Men In Black III Review

Written by Stuart Cooper

Men in Black III (2012)

Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin

Well its summer blockbuster season and you know what that means…sequels! This summer features another Batman film, an Alien prequel, a Spider-man remake, and the latest installment in the Men in Black franchise. Today I will be discussing “Men in Black III”, a film I was surprised by and enjoyed quite a bit. Both Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith return for this sequel, and Josh Brolin plays a pivotal role in the film as Young K (Tommy Lee Jones). Many have a bad taste in their mouths regarding Men in Black after the very lackluster and terrible Men in Black II, but I assure you this one is much better. The story is more interesting and the acting is top notch. The film actually reminded me a bit of the short lived animated TV series that the WB created. It’s like the first film with more aliens and a weirder storyline.

In this installment of Men in Black we see the classic team of J and K (who has aged quite a bit since the original) embarking on a mission involving time travel. I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but basically J (Will Smith) gets caught in the middle of a rivalry between K and an old nemesis of his by the name of Boris the Animal. Boris is played by the always awesome Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. Clement seems to have no problems adjusting from a comedy band/show to feature films. I really loved him in Gentleman Bronco and Dinner for Schmucks. Boris the Animal is a criminal that was caught by K in the 60’s and has since been detained in a prison facility on the moon. That’s right, a prison…on the moon. That idea sounds pretty awesome to me. This prison seems to be reserved for the most dangerous criminals, and you will definitely see why Boris is such a threat as the film progresses. The film opens with Boris escaping the prison. Boris eventually makes his way back to earth and gets his hands on a time travel device. This is when the evil plot begins to take shape. Boris intends to go back in time and stop K from injuring and arresting him. He aims to kill K. Agent J soon finds out about this plan and it is up to him to stop it. This means that Agent J must go back in time and find Boris before he kills K. The story is immediately better than the last film and the fact that they don’t waste time on a romantic interest in this one certainly helps. Sorry Rosario Dawson but you kind of ruined the second film. So put your concerns to rest and enjoy the film because it is pretty much a comedy action thrill ride from the beginning.

When J travels back in time he must team up with a young K, played by Josh Brolin. Brolin does a superb job of mimicking Tommy Lee Jones and if you close your eyes and just listen to his voice, you would swear they were the same person. The two men together have the same comedy element that exists between Jones and Smith. One is the loud mouth goofy type, and the other is a stone cold robot of a man who finds little to smile about. The dynamic works perfectly and though I love Tommy Lee Jones, I was equally pleased with Brolin’s performance in the film. One aspect they play with is life in the 60’s. We see some racial humor with Will Smith that is pretty funny, though they play it safe and I seriously doubt little kids going to see this film would pick up on some of it. There is a funny moment when J goes back in time and immediately gets pulled over by the cops. My favorite part in the film is when J and K both meet up with Andy Warhol at one of his parties, and Warhol is played by the always hilarious Bill Hader. This scene has to be seen to be believed, truly funny stuff. Another character in the film that is an integral to the story is Griffin, an alien that can see multiple time dimensions at once. The character is played by up and coming actor Michael Stuhlberg who portrays Arnold Rothstein on Boardwalk Empire. I had no idea this guy had such a comical side and I ended up really enjoying his character. So the casting is definitely very pleasing. I think every character in the film offers up a unique style that adds to the universe that Men in Black takes place in.

The film maintains its comedic tone and you are treated to joke after joke from Smith’s character J. Some of the jokes are funny, some are not so funny. But what is important is that the film brings you that feel good chaotic alien action that was so good in the original. I wouldn’t say MIB III is as good as the original, but it is certainly a worthy sequel. If anything, go see this movie for Boris the Animal, possibly the coolest villain I’ve seen in years. The only things missing from this film were Rip Torn as Zed, and the classic “here come the men in black” song from the original that we all secretly love. My only complaints are that the final showdown is a little lackluster, and they could have done a bit more with J and K teaming up in the 60’s, but other than that it is quite an enjoyable addition to the franchise. I would suggest going to see this one in theaters if it’s still there, or wait for the Blu-ray. I didn’t waste my time on the 3-D version of the film, so I can’t speak for the 3-D effects. All you need to know is that it’s a better sequel then part 2 and that was good enough for me.