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One night, while busting a truck-load of illegal Mexican immigrants, US state troopers are overruled in their arrest by two mysterious government agents who swiftly identify a disguised extraterrestrial named "Mikey" among the foreign party. Startled, Mikey attacks and is shot dead by agent K, whose ageing partner D realises that he has finally grown too slow for his job. Using a high-tech memory eraser, K blanks the troopers' memories of the encounter, and then erases his former partner's memory of his entire career.

In Upstate New York a flying saucer deposits an alien who removes and dons the skin of wife-baiting hick named Edgar. In New York, athletic cop James Edwards pursues an agile fugitive whose space-age weapon dematerialises. Racing to the top of a tall building, the fugitive (an alien) predicts the end of the world before throwing himself to the ground below. At Police headquarters, Edwards' report provokes derision from all except morgue technician Laurel, but K's unexpected arrival wipes all their memories except Edwards'. K enlists Edwards' help to identify the alleged weapon from a barrage of toys being sold by local extraterrestrial store owner Jeebs and then wipes Edwards' memory. Impressed by the new recruit, K has Edwards recruited by the MiB, a top-secret agency policing alien activity on earth. Edwards becomes K's new partner, and is given the name J. When two friendly aliens attempt to leave New York in a hurry, K's fears are aroused.

Following a story in a tabloid newspaper, K and J interview Edgar's wife, erase her memory, and begin to track the alien in Edgar's skin back to Manhattan, where he has committed a murder in a restaurant. During Laurel's post-mortem examination of Edgar's prey, K and J discover a tiny alien, whom K recognises as a high-ranking extraterrestrial. The tiny alien tells them to search for a galaxy on "Orion's belt" before expiring. Meanwhile, an interstellar force threatens to destroy the earth if the aforementioned galaxy is not returned safely. Understanding that scale is relative, K and J trace the galaxy (which Edgar is also after) to a pendant hanging from the collar of the tiny extraterrestrial's pet cat, Orion. As their various paths converge, K, J and Laurel race against the clock to retrieve the galaxy and prevent the earth's destruction. A lengthy chase climaxes in a bout of close physical combat with Edgar's now bug-like form. In the course of the battle, K allows himself to be swallowed whole by the bug-alien to retrieve his gun, an experience which convinces him that he, too, has grown tired of working for the MiB. Having destroyed the bug and retrieved the galaxy, K asks J to wipe his entire career memory. Some time later, J and newly recruited MiB agent Laurel spy a tabloid paper headline telling of K's emergence from a lengthy coma, and subsequent reunion with his childhood sweetheart.

Far and away the most consistently impressive of this year's summer blockbusters, Men in Black is a hugely enjoyable romp which demonstrates that spectacular special effects and whiz-bang visuals need not preclude witty, intelligent screenwriting or engaging characterisation. Having served as a director of photography on such visually arresting projects as the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple and Raising Arizona before directing the two effects-heavy Addams Family features, Barry Sonnenfeld is clearly relaxed and confident enough to be able to orchestrate the on-screen pyrotechnics efficiently, without letting them dominate or overshadow the drama. It's a tribute to his even-handed direction that the Bill and Ted films' screenwriter Ed Solomon's script retains such prominence, lashing together elements of sci-fi comic-book satire and 60s spy-television chic with enthusiasm and ease. Incorporating the same brand of hip, dry humour that made Get Shorty such a jazzy treat. Men in Black nods its head towards such disposable cultural landmarks as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in a manner which is both mockingly modern and winningly cool.

To this end, the picture benefits too from tapping into an unlikely chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, both of whom riff merrily on Solomon's abrasively affectionate odd-couple dialogue with cocky charm. Smith in particular continues to impress as a rising star whose experience in the areas of television and music video have expanded, rather than diluted, his ample screen talents. While Independence Day established him as a quirky ensemble player who could hold his own amidst lavish special effects, Men in Black sees him blossoming into a fully fledged leading man, blessed with genuine star quality, oodles of charm, and a smart sense of comic timing which perfectly complements his obvious physical assets. Jones, meanwhile, has one of the few faces whose granite-like features can allow him to deliver lines like "Put up your hands, and all of your flippers" without cracking so much as a smirk, but which still retains enough mobile sensitivity to suggest genuine pathos when remembering his lost childhood love. He can also downshift into redneck parody when the moment demands, as in one wonderful scene in which he ploughs his turbo-charged jet-car through a tunnel-bound traffic jam with Elvis' chugalug version of Chuck Berry's ‘Promised Land' blaring from the car stereo. "Elvis didn't die," he later assures his new partner, "he just went home." In anybody else's mouth, it would be a cheap and corny Kit Kat-advertisement gag, but delivered in Tommy Lee's seen-it-all drawl, the claim takes on such a bizarre sincerity that it achieves a seriousness which is profoundly comic.

Only the imposing Linda Fiorentino gets somewhat lost in the heady mix - we could well have tolerated more of her spikily incisive and spike-heeled mortician, and indeed Men in Black's final coda suggests that the probable sequels may pursue this avenue. In a market-place increasingly dominated by empty spectacle, the promise of such a continuing franchise spicing up next summer's slate of blockbusters is enticing indeed.

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