Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by: Etan Cohen (based on the Malibu Comic The Men in Black created by Lowell Cunningham)
One of the biggest and most persistent problems Hollywood fails to acknowledge is the fact that some things aren't allowed to die a dignified death in Tinseltown. Every time there's an infinitesimal chance that something can make even a modest box office gross, they take that chance, usually in the form of cannibalizing a franchise that seemingly saw its end years ago.
Whether or not that works usually depends on how it's executed; if the material is treated with a fresh, organic, and original take, it can work rather well. But more often than not, direct sequels to a franchise that ended a decade (or decades) ago are dependent on the nostalgia of those who saw the originals years earlier, even if the target audience of the newest installment weren't even born by then.
So it begs the question: when-- and why-- is it necessary to dig up the cinematic graveyard? That's a question whose answer, clearly, is known only by people like director Barry Sonnenfeld, who returns with Men in Black 3, a full ten years after the sci-fi/comedy franchise seemingly threw in the towel.
For 14 years, Agents K (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith) have been partners serving under the New York-based Men In Black, a secret government organization dedicated to keep the existence of Earth-based extraterrestrials under wraps, as well as protecting the human race against any potential rogue aliens. But despite their lengthy partnership, the younger J has had trouble getting any emotion or even a personal backstory out of the older, stoic K.
Matters become more complicated when one-armed Boglodite criminal Boris "The Animal" (Jemaine Clement) escapes from a moon-based LunarMax prison and has his sights set on Agent K, who arrested Boris four decades earlier. Before J can figure out the deeper connection between Boris and the senior agent, K suddenly vanishes without a trace.
J returns to MIB headquarters the next day, where he learns from his chief Agent O (Emma Thompson) that K has been dead for 40 years. Despite J remembering his partner, history was apparently rewritten when Boris traveled back in time and murdered K (which also meant that K never had a chance to activate a worldwide defense network that defended the Earth against a Boglodite invasion). Determined to save his partner and protect history, J travels back in time to July 15, 1969, the day before Boris assassinated a younger K (Josh Brolin).
Racing against the clock, J must convince young K to help him in preventing the nefarious schemes of both the past and present incarnations of Boris, along with the assistance of Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), a fifth-dimensional Arcadian with the ability to see all possible futures-- including those with tragic consequences.
Despite being incredibly disappointed with the woefully inept 2002 sequel, I still had ample interest in catching the third installment of the blockbuster trilogy that cemented a post-"Fresh Prince" Will Smith's career as a Hollywood superstar, mainly due to the fact that I still had fond memories of seeing the 1997 original when I was ten years old. Clever, well-written, and chockablock with excellent visual and practical effects, the first Men in Black succeeded not only because of its masterful blend of sci-fi action and snarky humor, but also because of the terrific odd-couple chemistry between the wiseass Smith and the cranky, deadpan Jones.
But if it took five years for Sony Pictures and Sonnenfeld to release a sequel that ended up being not only terrible but made less money, then why would they bother resurrecting the series? Ten years later, no less? But alas, this is Hollywood we're talking about, so any attempt of making sense of Sony's logic is moot.
And right from the start, MIB3's flaws are already glaring: mainly, the fact that we've already seen this formula before. Like clockwork, we see Smith and Jones trading witty barbs that are pretty predictable. J calls K an old fart. K grumbles, calls J "Slick". Dialogue briefly interrupted by giant, gooey alien attack. J continues mugging to the camera. Lather, rinse, repeat. The film makes clear that their partnership has lasted 14 years, so wouldn't you think the bigwigs at MIB would have split them up if they still haven't made nice? Sadly, the spark between the two is gone. The fact that the obvious aging of the two stars since the last film (Smith being called "slick" or "junior" when he was in his late '20s is a lot funnier than if he's in his early '40s) only makes the viewer yearn for a time machine that'll take them back to a better movie fifteen years ago.
However, the time travel aspect is a nice and even novel touch to the story (mainly because I've always been a sucker for such stories and the maddening and ever-fluid pseudoscientific mechanisms behind such a plot device). The filmmakers have a fun time with J's fish-out-of-water scenario once he's arrived in 1969, giving the "aliens-hidden-in-plain-sight" schtick a delicious 1960's twist (a brief bit featuring the great Bill Hader as Andy Warhol is absolutely perfect).
Even better is the brilliant make-up and alien designs by MIB mainstay and Oscar-winning legend Rick Baker, who once again delivers with the incredibly detailed and imaginative alien costumes and effects. Every creature has their own bizarre, unique look about them, each with their own idiosyncrasies and attention-grabbing traits, even if they appear onscreen for mere seconds. Baker goes one step further by giving them an era-appropriate revision, making the outer space folk look the same way they were imagined by movies and comic books half a century ago.
And even though Smith and Jones add almost nothing to their characters this time around (except for a surprising climax that provides the film its only bit of real emotion), there is the welcomed addition of Josh Brolin doing a pitch-perfect impersonation of Jones, right down to the southern drawl and clenched-jaw delivery. Brolin's interactions with Smith are marginally better here, adding a much-need injection of youthful camaraderie (even if Brolin is clearly a lot older than his character is).
The rest of the cast is mostly forgettable, including an underwritten Emma Thompson replacing Rip Torn's Zed character, Alicia Eve as her '60s counterpart, and an unrecognizable "Flight of the Conchords" musician/comedian Jemaine Clement as the spike-laden alien outlaw hellbent on revenge, who can't hold a candle to Vincent D'Onofrio's hilariously degenerating Bug character from the original.
As stated above, the question of whether or not Men in Black 3 was necessary is a pointless question to begin with, even though the reported troubled production (including a script whose second and third acts weren't even finished by shoot time) might have made the question relevant nonetheless, what with the uneven narrative cohesion, jokes that mostly fall flat, neutral character development, and an unshakable sense of being dated.
Luckily, Men in Black 3 never takes itself seriously, letting the proceedings go down much more smoothly. It's nowhere near as great (or even good) as the first film, but certainly not as bad as the second. The terrific visual effects and excellent performance by Brolin make Men in Black 3 worth a watch-- even if leaving the theater immediately after will leave you forgetting what you saw as if you stared down a neuralyzer.
Those are the memory-wipers the Men in Black use.
Never end a review with a nerdy reference. It always falls flat.
Letter Grade: "C"
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