Title: Men In Black III (2012)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma
Thompson
Review:
It’s been ten years since the Men In Black last graced the
silver screen with their alien filled, world destroying adventures. Not a lot
of people liked MIB II (2002), I forget exactly why (maybe it wasn’t very good?)
but same as the first one, that sequel made huge bank, so here they are again,
Agent J and K, ready to kick some alien butt. The big question on everybody’s
mind is, would this third entry be worth it, or redundant? Well, things were
looking good for this sequel in my book when the cast returned. Another good
omen was that Barry Sonnenfeld the director behind the previous two films agreed
to direct this third entry. I like Sonnenfeld’s films, they always have
something interesting to look at, they always have that kinetic camera, always
moving somewhere. Make up effects genius Rick Baker, would be in charge of
creating the alien make up effects and designs for this one, which is a major
plus in my book. So, things were looking good for this new MIB film. Would the
planets align once again for this third film? Would this one be equally funny
and interesting?
Story this time around revolves around Agent K’s sudden disappearance
from history. An old nemesis’s of K’s -an alien being known as ‘Boris’- has
altered time so that K doesn’t exist. Interesting part about the whole thing is
that even though K has been erased from time and nobody seems to remember him,
J still remembers him as if he was alive. So it’s up to J to go back in time and
stop Boris from altering the present. J’s mission this time around is to travel
all the way back to 1969 to make everything alright.
Basically this is like Back To The Future (1985) or The
Terminator (1984), but with aliens. I know what you’re thinking; it’s been done
to death the whole time travel thing. And you’re probably right. By now audiences
are so familiarized with the concept of time travel that in new time travel
films like this one, characters don’t have to whip out a chalk board and explain
everything to us. We already know the ins and outs of time travel and its
effects on space time continuum; we got Dr. Emmet Brown to thank for that, he
explained it all so well in Back to the Future II (1989). So anyways, yeah,
this is one of those movies where altering the past has terrible consequences
on the future. Though this might feel redundant, I always say its not what you
say but how you say it, right? And MIB III manages to tell it’s time travel
tale in a very interesting fashion.
Boris The Animal, the villain in the film
First off, the true strength of this film lies in its
visuals. The way things look; this is something I’ve always loved about
Sonnenfeld’s films. How he moves the camera, the strange angles, the things he
chooses to focus on. Remember how the first MIB film opens up with us following
a mosquito? Do you remember how much the camera moves on Sonnenfeld’s Addams
Family movies? Well, MIB III is no different. Sonnenfeld’s camera movements
have always felt like a rollercoaster ride, it’s part of what makes his movies
so interesting. Kind of like the same reason why I loved those first Sam Raimi
movies, the kinetic camera movements. Sonnenfeld’s camera movements were felt
the most during the time travel scenes and the whole opening sequence which by
the way take place on the moon! This movie was like eye candy to me, some
scenes are filled with so many colors and details…my eyes were devouring this
one. The film has great artistic design, which doesn’t surprise me in a film
with such elevated production values. Reportedly, the film cost 300 million
dollars to make. The most interesting looking scenes for me where those taking
place inside of the MIB head quarters during 1969 when we get to see all the retro-futuristic
gadgets the MIB had during those days.
And what would a MIB film be without its cool looking
aliens? Nowhere that’s where. The big fun with these movies for me is seeing all
the different aliens that show up. This one doesn’t hold back at all. Rick Baker
and crew really outdid themselves this time with the creatures because we not
only get the cool alien creatures we normally see in these movies, but when J
travels back in time, we also get to see what kind of aliens were walking
around the MIB headquarters during 1969; which was a pretty cool moment in the
film because all the aliens look like the type of alien creatures you’d see in
films from that era. This part of the film was an awesome homage to science
fiction films from the 50’s and 60’s.
Rick Baker cameo's as an alien with an exposed brain
Finally, I also enjoyed the revelations the film makes in
respect to J and K’s personal life. This
film gets kind of emotional in a rather unexpected way. It connects J and K’s
life in a very interesting fashion. Other pluses are Josh Brolin’s performance
as a younger version of K, who was dead on channeling Tommy Lee Jones’s character.
My last words on this one are that it was a very fun movie, very entertaining
and never boring. The aliens, the gadgets and the action will keep you
entertained all the way through. An extra tidbit of info: this was the film
that finally took The Avengers (2012) out of the #1 spot at the box office, which
demonstrates that Will Smith still has that huge box office drawing power. He’s
still candy for the masses; he’s still got the appeal. MIB III isn’t a film
that will change your life, it doesn’t offer up “the secrets of the universe”
as it suggests in its previews, but I’m sure it will keep you entertained for
its entire duration; this my friends was a very fun summer movie.
Rating: 4 out of 5
