:15 (1.75 pages) [+]EXT. STREET - MOMENTS LATER
Agent J and Agent K stop at a street vendor, where they meet up with FRANK - an alien disguised as a tiny dog. Frank gives them a bunch of useful exposition that helps them figure out Edgar's next move:
| ⇡⇣ ROLL DOWNHILL
68:15 - 75:00 (6.75 pages) [+]INT. / EXT. MORGUE - DAY
Dr. Hotlady pets the Old Man's cat. She looks at its nametag, realizing the cat's name is ORION (as in, "The galaxy is on Orion's belt"). She marvels at the little jewel hanging from its collar:
Suddenly, Edgar shows up looking for the cat. He kills famous comedian DAVID CROSS, who is a receptionist at the morgue, and starts to torture Dr. Hotlady into giving him Orion.
Moments later, Agent J and Agent K show up, not knowing Edgar is already inside. They find famous comedian David Cross dead, and pull out their guns…but it's too late; Edgar gets the galaxy (from the cat's collar) and runs off with Dr. Hotlady, who he is now officially taking hostage. The Agents chase after him.
Edgar steals a taxi cab and drives off with Dr. Hotlady. He eats the galaxy, protecting it.
75:00 - 76:30 (1.50 pages) [+]INT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - DAWN
The Agents return to base, where they decode the rest of the alien battleship's message. Basically, the Men In Black have one hour to give the galaxy back to the aliens, or they can kiss the planet goodbye. Everyone scrambles to come up with a solution, but Agent J sees a painting on the wall that gives him an idea:
"Maybe Edgar is going to use those space ships to escape..."
| PLOT POINT #2
ACT III
76:30 - 77:00 (0.50 pages) [+]EXT. FLUSHING MEADOW PARK - NIGHT
Edgar pulls up to his space ship, which is at the top of a giant decorative tower in the middle of New York. He drags Dr. Hotlady out of the car:
77:00 - 78:30 (1.50 pages) [+]EXT. NEW YORK STREETS / INT. CAR - NIGHT
The Agents speed through the city, rushing to catch Edgar before he can get to his ship. Agent K tells Agent J to press the little red button (40:15 - 41:00) and the car turns into an anti-gravity mobile, sticking to the roof of a tunnel. Funny scene, as they drive upside-down over the New York traffic.
78:30 - 87:30 (9.00 pages) [+]EXT. FLUSHING MEADOW PARK - NIGHT
Edgar climbs up the ladder to his space ship, tossing Dr. Hotlady into a tree. Agent K and Agent J show up, but they're too late; the ship takes off, flying over Shea Stadium and off into space. The Agents pull out their huge guns, and take one final shot at the ship -- causing it to explode and crash back down to Earth. Edgar steps out, and takes off his skin…turning back into the crazy ALIEN MONSTER he really is.
The Alien Monster swallows the Agents' guns, which pisses Agent K off. He antagonizes the Alien Monster until it eats him whole, leaving Agent J to battle the monster all alone. They fight, and just as the Alien Monster is about to kill Agent J…
Agent K finds his gun inside its stomach, and blows it in half! The Agents retrieve the galaxy (which the monster had swallowed earlier) and Dr. Hotlady comes down from the tree; the day is saved.
| CLIMAX
87:30 - 89:30 (2.00 pages) [+]EXT. MEN IN BLACK HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
Agent J and Agent K stand outside their headquarters and
talk about life (00:00 - 09:45):
89:30 - 91:00 (1.50 pages) [+]EXT. MANHATTAN - DAY
Agent J and his new partner (Dr. Hotlady!) pick up tabloids. They crack a few jokes, hop in the car, and drive off.
We ZOOM OUT, leaving planet Earth, passing by the sun and the stars, until the entire galaxy is revealed to be a tiny marble (62:15 - 66:30) in the hands of an extraterrestrial being…
CUT TO BLACK.
|
⇡ RESOLUTION
Analysis
There are a number of reasons why
'Men In Black' is a great movie to look at, chief among them being that it touches on pretty much everything we've talked about in past breakdowns (
exciting exposition,
purposeful action,
a logically progressive Second Act,
etc). But what
'Men In Black' brings to the table that many other movies don't is
Plants and Payoffs, which (as mentioned before) are usually a result of good
re-writing; they don't often show up in first drafts, because it's easier to know how they'll fit into the story
after it's already been written (
read more!).
But above all,
'Men In Black' is just a damn fine example of three-act structure, so without further ado, let's take a look at where the important plot points show up, and briefly talk about why they are where they are:
Flash-Bang Open [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 00:00 - 09:45
The movie kicks off with a comedy/action scene that accomplishes a number of things. As the Flash-Bang Open, it
captures our attention in the following ways:
• Funny stuff happens: Agent K treats Captain Kirk like a bitch and talks to Mikey (the alien) like a little kid.
• Scary/Actiony stuff happens: Mikey (the alien) attacks Captain Kirk, causing Agent K to shoot Mikey in the back.
But remember, the Flash-Bang Open is also part of the Opening Exposition, meaning it has to give us
expository information as well:
• Introduction to the Men In Black (they're secret, they deal with aliens)
• Introduction to Agent K (he's a grizzled veteran)
• Introduction to The Neuralyzer (it erases people's memories)
And finally, this scene gives us our first
Plant to be paid off later:
• The Talk About Life: This is Part 1 of a bookend, during which Agent D decides it's time to finally retire. He looks up at the stars, feeling nostalgic, and then asks Agent K to neuralyze him (aka "set him free" from his job with the Men In Black). This will be paid off at the very end of the film (in the Resolution), when Agent K does the exact same thing and gets neuralyzed by Agent J.
Opening Exposition [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 00:00 - 21:30
The Opening Exposition in
'Men In Black' is longer than usual, partly due to the length of the Flash-Bang Open (which clocks in at almost ten minutes). This section has two jobs:
Introduce us to the characters/their relationships with each other, and
drive us toward the Inciting Incident (which, in this case, will happen on Page 21). So first, we have…
4 Scenes: Introductions to
CHARACTERS and their
RELATIONSHIPS • Agent K: He works for M.I.B, he's looking for a replacement (James).
• James: He's a cop, he's a badass.
• Edgar: He's an alien, he's evil.
• Dr. Hotlady: She works at the morgue, she believes James' story about aliens.
Notice how these introductions happen one-by-one in this exact order; we get a single scene per character, and each one is EXCITING (i.e, not filled with
talking/sitting around, but instead made up of ACTION and SCARY STUFF that gets the same information across).
Then, we get one scene that
LEADS US TOWARD THE INCITING INCIDENT:
• Agent K (looking for a replacement) finds James and takes him to the pawn shop, where they learn about the guy James chased two scenes back.
And finally, this section gives us a short
Plant/Payoff that keeps the story moving:
• The Bad Guy's Laser Gun: James sees this object in his introductory scene, and it's paid off shortly thereafter; When Agent K contacts James for the first time, the gun is what he's contacting him about. The two then go to the pawn shop to find the gun, which leads us to the Inciting Incident (where Agent K gives James his business card).
Inciting Incident [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 21:30 - 22:15
The Inciting Incident in
'Men In Black' happens when Agent K gives James his business card (officially "recruiting" him to be an agent).
At this point, every piece of expository information has been set up; we know who the characters are, we know who the villain is, and we know Agent K wants to recruit someone to the M.I.B. So now, Agent K will do something that gives James (our hero) a direction:
SCRIPPET 10
"Meet me here tomorrow morning."
To further clarify, here's a shortened outline of Act I:
• Opening Exposition: The characters are introduced.
• Inciting Incident: James gets recruited (the business card).
• Prepare For Adventure: James takes a few tests.
• Plot Point #1: James decides to join the Men In Black.
Prepare For Adventure [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 22:15 - 31:15
Agent K has recruited James (the Inciting Incident), and in about ten pages, James will accept the invitation (Plot Point #1). But what happens in the space in between? It's the Prepare For Adventure section, during which James is "tested" to see if he's badass enough for the job at M.I.B.
Basically, the idea behind these scenes is JUSTIFICATION; i.e, showing how different James is from the other recruits, and giving us a reason why he should be the one to get the job.
Plot Point #1 [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 31:15 - 33:15
Plot Point #1 in
'Men In Black' happens when James decides to accept the job at M.I.B.
Remember in
'The Matrix', when Neo takes the red pill? Same idea here; Agent K offers James the job at M.I.B, but Act I can't officially come to an end until James decides to take it. Time lapse, as he sits on a park bench contemplating the nature of his existence…and then,
voilà! He shows up for work the next day ready to roll.
Fun and Games [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 33:15 - 58:15
This is notoriously the most difficult section of a story to write. Luckily, the Fun and Games in
'Men In Black' is broken up into
four easy-to-organize pieces:
≈ 5 pgs: "Becoming Agent J." [+]James has his identity erased, gets his new uniform, and emerges a new man -- "Agent J."
≈ 4 pgs: "Edgar Causes Trouble." [+]Edgar finds the Old Man and kills him, trying to steal the galaxy. Orion (the cat) gets away.
≈ 8 pgs: "Following the Clues" [+]Agent J and Agent K follow a series of clues that lead them toward finding Edgar. Really, these clues are made up of three simple beats:
• Zed tells the guys to find the expectant father.
• The guys talk to the expectant father.
• The guys talk to Edgar's wife.
This section also presents us with two
Plants that will be paid off later:
• The Little Red Button: Agent K tells Agent J never to touch it, but doesn't explain why. This will be paid off during the Roll Downhill, when the guys have to drive extra fast during rush hour.
• The Tabloids: Agent K buys tabloid magazines to find clues. This will be paid off in the Resolution, when Agent J buys some for himself and fondly remembers Agent K.
≈ 8 pgs: "Discovering the Goal" [+]Agent J and Agent K go to the city morgue, where they meet the Tiny Alien and learn what their new goal is: Find the "galaxy," whatever that is (they'll figure it out shortly).
Midpoint Reversal [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 58:15 - 61:45
The Midpoint Reversal in 'Men In Black' happens when the alien battleship arrives at planet Earth.
At this point, the "funny stuff" is over and everything will start going wrong. Edgar will find the galaxy and kidnap the girl (while Agent J and Agent K chase after him, always one step behind), and the alien battleship will start counting down the minutes until it annihilates Earth.
Roll Downhill [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 62:15 - 75:00
This section consists of a few quick beats, during which everything goes wrong and the bad guy (Edgar) starts winning.
• The Agents almost catch Edgar at the jewelry store, but he gets away.
• Edgar steals the galaxy and kidnaps Dr. Hotlady.
• The alien battleship gives Earth 60 minutes to return the galaxy before they blow the planet up.
Plot Point #2 [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 75:00 - 76:30
The second Plot Point in
'Men In Black' happens when the Agents decide to stop Edgar from getting to his space ship. Again, remember how in
'The Matrix,' Neo decides to run back in and save Morpheus at the last second? Same idea here; Bad guy has the advantage, all hope is lost, and the good guys have
one last chance to fight/kill him and save the world.
Climax [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 78:30 - 87:30
Agent J and Agent K fight against Edgar, killing him and getting back the galaxy.
Resolution [+]WHERE IT HAPPENS: 89:30 - 91:00
Agent J and Agent K return to headquarters, where Agent K asks to be neuralyzed and "set free" from his job at M.I.B. Cut to a few months later: Agent J and Dr. Hotlady are the new Men In Black. End of movie!
Payoffs in this section:
• The Talk About Life: Agent K decides it's time to retire, and asks Agent J to neuralyze him (just like Agent D did in the very first scene).
• The Tabloids: Agent J buys a few tabloid magazines, and sees Agent K on one of the covers.
• The Marble: Earlier in the film, it's revealed that the "galaxy" everyone is chasing after is actually inside a marble (which is hanging around Orion's neck). At the end of the story, the camera pulls back to reveal that our own galaxy is the exact same thing; a marble, with millions of stars and planets bundled inside.
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