Men in Black 3 [DVD] [2012]

Having seen this in the cinema yesterday I was quite surprised to read some of the reviews on this site. First of all, I must state that I am not a big fan of MIB or MIB2 - I thought they were OK films. My young son wanted to see this so my wife and I thought it would help alleviate a wet and windy afternoon. All I can say is Wow, how pleasantly surprised we were. I thought the action scenes were adequate and the gags were quite funny. Where I have to differ with most of the other reviewers is that I thought the story was excellent. It takes you on a brief history trip while managing to round off the MIB story, taking the characters full circle.
As I stated, I wasn't a fan of the other MIB films but we all really enjoyed this one. If you're undecided as to whether or not to watch it, give it a go - you may be as pleasantly surprised as we were. I would certainly watch it again. It's also worth mentioning that you don't have to have seen 1 and 2 to be able to follow this one. Hope this helps.

I was a big fan of Men in Black as a kid, being a sci-fi nerd and all that, but even as a child I wasn't a big fan of the first sequel. It made the fatal sequel mistake of trying to take what was popular about the original and exploiting it, rather than driving the overarching story forward or exploring deeper the world it had created (which was a shame, because MIB opened up a whole universe of possibilities - literally).

Men in Black 3 actually DOES do the latter, to an extent. It does not try to replicate the conditions of the original film, which is very refreshing, even going so far as to remove Tommy Lee Jones from the majority of the film, where the second film even denied him the happy ending he had found in the first just to drag him back into the franchise.

The plot, involving time travel, does not seem out of place in the film's universe of endless possibilities. The 60's setting allows some hillarious scenes, such as revelations about Andy Warhol, and a great little scene where Agent J encounters some racist cops.

Josh Brolin, as the younger version of agent K, is superb - his Tommy Lee Jones impression is so good that I was completely sucked in while watching this in the cinema. The character of Griffin, an alien with the ability to see all possible futures, is the best part of the film however. He is such a sweet, likeable and funny character that he makes the entire film worth watching. The villain is decent, although he is not nearly as threatening as the Bug in the original, and there was never a moment where I thought he might win. Emma Thompson's Agent O (replacing Rip Torn's Z, who is explained, rather abruptly, as dead) is also decent, although she has little to do in the film.

There are a few dud moments - the first ten minutes was so bad that I was worried the entire film would follow in the same vein, and the ending you will predict with a slight groan (although it is nice, if implausible).

Overall, I think this film is at least worth a watch if you enjoyed the original. It's the silly and exciting fun you expect from the franchise - and with a few nice callbacks to the original for fans. I enjoyed it a lot - I actually saw it twice in the theatre and left happy both times.

- p.s. Whoever decided Pitbull should do the title song was an idiot.

When the original Men in Black film came out, it was to a lot of hype. The film was a huge success, as it more than lived up to the expectations it had built up for itself.

When the second MiB film was released, it was to an equal amount of hype. It was ok, provided you didn't mind seeing the plot of the first film with the roles reversed. Not a huge success, but it had some good moments.

And now we have the third film. I had not seen as much hype about it, and the trailer looked promising. So I decided to go and watch it to see how they faired this time around.

First of all, the plot was thankfully different: as you are probably aware, time travel is involved. Agend K (Smith) has to go back in time to save Agent J's (Jones) younger self (Brolin) from being killed. This leads to the inevitable "Black man in racist-era New York" confrontation. Which is played for laughs, and bizarrely, works! That only plays a minor part in the plot, and your opinions probably vary as to whether or not that is a good thing.

The plot is pretty straight-forward, with lots of hinting about the events in past early on. Sure enough, by the end of the film, all the major questions are answered, and very few plot holes are created (and the one or two that do stand out are not enough to spoil your enjoyment).

Casting is crucial, and when you have to select an actor to play a younger version of a well established character, it becomes even more critical. There has been varying success in other films: Ewan McGregor is almost believable as a younger Alec Guiness in the Star Wars franchise. Rob Lowe as a young Robert Wagner in Austin Powers is not so spot-on, but we forgive as he is plays the part so well. But what of Josh Brolin as Tommy Lee Jones?

Flawless.

Characterisation - excellent. Accent - well, I still don't know if it was Brolin speaking or Jones dubbing him! Either way, it was not a distraction, other than to marvel at how good a job they did.

As for the Big Bad... Jemaine Clement as Boris is very good. Wonderfully hammy, not too cheesy, and instantly dislikable. In short, everything you want in a comedy drama such as this. As an aside, I did not realise until after the film was over that he was one half of the comedy musical duo Flight of the Conchords. And yes, I have seen it the mockumentary... he really was that unrecognisable, which is all to Clement's credit.

The story itself was nothing special - in essence it is a standard plot that crops up every now and then in Doctor Who, and was the staple for every Quantum Leap episode ever made. Nevertheless, they made it work here, and they made it fun. It was clichéd, but that's not always a bad thing. After all, a cliché is only a plot device that gets re-used because it works well.

If you want a sci-fi film that will make you think, then this is not for you. If you want a bit of well acted silly and funny nonsense then this is likely to be right up your street.