Men In Black 3

Review by Sean Lynch

Here come the Men In Black, galaxy defenders, they won't let you remember (or in the case of this ten-year-later sequel), won't let you forget.

MiB 3 kicks off with our old pals, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) meandering through business as usual. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. 

But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J is forced to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him - secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

Cinema goers have experienced quite a lot of "reboot" pain over the last decade. If there was a movie that was popular once, you can pretty much guarantee it's been given the "reboot" or "re imagine" treatment. Some of these were excellent (The Dark Knight, Casino Royale), some were downright embarrassing (Footloose), but eventually the concept led to a public backlash.

"Why replace all the characters we love? We just want the characters that made us enjoy these stories in the first place!" said anonymous people who I am quoting that may or may not exist. So, in response to the "enough reboots" argument, a new trend emerged : the nostalgia driven "decade later" sequel.

Scream 4 and American Pie Reunion were the most recent high profile cases. On paper, it made perfect sense. Enough time had passed for us to miss the originals - and enough DVDs can be sold to ensure a new generation know what's going on before they head to the cinema. 

Sadly, the equation didn't quite work in reality. One has to wonder if Sony noticed the extreme financial failure of both of those films before they green lit the pricey MiB3 - a film which was plagued by massive budgets, egotistical stars and the most worrying problem... filming before a script was even finished.

The film itself has nothing outrageously wrong with it : it's a fun concept, there are some fantastic visuals (both CGI and physical) and it fills the void of having to engage in actual human contact for two hours. 

The problem is, there is just no need for it. Even the most die hard MiB fans will admit they weren't exactly salivating for an MiB II back in 2002, let alone another dose now. And that seems to be MiB 3's greatest fault - it's too inconsequential a film to really stand on it's own two feet, and hardly epic enough to really warrant revisiting as a franchise.

It's also strangely darker than previous efforts which seems at odds with the franchises' history. Don't get me wrong, Flight Of The Conchords' Jemaine Clement is easily the freshest and most exciting thing about the film - his violent, dark, gritty alien persona is an unexpected treat... it's just at odds with the vibe of the MiB universe.

There is also the "Will Smith isn't an underdog, but a full blown A List star" factor working against the film too. We are no longer watching the cheeky Fresh Prince of Bel Air mucking around on the big screen. Smith lacks the youthful enthusiasm that made him so likable in the original (perhaps because now he is an "actor", plus he isn't far off being as old as TLJ was in the original). This leads to a good deal of humour being sucked out of the movie straight away (as well as Rip Torn).

Thankfully Josh Brolin makes up for it with a stellar Tommy Lee Jones impression. In fact, he kind of has to, as it's still up in the air as to whether Jones was even alive during the filming of his scenes or if Sonnenfeld just implemented a "Weekend At Bernies" style filming technique for any shots involving the grumpy looking cinematic legend.

It's not as bad as I'm making it seem. As a space nerd myself, there is a lot of throw away fun to be had here (especially with a new character who has the ability to see all possible variations of future events - bring on String and M Theory discussions y'all!) but if MiB 3 was never released, you truly get the sense that the idea of a third outing would have never crossed anyones mind at all.

Fun for a Friday night, but ultimately incredibly forgettable. Consider the audience and this reviewer officially neuralized.

3 out of 5

Men In Black 3
Australian release: 24th May, 2012
Official Site: Men In Black 3
Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Alice Eve, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld