Men in Black 3
2.5/4
Starring: Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Thompson, Tommy Lee Jones
Rated PG-13 for Sci-fi Action Violence and Brief Suggestive Content
The first two "Men in Black" movies were successful in the same way "Harry Potter" was: the important stuff was great, but the best stuff was in the details. My favorite bits of the Harry Potter books were the little bits that J.K. Rowling added for seasoning, like in the second book when Ron Weasley warns Harry that some books are cursed and there was one case where a man picked up a book and literally couldn't put it down, or how Harry had overperformed his Cheering Charm on Ron, who had to go to the next room for ten minutes so he could calm down. The "Men in Black" movies had decent enough plots, but they were really a thread to place the inventive aliens and jokes. Sadly, the plot of "Men in Black 3" isn't particularly interesting and the majority of the jokes are lame.
Agent K (Jones) is feeling anxious lately, which is irritating his partner, Agent J (Smith) to no end. But as in his nature, K won't tell him what's going on, because it's above his paygrade. It turns out that a vicious alien named Boris the Animal (Clement), has escaped from prison on the moon. Boris has a beef with K for shooting off his arm in 1963, and has gone back in time to prevent that. Now J must go back in time to kill Boris and prevent an alien invasion.
Like the first two films, this plot is derivative and fairly boring. Unfortunately, the material that was the lifeblood of the first two films is lame here too. All the good stuff was given away in the trailer. There are a few good jokes here and there, but the script by Etan Cohen is depressingly bland.
Will Smith does his job admirably, but he's not given anything to work with. Tommy Lee Jones is barely on-screen long enough to be called a cameo. These two are on hand mainly to pick up a paycheck. Emma Thompson, the classy actress that she is, looks embarrassed to be here. Her "funniest" moment, where she squeaks and squeals in an alien language, is more awkward than funny. I felt embarrassed for her. The only ones who appear to invest themselves in their performances are Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg and Josh Brolin. Clement makes for a fairly evil villain, and Stuhlbarg is energetic, if slightly irritating, as the helpful alien who can see every possibility of every event. Josh Brolin, however, saves this movie from being a lot worse than it is. He's got Tommy Lee Jones down pat; the mannerisms, the accent, the look...it's easy to imagine that this is what K looked like in the 60s.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld, who hasn't had much of a career outside the "Men in Black" franchise, seems to be tired of the "Men in Black" movies. The timing is slacking, the energy is non-existent, and the movie on the whole is kind of a bore. I admit, there's some suspense during the final action scene, but that, and a few decent jokes, are the only things that this movie has going for it.
Starring: Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Thompson, Tommy Lee Jones
Rated PG-13 for Sci-fi Action Violence and Brief Suggestive Content
The first two "Men in Black" movies were successful in the same way "Harry Potter" was: the important stuff was great, but the best stuff was in the details. My favorite bits of the Harry Potter books were the little bits that J.K. Rowling added for seasoning, like in the second book when Ron Weasley warns Harry that some books are cursed and there was one case where a man picked up a book and literally couldn't put it down, or how Harry had overperformed his Cheering Charm on Ron, who had to go to the next room for ten minutes so he could calm down. The "Men in Black" movies had decent enough plots, but they were really a thread to place the inventive aliens and jokes. Sadly, the plot of "Men in Black 3" isn't particularly interesting and the majority of the jokes are lame.
Agent K (Jones) is feeling anxious lately, which is irritating his partner, Agent J (Smith) to no end. But as in his nature, K won't tell him what's going on, because it's above his paygrade. It turns out that a vicious alien named Boris the Animal (Clement), has escaped from prison on the moon. Boris has a beef with K for shooting off his arm in 1963, and has gone back in time to prevent that. Now J must go back in time to kill Boris and prevent an alien invasion.
Like the first two films, this plot is derivative and fairly boring. Unfortunately, the material that was the lifeblood of the first two films is lame here too. All the good stuff was given away in the trailer. There are a few good jokes here and there, but the script by Etan Cohen is depressingly bland.
Will Smith does his job admirably, but he's not given anything to work with. Tommy Lee Jones is barely on-screen long enough to be called a cameo. These two are on hand mainly to pick up a paycheck. Emma Thompson, the classy actress that she is, looks embarrassed to be here. Her "funniest" moment, where she squeaks and squeals in an alien language, is more awkward than funny. I felt embarrassed for her. The only ones who appear to invest themselves in their performances are Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg and Josh Brolin. Clement makes for a fairly evil villain, and Stuhlbarg is energetic, if slightly irritating, as the helpful alien who can see every possibility of every event. Josh Brolin, however, saves this movie from being a lot worse than it is. He's got Tommy Lee Jones down pat; the mannerisms, the accent, the look...it's easy to imagine that this is what K looked like in the 60s.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld, who hasn't had much of a career outside the "Men in Black" franchise, seems to be tired of the "Men in Black" movies. The timing is slacking, the energy is non-existent, and the movie on the whole is kind of a bore. I admit, there's some suspense during the final action scene, but that, and a few decent jokes, are the only things that this movie has going for it.
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