Men in Black 3: Movie Review
In Men in Black 3, Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) return as they fight Boris The Animal (Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement)
Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Alice Eve
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) return in
the third outing of this series in which they’re dudes in black suits
protecting the earth from the scum of the universe.
This time around, when angry baddie Boris The Animal (played
as badass biker by our very own Jemaine Clement) busts out of the moon prison
Agent K put him in years ago back in 1969, he’s only got revenge on his mind.
So, he decides, with a bit of techno trickery pokery to head
back in time and erase K from time to ensure that he’s never caught in the
first place…
But when K simply vanishes, (somehow) Will Smith’s wise
talking J is the only one who remembers him and he also heads back to 1969 to
ensure history’s not changed….
However, it’s not just Boris the Animal waiting for him, but
a younger K, played by Josh Brolin.
Men In Black 3 comes a long time after the sequel (a decade
on from 2002) and with it, a feeling that something really needed to be shaken
up in the partnership between Smith and Jones.
Sadly, it appears, that magic ingredient was sidelining
Tommy Lee Jones’ curmudgeonly emotionless K – and replacing him with a younger,
livelier version played with utter brilliance by Josh Brolin who really does
make you feel that he’s the younger version of the character thanks to a spot
on impression.
It also means that Will Smith is prone to going back to his
motor mouth wise talking sassy dude because at the start he’s a bit of a sad
sack moping about as the partnership appears to flounder. He works well with
Josh Brolin and by giving K a bit more life, the spark is revitalised between
the duo.
Jemaine Clement is good as Boris; it’s a step away from
his comedy acting. Though under layers and layers of prosthetics, he spends
most of the movie glowering and fighting but to be honest, it’s a good solid
performance in a relatively thankless role and really does show this Conchord
has wings. Equally worthy of mention, is Rick Baker’s monster menagerie which
is created for the start of the film – the creature work is stunningly good and
realistic and it’s definitely missed from the middle of the film onwards.
A twist at the end of the film hints at a poignancy and
resonance between J and K’s relationship and may be a nice pay off for fans of
the genre.
But it’s not without its flaws – Emma Thompson and Alice Eve
are woefully underused as Agent O, the head of the MIB agency and hardly have
any major screen time, rendering any moments they’re in utterly pointless.
And I have to say, one of the biggest flaws of Men In Black
3 is that it’s not peppered with a lot of humour (ironic, given that the three
main leads are the first three letters of JOKE) and it desperately needs some
of that throughout.
That’s not to say it’s overly po-faced, merely that an
injection of some smart humour would have given the film a bit of much needed
zing throughout – granted, there’s a few one liners here and there which work
but more would have been welcome.
All in all, Men in Black 3 isn’t a bad and unwatchable film, it’s a
reasonable capper to the trilogy but if they’re to plough forward with this
franchise, there really does need to be something more added. As a light,
frothy piece of 90 minute entertainment, it just about makes it – but as a
blockbuster promising action and comedy, it’s sadly left wanting.
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