Men in Black 3: Film Review

Finding smart ways to bring novelty to the franchise without forsaking what made the original so much fun (and in fact doubling down on some of those qualities), Barry Sonnenfeld's third Men in Black easily erases the second installment's vague but unpleasant memory and (though we might hope producers will quit while they're ahead) paves the way for future installments. It's hard to imagine it won't be a hit, and hard to begrudge that success, no matter how saturated we are with comic-book properties, sequels and comic-book sequels.

The script, credited solely to Etan Cohen despite many rumored contributors, finds a way to give Will Smith the lion's share of screen time while involving us more emotionally in the character of Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K. After a time-traveling villain kills K in 1969, Smith's Agent J must travel back to prevent the murder where he discovers a youthful, less stony K (Josh Brolin, easily conjuring Jones' Texas deadpan) and can't stop wondering what happened to sap the man's joie de vivre.

The movie deploys most of its creepy-crawly ETs in the first act, with baddie "Boris the Animal" chief among them. Flight of the Conchords co-star Jemaine Clement goes full-tilt ferocious in the role, leaving fans to add their own ironic comedy to his performance (and to imagine him laughing at a repeated catchphrase we assume is intentionally horrible) while he works to live up to Rick Baker's genuinely disgusting design for the character.

Boris, who often sprouts mouthlike body cavities and has a symbiotic relationship with a projectile-spitting insect, breaks free from a moon-based prison in a high-energy opening scene. He makes his way to Manhattan, then time-travels to kill the man who once blew off his arm while foiling his plans to conquer Earth for the Boglodite species.

The film lingers just long enough in the present tense to introduce a replacement for Rip Torn's MiB-chief Zed Emma Thompson, whose character evidently has history with Agent K. Then it sends Smith back using a time-travel method that makes little sense for some reason, plummeting from the Chrysler Building is required but is a lot of fun to watch.

The pic moves briskly once back in the '60s, having a bit of fun envisioning a lower-tech version of Men in Black gear and working in pop-culture details (a nice gag involves Andy Warhol) without slowing the action a bit. The filmmakers find a convenient resolution for all chrono-conflict confusion in the person of Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), an alien who's able to see all possible futures simultaneously.

With Griffin as their oracle, J and K eventually wind up at Cape Canaveral for climactic action involving the launch of the first moon mission. Though some plot twists are easy to spot, they're no less satisfying for being telegraphed.

3D is as irrelevant as ever here, but fortunately the gimmick does nothing to dim the jewel tones of Bill Pope's appealing cinematography. Other production elements, like Danny Elfman's score, continue the winning look and feel established in the first film.

Opens: Friday, May 25 (Columbia)

Production companies: Amblin Entertainment, P+M Image Nation

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alice Eve, Bill Hader, David Rasche

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Screenwriter: Etan Cohen, Based on the Malibu Comic by Lowell Cunningham

Producers: Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald

Executive producers: Steven Spielberg, G. Mac Brown

Director of photography: Bill Pope

Production designer: Bo Welch

Music: Danny Elfman

Costume designer: Mary Vogt

Editor: Don Zimmerman

PG-13, 106 minutes

Title Post: Men in Black 3: Film Review
Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
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