Men in Black 3 is set ten years after the events in Men in Black 2– which is how much time has passed between movie releases. That’s right, ten years. I was a fan of the Men in Black franchise all those years ago, and though I haven’t watched them recently I remember them as a good mix of decent humor and good sci fi special effects. I guess that’s what this was too, and this movie was mildly entertaining, I just can’t figure why anyone thought it needed making.
Technically, the movie was competent. You had some weird aliens with decent effects and good designs. The antagonist stood out in particular. Boris the Animal (as played by Flight of the Conchords Jermaine Clement) had like fingers that clutched his eyes in and a sort of parasite, combat buddy thingy, that came out of a mouth hand. Or something. It was foul and pretty awesome. Other than that though, the effects didn’t really stand out. Apparently this movie had a $215 million budget, and I’m struggling to see just what they spent it on, as the quality and quantity of effects was just sort of decent.
The plot and writing were poor. I’m not sure I’d still think MIB and MIB2 were as funny as I used to think they were, but this movie was only really funny a few times. It’s a time-travel plot, so it doesn’t make sense, and the theme is sort of hamfistedly approached at the end.
Performance wise, Will Smith was his usual charming self. Tommy Lee Jones was old, leathery, and weary. There was a kind of weird No Country for Old Men reunion going on, with Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones reunited (at last). Josh Brolin was good as the young Agent K, and his ability to do impressions of Tommy Lee Jones was uncanny.
Basically, this was a fine movie. There’s nothing totally wrong with it as a popcorn movie. I just don’t get why it was made or why anyone (who doesn’t write movie reviews on the internet, anyway) would really want to go see it. If, for some reason, you’re interested, go see it. If you’re not interested, I wouldn’t recommend making an effort.
2 1/2 Stars.
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