Men in Black 3 (2012)

It was 1997 when Men in Black first burst onto the big screen featuring a successful pairing of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as unlikely partners in the protection of Earth against the scum of the universe, with action, special effects and generous doses of comedy rolled into one. Directed by Barry Sonnenfield, they returned five years later for a sequel, and chances for a third film got hovered around for the longest time, finally taking up to a decade before it materialized, taking advantage of the needless 3D format to deliver the latest installment of the popular series.

And it's still a lot of fun with the return of Agent Jay (Will Smith) and Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) in a new adventure set around the break out of the villainous alien Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) from a lunar maximum prison to take revenge on Kay for the severing of an arm and its imprisonment, not to mention also wiping out its compatriots and protecting the Earth from annihilation. Yes, Kay is credited for plenty of work done back in his heydays of the 60s, and we're about to find out a lot more about his deadpan character, which is almost always the punching bag for Jay, who makes it his mission to reverse what Boris had set out to do, which is to travel back in time and taking out Kay.

It's MIB meets Back to the Future with its time travelling element back to the 60s, armed with only limited knowledge of his partner's whereabouts, no thanks to information being classified over and above Jay's pay grade, despite 14 years of dedicated service. The story by Ethan Cohen, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson and Michael Soccio proved to be a winner, steering clear of having too many cooks with potential of spoiling the broth, making that time travel bit pretty much a trip down nostalgic lane, filled with incidents and prominent characters from history, such as Andy Warhol (Bill Hader) and the Apollo 11 crew, and the tongue in cheek treatment with aliens being very much leaping from typical 60s television and films.

This makes up more than its share of laughs and inside jokes that continue in the same spirit from the earlier films, even poking fun at the racial divide of the time, which provided a fair challenge for Jay as he meets up with the younger Kay (Josh Brolin) who has to be convinced that his new found friend is his partner from the future, and have to work together to rein in the 1969 version of Boris the Animal. Tommy Lee Jones made way for Josh Brolin to own the character of Jay, and in truth Brolin does a remarkable job of closely mimicking Jones, aptly adding a lot more to the back story of the legendary MIB who has his fair share of one liners, but being a little bit less stern than Jay had grown accustomed to.

Characterization also got pushed to the forefront with a deeper exploration into each of Jay and Kay's characters, backgrounds and their friendship, and this helped the film tremendously, instead of being a mediocre effort relying solely on the actors charisma and washing everything down in CG glory. There are still some surprises from the effects kept under wraps from the trailers, so that's a good thing, and I suppose much of the graphics work went into recreating 60s USA, as well as earlier, more cumbersome versions of tools of the trade that MIB uses back then. Alien designs also got a spruce up, looking far more menacing, and disgusting even, with Boris the Animal possessing and using deadly force that I'm rather surprised at for a PG rated film.

Will Smith shows that

Fmovies: Although MIB3 wasn't necessarily a 'bad' movie, it certainly wasn't as good as it could have been. It seemed, while watching the marketing plugs, like they were going to bring the big guns and bring back all the funny stuff and cool special effects, but they just fell short. The original was quite good -- Funny, a little scary, cool characters, good stunts, very original. Part II was just bad. So, if you are going to wait 10 years to do a three-quel that nobody really was dying to see because part 2 was so bad, then you better make part 3 REALLY good -- Right?

Well -- It wasn't REALLY good. It was OK. I wanted to love it, but I honestly only barely liked it. It was lacking the things that made the franchise 'cool.' There was no talking pug, no funny pawn shop guy, no real interesting or funny aliens at all. The lead bad-guy alien was a somewhat interesting character, but no real personality. Nothing that made you want more of him. And other than him, there was hardly any other aliens in it. One little stint in a Chinese restaurant, but nothing rememorable. No funny ones. I just don't understand not making more characters like the ones that made the first such a hit. And even Wil Smith wasn't funny. He was funnier during his promotions on talk shows than in his movie. He just seemed to walk through the whole thing.

ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to see it in 3D. None.

I hate to say it -- But the special effects were awful. With technology today, most special effects are seamless. As an audience, we now 'expect' good effects. Half the time, it was very obvious when they were using backdrops and green screens and had super-imposed stuff. That's just a deal-breaker in today's movie-going world.

The one truly redeeming quality it had -- and it was good -- was Josh Brolin playing the younger K (Tommy Lee Jones). He was spot on and did a great job. But even that isn't enough to carry a movie that wants to be a summer Blockbuster.

Bottome Line -- Rent it. It's worth seeing if you have it lying around the house and have nothing to do, but not if you have to pay full price, and nothing you have to run right out and see.

And this is from a fan of Wil Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin.

I have been a fan of the Men in Black movies since the original released in 1997. When MIB-II was finally out in 2002, I wondered why it took so long as Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith seemed to work so well together, and their characters had that just right mix of complementing but contradicting personalities.

Jones has long been a favorite of mine with some other highlight performances being the delightfully crazy villain in Under Siege (1992) and the hard nosed cop in The Fugitive (1993) and U.S. Marshalls (1998). His ability to make a facial expression the equivalent of the picture's 1000 words imho is up there with Humphrey Bogart.

Smith has distinguished himself in action, comedy, and drama films alike. He is a quite versatile actor whose movies I will gladly check out just because he is starring.

With MIB 3 coming another 10 years after MIB II, I once again wonder what took so long. While Jones's part as "K" is not so prominent as in the prior releases, he does well as the present day character. Smith follows the formula as "J" although the interaction with old "K" is a tad forced.

The pleasant realization is that Josh Brolin performs admirably as the past, younger "K." Brolin is certainly a fine actor in his own right, but his effective portrayal of Jones' character is nothing short of remarkable. The key to the plot is that Brolin is "K" before whatever happened that turned "K" into such a detached curmudgeon.

Also juicy was the villain's part done by Jermaine Clement as Boris (the animal).

Besides all the action and suspense you expect with the good guys vs. bad guy alien stuff, and the touches of comedy here and there to break it up, there is a dramatic and quite poignant and touching twist that comes out of nowhere that answers why "K" appears to be such an unemotional person, and why "K" has such regard for "J." Top quality actors and performances, well done script, yeah, this one's a keeper.

Men in Black 3 fmovies. The criminal Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes from the LunaMax, a moon-based maximum security prison. He comes to Earth seeking revenge from Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) that has blown his arm up and arrested him forty years ago and protected Earth from a Boglodyte invasion. Boris is defeated again and he travels back in time to 1969 to kill Agent K.

When Agent J (Will Smith) notes that the time line has changed in the present days and Agent O (Emma Thompson) tells him that K died in 1969, he decides to travel to 15 July 1969 to save K on the next day. Agent J has difficulties to convince the Young Agent K (Josh Brolin) with lies, but when he decides to tell the truth, K believes in his words and they seek out Boris together.

They are helped by the amicable alien Griiffin (Michael Stuhlbarg) that has precognitive powers and gives the ArcNet to K to protect Earth from the Boglodyte invasion. Further, J learns a secret about K and himself.

"Men in Black 3" is a great adventure of this franchise, with a wonderful story and magnificent special effects. I had low expectations with movie, but I was favorably surprised with an adorable film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "MIB³ - Homens de Preto 3" ("MIB³ - Men in Black 3")

This film is about Agent J going back in time to rescue Agent K from being murdered by aliens.

My friends say that "Men in Black III" is a brainless comedy, you can go in just for a few laughs and switch your brain off. After watching it, I can safely say that I have another opinion.

"Men in Black III" does have its brainless moments. It can be politically incorrect too, but it is entertaining and fun to watch. Special effects are realistic, and the scene involving a very tall building made me so nervous that my palms perspired a lot! The ending is very touching; I certainly did not see it coming even though a friend guessed it.

I think it is great that "Men in Black III" manages to combine emotional elements in the middle of mainstream blockbuster entertainment. I look forward to the next film in the series already.

Well, whaddaya know, the "MiB" have gone MiA for 10 years already! No wonder many of us have forgotten about them as Men In Cape and Bodysuits (aka The Avengers, Batman, Spider-Man, et al) have been hogging the cinemas while the "Men In Black" go missing-in-action. No matter, they are still a barrel of fun in this three-quel that comes as more of a surprise than a treat that we have been waiting for.

And with Barry Sonnenfeld back at the helm of this troubled and delayed US$215-million production, it is a nostalgic film in more ways than one.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles as agents J and K of the secret Men in Black organization that monitors alien activity on Earth. The 'odd-couple' have their work cut out for them when extra-terrestrial serial killer Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes from his maximum security prison on the moon and travels back in time to kill K. Since only J remembers K's existence, it's up to him to venture through time, look for a young K (now played by Josh Brolin) and stop Boris from destroying the world once and for all.

I have never been a fan of time-travel plots and I still don't like them. However, the time-travel subplot here is just to provide the "Back To The Future" fantasy to the MiB franchise. The narrative, as well as the mood and tone of the movie, are light-hearted, fun and always on the outer limits of credibility. Again, it is nice to see how a deadpan face like Jones' can generate so much mirth. The Smith & Jones pairing is augmented by Brolin who gives a good representation of how K would be in the Sixties, with most of the sequences accompanied by popular Sixties hits on the soundtrack.

One of the staple jokes of the MiB series is the celebrity cameos that suggest alien origins. In MiB3, we have a 'twist' that suggests a certain pop art personality is an undercover MiB agent! Still, the mainstay of the MiB series is Rick Baker's creature designs and make-up rendered in 3D. The 'monster show' does not disappoint, especially that of a huge fish that attacks diners at a Chinese restaurant. Oh yes, there are also a couple of cool gadgets and vehicles like the giant wheel hoover-bikes used by Agents J and K. On the whole, Agents J and K still provide the 'L'. - limchangmoh.blogspot.com