In the beginning, Men in black began as a fantastic sci-fi comedy film based on an obscure comic book that made Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones an iconic duo who had many big hits. Men in black quotes. Smith and Jones starred as two agents of the titular secret organization who helped keep the extraterrestrial population under control on Earth and helped protect the planet from outside threats. The duo appeared in three films, each expanding the lore and introducing more alien species into the films.
Today, the MIB The franchise spans four films, including one with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson (and a Universal Studios theme park ride), and with that comes something much better than a ton of merchandise: amazing quotes. Quotes are what make a movie go round and Men in black has many memorable quotes that fans quote daily. Of course, most of the quotes come from the first film, but the sequels and spinoff have spawned some delightful lines that have entertained generations of fans for years.
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“You are everything we’ve come to expect from years of government training.”
Agent Kay, Men in Black
In the first Men in black film, Jay had to go through some big tests to determine if he was fit for the role as a member of the Men in Black. When he entered the room to begin testing, he discovered that his competition was a group of the best of the best from the United States military units. These men were all serious and looked down on Jay all the time. He did everything he could to do the tests his way; while everyone else was fighting, they still acted superior to him. In the end, Jay was the only one accepted.
“Gentlemen, congratulations. You are everything we have come to expect from years of government training. Now, please follow along as we provide our final test: an eye exam…”
The full quote came when Agent Kay let all potential clients know that they were practically useless as they had years of government training but were unable to figure out how to do anything outside of the norm. Then it ended with the “eye exam” erasing all of his memories. It was a hilariously deadpan response from Kay, showing that he could insult every soldier in the room and do it in a way that none of them knew he was insulting them.
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“We are a rumor. Recognizable only as Déjà Vu. And dismissed just as quickly.”
Agent O, Men in Black International
When the franchise returned with Men in Black Internationalnew agents were introduced to continue the franchise. The main new agents were Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and Agent M (Tessa Thompson). The new top agent was Emma Thompson’s Agent O, who was the head of the MIB’s US branch outside of New York. When she was talking to Agent M, it was very similar to the original films with Agent Jay and Zed.
In this quote, Agent O pretty much said what most viewers already knew, and it was a great way to tell Molly what was going on with the organization. Since everyone who encounters the Men in Black is left with the experience erased, this explains the déjà vu described here and the fact that they quickly discard what they knew. It was a perfect way to not only introduce the new agent, but also allow new viewers unfamiliar with the franchise to understand the dynamics.
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“Bunch of monsters at this time of night with quantum physics books, she’s about to start some shit, Zed.”
Agent Jay, Men in Black
When Agent Jay was auditioning for the Men in Black, he was competing against better-trained and more competent military personnel. However, this organization did not want soldiers who only knew how to follow orders and didn’t think about what they were doing. Jay proved this when he forced a rearrangement of the room to make it easier for him to fill out his paperwork while the soldiers did their duty and fought hard. However, it actually showed that it was the most suitable for weapon range testing.
Here, the people who signed up had to prove that they could make the smartest decisions possible when deciding who to shoot and who not to shoot on the range. The other soldiers opened fire on the aliens they saw. Jay waited and ignored most of the aliens and then shot a girl in the head. When Zed asked why he shot the girl, Jay pointed out why she was the most suspicious of all the characters in the series and why she was the most dangerous. He was absolutely right and it got him the job.
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“We at the FBI don’t have a sense of humor that we know of.”
Agent Kay, Men in Black
In the first Men in black film, Jay and Kay were investigating a problem involving Edgar, a man who was killed and eaten by a giant alien insect. They went to a house and started asking a witness some questions. When the woman they approach asks if they are there to mock her like everyone else did, Agent Kay is blunt (and kind) when he explains that the FBI has no sense of humor. that they are aware of. It’s funny because he’s mocking the FBI, but it’s also true in this case.
Will Smith’s laid-back, cool, easy jokes help Jones’ dry humor playing the straight man shine.
This is also something that works well throughout the Men in black franchise, as Tommy Lee Jones plays Agent Kay with this dry sense of humor in all of his appearances. Will Smith’s laid-back, cool, easy jokes help Jones’ dry humor playing the straight man shine, but with a sly wink every step of the way. Jones is just as funny as Smith, and it’s little lines like this that prove he’s just as important to the film’s success and comedy as Smith.
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“And now you’re back from outer space, / I just walked in and found you here with that sad look on your face.”
Frank the Pug, Mein In Black II
In the first film, one of the most shocking moments is when Agent Jay sees a pug dog and doesn’t think much of it until he starts talking to it and realizes that the pug is an alien. It also turned out that Agent Kay had worked with Frank the Pug before, and Jay had to do the same in Men in Black II. In a funny twist, Jay sees what Kay was going through when he was being trained because here, Will Smith has to play the straight man to Frank’s annoying pranks.
“And now you’re back from outer space, / I just walked in and found you here with that sad look on your face, / I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key, / If I would have known for a second that you would come back to bother me. / Go ahead, now get out the door…”
In this scene it’s even funnier because Frank the Pug decides he’s going to start singing while riding in the car with Agent Jay. Like all dogs, he sticks his head out of the car window and then starts singing. The song follows the beat of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, but Frank changes all the lyrics to fit the film’s story with the aliens, and it ends up being one of the film’s most memorable moments. The fact that this angers Agent Jay makes it even better.
20
“Did you ever catch my eye?”
Agent Jay, Men in Black
THE Men in blackThe MIB neuralizer is an integral part of the franchise, an item that allows the MIB to continue operating in secret. It’s what erases memories and allows agents to provide cover stories to the people they encounter. After becoming an agent, Jay is handling a case with Kay and witnesses him using the neuralzer for the first time. After being shocked and somewhat disturbed by such a gadget, Jay begins to wonder if he ever had his memory erased..
In the first film, the audience knows that Jay had his memory erased once – shortly before he was recruited to become an agent. As the franchise continues, however, it becomes clear that Jay has had his memory affected in the past, long before the events of the first film as well. The phrase is used for comedic effect, but becomes prophetic.
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“My whole life, everyone called me crazy. They said I needed therapy. Which, okay, I admit, I did – but not because of that.”
Agent M, MIB: International
Before Molly’s civilian identity is completely erased Men in Black: Internationalshe will stop at nothing to find the agency and the proof that aliens exist. It’s also not that Molly wants to expose the secret agents to the world. She just wants to know if the events she witnessed as a child were real.. Molly doesn’t need any external validation, but she’s tired of being told by others that she’s crazy.
Even when she introduces herself to the agents and explains her story, she is not immediately welcomed into the Men In Black organization. She still needs to prove her worth. While Men in Black: International is often considered the worst Men in black film, it’s not bad at all and this approach to the character Molly is one of the most interesting aspects that the reboot should have explored more.
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“… You are above the system. Over it. Furthermore. We are ‘them’. We are ‘Them’. We are the men in black.”
Agent Zed, Men in Black
When Agent Jay is first brought into the Men in Black, he must learn exactly what the organization does. What he quickly hears in his time at the agency is that the Men in Black are the people behind many of the conspiracies and conspiracy theories out there. Although Agent Kay is Agent Jay’s partner, Agent Zed is their boss. He is in charge of the office and is responsible for actually introducing Jay to the ways of the MIB before he goes out into the field with Kay.
Zed’s memorable speech to Jay explaining who the Men in Black are it’s a great way to introduce the audience and Jay to this world. It’s appropriately enigmatic and vague, with the MIB taking pride in its anonymous existence in the world and how it allows it to establish a place beyond the rest of society.
You are a rumor, recognizable only as déjà vu and dismissed just as quickly. You don’t exist; You weren’t even born. Anonymity is its name. Silence your native language. You are no longer part of the System. You are above the System. Over it. Furthermore. We are ‘them’. We are ‘them’. We are the Men in Black.
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“Oh, the red button there, boy. Never, ever touch the red button.”
Agent Kay, Men in Black
It’s always fun to see lines or parts established at the beginning of a series returning in some form. So when Kay is showing Jay the ropes and speeding through New York, he tells Jay to never, ever touch the red button on the car. It continues to show that the world of MIB is full of dangers and strangeness hidden in plain sight, without any real explanation for it. Of course, this just piques the public’s interest in what the red button does.
He also sets up the red button as something too dangerous to use, only for Jay and Kay to find themselves in a dire enough situation that Kay decides it’s really time to press it. The car becomes a high-speed machine moving at the speed of light for the spectator’s amusement. The idea returns in later films and is the secret to getting a high score on the theme park ride.
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“The truth of the universe, I want to know everything. I want to know how it all works.”
Agent M, MIB: International
As Molly lobbies to become Agent M, she emphasizes that she does not intend to expose the organization. The high-ranking agents want to know what exactly Molly’s ultimate goal is now that she’s found the group. Molly wants nothing less than “the truth of the universe.” In a nice callback to the first film, this is what Agent Kay promises Agent Jay when he becomes an agent.
In the world of MIB movies, there is so much that the public doesn’t know. The origins of different inventions, the secret identities of different celebrities, and the near-cataclysmic end of the world are all things the public doesn’t know about, creating a very different picture of the universe for someone as curious as Molly. It’s an exciting prospect to have all these secrets revealed, but also a scary one.
15
“Jeff, I’m not in the mood! Get back on the subway!”
Agent Jay, Men in Black II
Men in Black II throws the audience back into this world as the film opens with a sequence involving Jay on a new mission. It also features a memorable Men in black monster shaped Jeff, a giant worm who lives in the New York City subway system. The sequence not only shows Jay facing off against the intimidating creature, but also suggests that this isn’t the first time the two have had a run-in.
Jay’s demand for the huge alien”Get back on the subway!“looks like a father scolding a son rather than a secret agent yelling at an alien. This is the audience’s first look at how Jay has operated as a MIB agent without Kay as his mentor. Although he is an effective agent, he also didn’t adopt Kay’s stoic approach to work and still has a lot of that chaotic approach.
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“Always remember: the universe has a way of taking you to where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there.”
Agent High T, MIB: International
Although it is eventually revealed that High T is not the person the main characters think he is MIB: Internationalhe still has great quotes on Men in black franchise. This, in particular, talks about the idea of destiny in Men in black universe. It’s an idea used in previous films when Agent Jay goes back in time to Agent Kay’s past to get his help.
Here, however, it talks about Molly’s childhood, leading her to become Agent M, and her work with Agent H. It also talks about Agent H being destined for a role within the agency because of how much he cares, despite acting like he didn’t care. . It is unclear whether there will ever be a Men in Black 5but if anything, this is a key theme to continue in the franchise and makes for some of the most memorable moments.
13
“Is there anyone here who isn’t an alien?”
Agent Jay, Men in Black 3
For a world where anyone can be an alien, it’s easy to think there’s an otherworldly being hiding around every corner. Anything in MIB it could be an alien: another human, a flower, even a dog. In Men in Black 3this was hit hardest when Jay and a young Kay will see Andy Warhol, one of his agents, about a disturbance. Arriving at a party for these modern artists, where everyone is dressed in bizarre outfits, Jay asks the following question: driving the point home.
It’s a funny line to highlight the fish-out-of-water humor of the third film, with Jay trying to understand what it’s like to be in the 1960s. For him, people in the 60s feel like the kind of people who are aliens and not They are doing a good job of hiding this fact from the world.
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“Are you coming? The world will not save itself.”
Agent H, MIB: International
When the events of MIB: International For starters, it appears that Agent H is little more than a pompous glory-seeker. He’s someone who takes credit when things go well and pretends they’re going well, even if they’re not. It’s enough to make the audience curious as to why he works for a secret organization that forces him to keep his identity a secret from everyone if he wants to be the hero.
As the truth behind Agent H’s time at the agency is gradually uncovered, it becomes evident that he cares more about others than himself and will do whatever is necessary to save the planet. He and Agent M have this in common, and Agent M is exactly who he runs it Men in black quote for, urging her to come on the mission with himalthough the two don’t always get along.
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“Let’s agree to disagree.”
Boris the Animal, Men in Black 3
MIB has had some pretty intriguing enemies over the years and one of the most interesting is Boris The Animal, an alien villain played brilliantly by Jemaine Clement, who has a history with Kay. This kicks off the film’s main plot of Boris going back in time to hunt down a starving Kay and kill him in a time-jumping act of revenge. Boris is even a memorable enough villain to get his own catchphrase by constantly telling Kay: “Let’s agree to disagree.”
Clement, best known for his comedic work in Flight of the Concords and What we do in the shadowsbrings some of his comedic energy to the role, while also making Boris an appropriately menacing character, which shines through in his delivery of this repeated line. Even better, the line is used against Boris by Jay right before he launches the alien into the path of a launch spaceship.
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“…To the extent that all women are, yes. But no, I’m not a queen.”
Agent M, MIB: International
One of the characters who provides a lot of comic relief in MIB: International is Pawny, played by Kumail Nanjiani. The little alien is a member of a species that serves a queen, and when the queen dies, they usually end their own lives as well. Pawny, however, ends up betrothed to Agent M after his queen dies. She tries to keep him alive and Agent H manages to convince Pawny that Agent M is a queen.
Agent M tries to refute the statement, but is also of the opinion that all women are queens. It’s one of many lines that try to give women a stronger presence in a male-dominated franchise. While some audience members may have found it harsh, it’s a sweet moment between Agent M and Pawny that eventually leads to them becoming firm allies.
9
“You know, I noticed an infestation here.”
The Bug, Men in Black
There is a common consensus that the Men in black the franchise never surpassed the original film. Certainly, one aspect that has never been improved upon is the original film’s villain, Edgar/The Bug, who still stands out as the best in the franchise. Portrayed by Vincent Donofrio, Bug has some pretty interesting lines that he can grunt, like the infestation. Confronted by an exterminator, the Bug claims he noticed an infestation, and not just cockroaches.
Instead, the Bug details his hatred of humans and his perception of them as inferior life forms. He highlights this fact by mercilessly killing the terminator. It’s a fantastic villain monologue that shows the unique quality of this character. His goal in the film isn’t to exterminate the human race, but just as humans look up to insects, he doesn’t really care how many he has to step on to get what he wants.
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“Remember: just because you saw a black man driving a car doesn’t mean he stole it!
Agent Jay, Men in Black 3
Men in Black 3 takes the film franchise into the past. In this edition of the film, Agent Jay ends up traveling to the past to obtain information from Agent Kay at the beginning of his former partner’s career. Unfortunately, this means that Agent Jay is a modern-day black man who traveled to the South in the 1960s. This provides many of Will Smith’s best comedic moments in the film.
Luckily for Agent Jay, he is incredibly intelligent and is armed with some of the gadgets he was given as an MIB agent. He is able to use his neuralizer on the police officers who stop him as he tries to get to Kay in 1969. He tries to use memory wipe to help provide a little progress, giving the film a little more social commentary than it normally would have.
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“There are things out there you don’t need to know.”
Agent Kay, Men in Black
The whole point of Men in black is that there is more to the world than anyone is willing to admit. The universe has not yet been fully explored and that is something MIB takes advantage in every film, whether it’s the ending or the aliens. However, even though the Men in Black have a vision of the world beyond what the rest of society knows, Jay discovers that there are even more secrets in the universe hidden from him.
“There are things out there that you don’t need to know” is one of the scariest lines in the film. Given everything Jay has seen, the question arises as to what else there is in the great galaxy that he doesn’t need to see.. The thread is only built up in each film as more about the universe is slowly revealed, but there is still so much more lore to explore.
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“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”
Agent Kay, Men in Black 3
The Men In Black is a secret agency. They regularly lie to the public and, as is eventually revealed in the films, to each other as well. They are aided in these lies with neuralizers and confidential, redacted files. This means that when Agent Jay launches an investigation that includes information he has no knowledge of, things get very complicated for him.
Agent Jay is repeatedly told by his older, more experienced partner, Kay, not to ask questions he doesn’t want answers to. That Men in black Kay’s quote actually echoes her point in the first film. This is a common idea when conspiracies are on the scene in a film, or in the case of MIB 3when different timelines are in play. However, it also brings an interesting dynamic between the two characters with Kay protecting Jay from some truth.