Review of Men in Black 3 (2012) by Stevenf — 13 Feb 2013

Surprising return to form for the Men In Black, this film went through some developmental twists and turns to finally make it to the big screen. I'm glad I seen it, because lets face it, the second entry was enough to turn anyones once great love for this bizarre but brilliant franchise into a sour, bad-tasting, happily distant memory .

It might not be just as good as the first in the series, a few too many pop culture references for my liking, but it had a very interesting story, everything is brought into full circle, and the performances of the three leads is enough to re-watch this movies over and over again.

Will Smith returns in his first starring role since 'Seven Pounds', four years ago, in the role of Agent J, who continues to investigate alien life forms on earth with the returning Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K.

A new threat named Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement) has broke out of his prison on the moon to exact revenge on K, who severed Boris' arm in the 60s.

A time travel story ensues involving J going back to help prevent a major catastrophe involving everyone named.

Josh Brolin enters as a young Agent K, and he is fantastic, and spot-on in his delivery as a young K, and a dead ringer for a young Tommy Lee Jones, and the chemistry and witty throwbacks with Will Smith are genius.

Will Smith himself is a welcome return, his screen presence is oozing confidence and appeal that many fail to match, his comedic quips with Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are quite unmissable, lets hope we don't wait another four years for him to be on screen (We won't, look up After Earth). Tommy Lee Jones smaller but more significant appearance in this takes his straight-faced acting to new heights, and he doesn't disappoint.

A supporting cast includng Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg and even Nicole Scherzinger, there is plenty of familiar faces to entertain everyone. The special effects and action are brilliant, especially the time-travelling sequence, showing a glance of other periods of time in the same location was quite ingenious from director Barry Sonnenfield and writer Ethan Cohen.