Men in Black fans will enjoy the third go at this popular sci-fi comedy. Although the plot is more like a Sudoku game, watching Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Josh Brolin is fun and the special effects in the film are terrific.
Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) have been like salt and pepper in their investigative career. Alone they are only half a team and often off their game. Together they add yet another layer to a successful yet odd force fighting evil.
Tommy Lee Jones
It’s only natural when working with a partner who always seems to have more to his past than is revealed, to want to know more. That’s the scenario in Men In Black 3. Agent J has put up with his somber-faced partner who talks less than a kid on timeout. Now he wants to know more.
So we time travel back to 1969 where we find alien Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), planning an escape that makes one from Alcatraz look like child play. He has one thing on his mind, he wants his arm back that K took off and wants K dead.
It takes a while for J to figure out what’s going on when he time travels back and begins to unravel the mystery. In the back flash section Josh Brolin is playing K, and he does a great job. Makeup has even prepped a close resemblance to Jones, but it’s Brolin’s mannerisms that nail his character.
Josh Brolin & Alice Eve
“We shot the acts sequentially – we had Tommy playing K in the first act, then Josh came in playing K for the second act and almost all of the third act, and then in the last week of shooting we got Tommy back,” Director Barry Sonnenfeld said. “What I found amazing was that I kept thinking I was directing one actor; the performances were so consistent that it was hard for me to tell where Tommy Lee Jones ended and Josh Brolin began. For me, it’s not about Tommy playing K or Josh playing K. It’s just K.”
Jones is perfect in his “no expressions as he might crack” persona. Smith is great as the off-beat agent who moves with a Smith whimsy but always upholds the job of the black suit. And while J is trying to figure out his partner, they are both faced with saving the world from Boris.
Will Smith
Michael Stuhlbarg as an alien with a soft spot for the underdogs of human history is understated and top notch in every scene as Griffin.
The back story plot works fine, but fans will enjoy what they love best about the MIB series – the visuals. Rick Baker’s aliens are extreme and amusing. Four-time Oscar- nominee set designer Bo Welch has two worlds to capture our attention and there’s so much rich stuff going on in both of the 2012 and 1960s worlds it might need a second look. Five-time Oscar-winner Ken Ralston and Jay Redd help oversee the stunning visual effects. Director of Photography Bill Pope (Matrix, Spider-Man) doesn’t miss a beat in delivering an exciting time in every scene,
For those who don’t remember where MIB left off in 2002, not to worry, little makes sense anyway so it’s just a matter of sit back in your seat and enjoy the ride.
Photo Credits: Wilson Webb / Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
