Men in Black 3 Reviews

The last survivor of a planet-destroying race of aliens, Boris The Terrible (Jemaine Clement) is incarcerated in a high security prison on the moon. When Boris escapes, he returns to Earth determined to exact revenge on Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) for shooting off one of his arms and arresting him years earlier. To prevent the removal of his limb, Boris travels back in time to 1969 to murder K, successfully erasing him from the present and causing a time ripple. In the present, only Agent J (Will Smith) can remember his now long-deceased partner, and he takes it upon himself to prevent K's death. With an alien attack threatening to destroy present-day Earth, J follows Boris back to 1969 where he meets young Agent K (Josh Brolin). Forced to become reluctant partners, K and J set out to stop Boris' master plan.

The Men in Black series started out as a goofy take on alien invasion films, but, for some reason, Men in Black III is more of a straight action flick with not as much emphasis on laughs. The budget was ridiculously high (reports place the final price tag at $375 million, including marketing), essentially forcing director Barry Sonnenfeld and the writers to focus on large-scale action set-pieces to effectively compete for summer box office dollars. To be sure, though, there is still a smattering of humour, and it's of a better standard than anticipated. Whenever the script mines for comedy, there are laughs to be had (J's one-liners are often amusing, although they may have been improvised by Smith). But what's disappointing is how few and far between the best laughs are, not to mention there are no genuine belly-laughs here on the same level as 1997's Men in Black.

As to be expected from a big-budget 2012 blockbuster, Men in Black III is an attractive film. With such an enormous budget, Sonnenfeld and his team have created some truly eye-popping action set-pieces which were brought to life with borderline photorealistic digital effects and animatronics. Fortunately, the legendary Rick Baker returned here to design and create the new set of aliens. Baker's efforts are predictably brilliant, stuffing Sonnenfeld's frame with imaginative extraterrestrials and further blurring the line between what's animatronic and what's digital. Then there's composer Danny Elfman, a series veteran whose music gives the picture further energy and zest. (For the record, the franchise's trademark theme is present and accounted for.) The climax is a bit on the clunky side, though - most troublesome is a fight between Boris and Agent J which yields an especially confusing moment that looks to be the result of frantic re-editing. Plus, the final minute or so introduces a cheap gag designed to close the door with a smile, but the moment feels forced and redundant.

It has been four years since Will Smith last starred in a film, but the actor has not lost his charisma or magnetism. Back as Agent J for the first time in a decade, Smith is as charming as ever, scoring laughs through top-notch comic timing and spot-on line delivery. But the show-stealer here is Josh Brolin as young Agent K, presenting a note-perfect imitation of Tommy Lee Jones. He nails Jones' mannerisms, steely facial expressions and deadpan line deliveries, not to mention Brolin actually resembles the actor. It's more than mere mimicry too, as Brolin embodies young K to effectively present an early version of the iconic character. It's impressive stuff. Best of all, Brolin has honest-to-goodness chemistry with Will Smith, and his inclusion makes the pairing of Agent K and Agent J feel fresh again. In fact, some of Men in Black III's finest moments involve the two men casually bantering rather than battling aliens. Meanwhile, Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) is a solid villain who makes a menacing impression whenever he's on-screen. Also in the cast is the underrated Michael Stuhlbarg who plays a fifth-dimensional being with the ability to see all versions of the future. His quick-paced talking is outstanding, and Stuhlbarg always remains eminently watchable. However, Tommy Lee Jones is unfortunately relegated to an extended cameo appearance, showing up for 20 minutes tops over the entire movie. Jones is great in his limited scenes, so it's a shame that there isn't more of them.

This reviewer is one of the three people on the planet who enjoys Men in Black II, but MIB III is definitely a marked improvement over its immediate predecessor. Still, it's not as good as the original MIB. The partnership of Smith and Brolin gives the series back its spark, yet the endeavour does seem a bit routine. Oh, and there's no Frank the Pug, which is worsened by the fact that Sonnenfeld apparently wanted to rub this in - Agent J has a large poster of Frank on his wall, and in the background at one stage there's a poster advertising "The Amazing Speaking Pug". Seriously, what gives? This aside, Men in Black III is a fun time. It even closes with a poignant twist that strengthens K and J's relationship and will make you watch the entire series in a new light. Room is left wide open for a fourth instalment, too, which this reviewer is actually looking forward to.

6.8/10

What a nice surprise! At first, I was really wondering what the hell was Will Smith thinking... Indeed, he wasn’t involved in any movie for the last 3 years and he seemed to be linked to at least 20 different projects and the one gig he picked up was a sequel for a 10 years old franchise that nobody was actually expecting. Fortunately, the end result turned out to be actually pretty good. At first, they gave us a slow (and rather boring) introduction during which Smith argued all the time with Tommy Lee Jones but, if it was funny with the first movie, it had become rather annoying for the 3rd time around. But fortunately, Jones disappeared pretty quickly and then the movie finally started to get interesting. Indeed, first, you had a really spectacular jump from the Empire State Building (I saw it in IMAX 3D and it was pretty awesome). And then, J met the younger version of K, portrayed by Josh Brolin who just blew me away. Not only he physically really looked like a younger Jones, but he sounded just the same. From this point, I was just sold and enjoyed the whole time travel paradox. Of course, the rest of the movie was just made of preposterous action scenes and of some weird looking aliens but it was fun and I had a good time. To conclude, even though it was nothing amazing, it was still an enjoyable blockbuster, it displayed that Will Smith still rules the box-office and it is definitely worth a look.