Men In Black 3 Review

Plot Summary:
Agent J (Will Smith) travels back in time to 1969 to stop alien assassin Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) from killing his partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Brolin) and changing history as a result.

The Positives:
I am a huge fan of the first Men In Black movie, I loved the humor and charisma that Jones and Smith brought to the characters. The final product was a fresh and original idea that sci-fi comedies never attempted before. However, the 2002 sequel ripped apart the ideas of the original film and it felt it was made for the money only. When a second sequel was announced, I was 50/50 about it. I was worried it would be as bad or worse than MIB2, and I had some feeling it would be a good sequel that brought back memories. The final product is just an alright one. For starters, it's better than MIB2.

I felt happy seeing Smith and Jones back on screen as Agent J and K. Although they do not have a lot of screen time together, it was humorous to see them go back at together when they have these moments together. Josh Brolin nails it as a young Agent K. He was the best possible choice to play a young Tommy Lee Jones: his voice and actions pretty much sold it for me.

I also enjoyed the visual effects and Rick Baker's makeup work. It's refreshing to see makeup create original creatures, rather than CGI nowadays. The aliens looked really cool because of this look. I also enjoyed the colors and the recreation of 1969 due to the visual effects in this film. The 3D also helped the visual effects rather than worsen them.

The main reason I had fun with this film though is the nostalgic moments this film brings. The interactions between Jones and Smith are always enjoyable to watch. The humor, although outdated for today's standards, works for this film since it is humor we would expect in 1997. It's refreshing to see clean humor rather than raunchy humor, it's a safe film to take kids 10 and older. I also really loved the twist at the end of this film, it's a really touching one that explains a lot.

The Negatives:
Like I said earlier, this film is just an alright one, it has its flaws. The script is pretty weak for the most part. The dialogue was pretty lousy, and some of the jokes fell flat or were already in the trailers. If there was more work in the script, I think this would be a better sequel.

I was personally disappointed in some of the new characters. I'm a Jemaine Clement fan, but I felt his portrayal as a villain as weak. I felt he really had no motivation to do this film, and did the least amount he could do to make this film work. It was a disappointing performance on his part because I know Clement could do so much more with roles. The script also limits this villain from doing anything exciting, so it isn't 100% Clement's fault.

I also was not fond of the character known as Griffin, played by Michael Stuhlbarg. It was obvious that the script wanted him to be the wise character, one who gives a lot of advice and prepares the character for the future. I honestly wished the film did not include this character at all. Instead of coming off as wise, he came off as an overly annoying character, similar to Jar Jar Binks. The script did not need him, I wonder why they felt it was necessary to include him.

Conclusion:
Men In Black 3 is a better sequel than the second film, but it is still an unnecessary one. It has its moments of nostalgia and its characters, for the most part, are enjoyable to watch. I just feel that Men In Black should have been a standalone film rather than a franchise. All in all, it's not a bad film. It's a harmless film that MIB fans would be satisfied by.

Rating: 6 out of 10