Like the recent sequels to Wall Street
and Tron, Men in Black 3 is one of those films where it has been
quite a long time since the previous film in the series came out. In
fact, it's been a whole decade since Men in Black 2 was released all
the way back in 2002. Since it has been that long, there doesn't seem
to be any need to continue on, but considering that Men in Black 2
received rather mediocre reviews from both critics and audiences, I'm
guessing they wanted to close the series out on a better note and Men
in Black 3 just so happens to do that. While Men in Black 2 suffered
from just rehashing the same general plot from the first Men in Black
film, MiB 3 does not go that route and like the first film, it
maintains a great chemistry between its leads and a sense of fun to
it all, resulting in a very entertaining popcorn flick and a nice
return to form for this franchise.
For years, Agents J (Will Smith) and K
(Tommy Lee Jones) of the secret organization known as the Men in
Black, have been keeping Earth safe from any possible alien threats.
However, K's past soon comes back to haunt him when Boris the Animal
(Jemaine Clement), a criminal who he had captured back in the 60's,
escapes from prison looking to exact his revenge on K. He does so by
going back in time to the date (July 16th, 1969) when K
captured him and kills him then, effectively erasing K from existence
and allowing himself and his fellow aliens to take over Earth because
if K was killed, he would never set up a shield to prevent Boris'
species from taking over. In order to prevent this invasion and to
save his partner, J travels back to 1969, where he meets up with a
younger K (Josh Brolin) to take on Boris.
What made the Men in Black movies work
was the chemistry between the dry, no-nonsense K and the more
energetic J. It blended brilliantly back then and that is yet again
evident here, except here Tommy Lee Jones is only in the film for
about ten minutes or so. That isn't a problem because Josh Brolin
does such a fantastic job as young K that you'd swear he was actually
Tommy Lee Jones. Because of this, the movie is immensely entertaining
and funny from beginning to end and while some of the humor falls
rather flat at times, the movie's fast pace never results in a dull
moment. But because the film is so focused on Smith, Jones, and
Brolin, some of the other members of the cast aren't given much to
do, like Agent O (played in the present by Emma Thompson and in the
60's by Alice Eve). While there is some apparent chemistry between
her and K, the film never really goes anywhere with that, both in
1969 and the present.
Technically speaking, this movie
invokes a major plot hole because if K never existed, then J
shouldn't even be a Men in Black agent in the first place because K
never recruited him. But the writers did such a good job with the
story that the plot hole doesn't affect the movie at all. Instead of
just copying the same plot of the first two films, they delve deeper
into the relationship between J and K as J learns a lot more about
his stone-faced partner and there's even a little given about his
past as well. Compare that to Men in Black 2 where they literally had
to bring Tommy Lee Jones back just because they realized how well he
worked with Will Smith, after they 'got rid of him' at the end of the
first film.
Men in Black 3 is a surprising case of
a 'threequel' that isn't a mediocre movie. Granted, it doesn't quite
match the same level of fun adventure that the original film achieved
back in 1997, but it's a huge improvement over its predecessor, Men
in Black 2. The story goes deeper into the characters' back stories
while also staying fresh and not copying the same old plot of the
last two films. While some of the characters are downplayed, the
chemistry between Will Smith and both Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin
is what ultimately makes this movie work as much as it does. This is
a perfect place to end the franchise now, and while there may be
talks about a possible sequel, I think it's best to end it here and
go out on a high note.
Rating: 4.5/5
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