Review of Men in Black 3 (2012) by Jack F — 03 Sep 2014

The original "Men In Black" was a surprise hit back in 1997, a successful blend of comedy, action, and science-fiction, and it helped cement Will Smith's status as a bona fide movie star. The 2002 sequel felt like a bland retread of the first movie; it wasn't necessarily bad, per se, but it didn't really do anything to differentiate itself from its predecessor. Much of the proceedings seemed rather stale. Who would've thought that, 10 years later, a third movie would come out that would redeem--and possibly resurrect?--the long-dormant franchise?

One of the improvements of "Men In Black III" is that this time around, they're utilizing a gimmick; granted, gimmicks are not always a good thing in movies, and in this case it's admittedly a cliche, but hey, it's a cliche that I like. And when gimmicks are successful, more often than not, the movie works. (For the antithesis of this, see my review of "The Fourth Kind.") The original "Men In Black" didn't need a gimmick as the entire concept was fresh and new. "Men In Black II" didn't use a gimmick, which may partly explain its failure; if the movie doesn't present the characters with anything new to do, is it any wonder that it feels like little more than a pale imitation?

"Men In Black III" rectifies this mistake by giving the characters a new gimmick: time travel.

The plot: Boris (Jemaine Clement) is a dangerous alien that has been imprisoned for the past 40+ years. Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is the Men in Black agent who captured him. But Boris escapes, and he then pulls a "Terminator" and time travels back to the 1960's, hoping to change history; namely, he intends to assasinate K before the agent arrests him, which will have devastating effects on mankind's future. (Or is it mankind's present? Who knows...this is part of the fun of time travel movies.).

It's up to K's partner, Agent J (Will Smith) to prevent this from happening. So he takes a DeLorean trip himself, but in order to accomplish this mission, he's going to need some help...help from the 1960's K (Josh Brolin).

This is all great fun; Smith is as endearing as ever in one of his most popular roles, and Brolin does an uncanny impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones (and he even looks like a younger version of him). As for Jones himself, unfortunately he isn't in this film very much as the vast majority of its running time takes place in the past. Luckily, Smith has as much chemistry with Brolin as he does with the older actor, and I greatly enjoyed watching the two play off each other.

The movie's premise also allows for some entertainment, as J and Young K make detours to Andy Warhol's Factory and Cape Canaveral. And of course, what time travel movie would be complete without the Time Travel Paradox? In this case, that involves J witnessing something that he really shouldn't be able to, because that potential future shouldn't have happened in this timeline...or something.

Admittedly, this is a headscratcher that I love to fathom; I enjoy all the potenial "how?" and "what ifs?" that come with the territory. There's no real way it can make any kind of actual "sense" (as is the case with this particular paradox), so if these kind of things bother you, you may not enjoy the movie. And I'll concede that "Men in Black III" is by no means great; it lacks the sharp wit of the first movie, and Boris isn't a very interesting villain. (The series has had trouble with its heavies ever since we were treated to Vincent D'Onofrio's fantastic portrayal of Edgar in the first film. They're just not going to top that.).

But I found it enjoyable, especially compared to the rather flat previous film in the series. If it is the last "Men In Black" film, it's a much better note to go out on...although this film makes me think that maybe there's still some life left in the franchise. If they do make another, I'd love it if they could somehow find a way to work Young Agent K into the screenplay again. Now that time travel has been added to the mix, anything is possible.

And for those of you who, like me, enjoy Time Travel paradoxes, here's a particularly hairy one: if K is assasinated in the past, how can J be a Men in Black agent in the present, since it was K who recruited him?

Makes you think, doesn't it?