Men in Black 3 (2012)

You know, the longer you leave a sequel, the more pressure there is on it. Take ‘The Phantom Menace’ for instance, ‘Return of the Jedi’ came out in 1983, ‘The Phantom Menace’ came out in 2001. And you can see how well that came out.

But ten years after the last film came out, we now have ‘Men in Black III’. Initially after hearing rumours about this film, I didn’t think it was going to happen. Then the trailer came out, and to be honest I was a little bit worried. Why? Well, the film looks good but then again, ‘Men in Black 2’ was complete and utter garbage.

‘MIB3’ finds Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) is broken out of a prison on the moon by his lady friend, played, bizarrely, by Nicole Scherzinger. Boris then goes back in time to kill Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), so that his species can invade the Earth. Agent J, through the magical power of plot convenience (Or rather wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff), remembers K and is sent back to prevent his death.

 

Firstly, it has to be said, Will Smith continues to be amazing, whether that be as Agent J or a scientist fighting undead monsters or fighting armies of machines. The Fresh Prince is Mr. Blockbuster after all. Jones brings a new characteristic for Agent K, one of sorrow and regret, and anger actually which was quite shocking when you think about what Agent K was like in the first two films.

Josh Brolin has to have a special mention since he does make this film for his portrayal as a young Agent K. In fact, I don’t think that Josh Brolin actually exists, I think they cloned Tommy Lee Jones, it’s the only thing that makes sense, Josh Brolin IS a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones.

Boris the Animal, he’s a mixed villain. Some aspects appear great, his strength, his abilities and his accent for example, but then there’s his personality which at times seem stupid and tiresome. His catchphrase for example “let’s agree to disagree”, that’s just not a frightening line for a villain to say. His girlfriend, whose name I never bothered to learn, was killed early on so she wasn’t that memorable.

Then there’s Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), an Arcadian (An alien) who provides the ArcNet, which is effectively a shield surrounding Earth. Griffin also has the power of precognition; or rather he can see multiple futures. While Stuhlbarg did a good job portraying the character, he did get tiresome quite fast.

The effects are pretty damn good, they could be better in some areas but all in all, the effects team did a really good job. I didn't see this in 3D, but from what I've heard this film was actually pretty good in 3D. In 2D I didn't come across any stupid '3D in 2D' moments, but I did see some scenes which made me think "hmm, that must look great in 3D".

There are some smart little gags concerning the technology the MiB has, such as a big neuralyzer being the primitive version of the modern day small neuralyzer, similar to how mobile phones started off as the size of bricks before being condensed to the size of your palm (Speaking of which MiB do actually have a big high-tech mobile phone), and the mobile neuralyzer they do have requires a dial-up modem. I had almost forgotten what one sounded like.

As an action film it’s pretty damn good. The combat scenes are fun, action packed and well thought out, one scene even incorporating a plot device to great effect. For the comedy aspects, it had its funny moments, but there were also times where the film tries to be funny, but it completely fails; the prime example when the Chief Agent O repeats what an alien said upon learning of Chief Zed’s death.

*SPOILERS

There are some plot holes, especially when something happens in the past which drastically changes the timeline, even the movie’s plot couldn’t happen for numerous reasons. Then there’s the ending which tried to throw in another joke but, to me, it just ruined the ending. There is also one bit which people say was pointless, it's where Griffin says the only future where J and K succeed is when they tell some authorities the truth...which subsequently doesn't work. But then Griffin shows a Colonel (Mike Colter) a vision of the future which results in him helping K and J. The main complaint is "what's the point in telling them the truth when Griffin could just show them?". Well, Griffin says that the only future where J and K succeed is the one where they tell the truth, he didn't say the authorities would believe them. Also if J and K did lie, they probably wouldn't have met the Colonel which meant they wouldn't have gotten the help they needed.

 

Overall though the film is a lot of fun, terrific acting, a great story, some decent effects, it’s a definite improvement on the second film. It isn’t the best film in the world, but it’s a truly entertaining one.