Men In Black III (2012)

nTitle: Men In Black III (2012)

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nDirector: Barry Sonnenfeld

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nCast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, EmmanThompson

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nReview:

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nIt’s been ten years since the Men In Black last graced thensilver screen with their alien filled, world destroying adventures. Not a lotnof people liked MIB II (2002), I forget exactly why (maybe it wasn’t very good?)nbut same as the first one, that sequel made huge bank, so here they are again,nAgent J and K, ready to kick some alien butt. The big question on everybody’snmind is, would this third entry be worth it, or redundant? Well, things werenlooking good for this sequel in my book when the cast returned. Another goodnomen was that Barry Sonnenfeld the director behind the previous two films agreednto direct this third entry. I like Sonnenfeld’s films, they always havensomething interesting to look at, they always have that kinetic camera, alwaysnmoving somewhere. Make up effects genius Rick Baker, would be in charge ofncreating the alien make up effects and designs for this one, which is a majornplus in my book. So, things were looking good for this new MIB film. Would thenplanets align once again for this third film? Would this one be equally funnynand interesting?

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nStory this time around revolves around Agent K’s sudden disappearancenfrom history. An old nemesis’s of K’s -an alien being known as ‘Boris’- hasnaltered time so that K doesn’t exist. Interesting part about the whole thing isnthat even though K has been erased from time and nobody seems to remember him,nJ still remembers him as if he was alive. So it’s up to J to go back in time andnstop Boris from altering the present. J’s mission this time around is to travelnall the way back to 1969 to make everything alright.

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nBasically this is like Back To The Future (1985) or ThenTerminator (1984), but with aliens. I know what you’re thinking; it’s been donento death the whole time travel thing. And you’re probably right. By now audiencesnare so familiarized with the concept of time travel that in new time travelnfilms like this one, characters don’t have to whip out a chalk board and explainneverything to us. We already know the ins and outs of time travel and itsneffects on space time continuum; we got Dr. Emmet Brown to thank for that, henexplained it all so well in Back to the Future II (1989). So anyways, yeah,nthis is one of those movies where altering the past has terrible consequencesnon the future. Though this might feel redundant, I always say its not what younsay but how you say it, right? And MIB III manages to tell it’s time travelntale in a very interesting fashion.

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nFirst off, the true strength of this film lies in itsnvisuals. The way things look; this is something I’ve always loved aboutnSonnenfeld’s films. How he moves the camera, the strange angles, the things henchooses to focus on. Remember how the first MIB film opens up with us followingna mosquito? Do you remember how much the camera moves on Sonnenfeld’s AddamsnFamily movies? Well, MIB III is no different. Sonnenfeld’s camera movementsnhave always felt like a rollercoaster ride, it’s part of what makes his moviesnso interesting. Kind of like the same reason why I loved those first Sam Raiminmovies, the kinetic camera movements. Sonnenfeld’s camera movements were feltnthe most during the time travel scenes and the whole opening sequence which bynthe way take place on the moon! This movie was like eye candy to me, somenscenes are filled with so many colors and details…my eyes were devouring thisnone. The film has great artistic design, which doesn’t surprise me in a filmnwith such elevated production values. Reportedly, the film cost 300 millionndollars to make. The most interesting looking scenes for me where those takingnplace inside of the MIB head quarters during 1969 when we get to see all the retro-futuristicngadgets the MIB had during those days.

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nAnd what would a MIB film be without its cool lookingnaliens? Nowhere that’s where. The big fun with these movies for me is seeing allnthe different aliens that show up. This one doesn’t hold back at all. Rick Bakernand crew really outdid themselves this time with the creatures because we notnonly get the cool alien creatures we normally see in these movies, but when Jntravels back in time, we also get to see what kind of aliens were walkingnaround the MIB headquarters during 1969; which was a pretty cool moment in thenfilm because all the aliens look like the type of alien creatures you’d see innfilms from that era. This part of the film was an awesome homage to sciencenfiction films from the 50’s and 60’s.  

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nFinally, I also enjoyed the revelations the film makes innrespect to J and K’s personal life.  Thisnfilm gets kind of emotional in a rather unexpected way. It connects J and K’snlife in a very interesting fashion. Other pluses are Josh Brolin’s performancenas a younger version of K, who was dead on channeling Tommy Lee Jones’s character.nMy last words on this one are that it was a very fun movie, very entertainingnand never boring. The aliens, the gadgets and the action will keep younentertained all the way through. An extra tidbit of info: this was the filmnthat finally took The Avengers (2012) out of the #1 spot at the box office, whichndemonstrates that Will Smith still has that huge box office drawing power. He’snstill candy for the masses; he’s still got the appeal. MIB III isn’t a filmnthat will change your life, it doesn’t offer up “the secrets of the universe”nas it suggests in its previews, but I’m sure it will keep you entertained fornits entire duration; this my friends was a very fun summer movie.

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nRating: 4 out of 5

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