Will Smith is back after a four year hiatus, to champion his own kids careers no doubt, with this third installment of goofy alien blunder. Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are complicity enjoined to once again help save the planet from contemptible critters who have nothing better to do than destroy our insignificant planet.
The original Men In Black is a whopping 14 years old now - hard to believe considering I remember it so vividly. I caught the show at my local drive in bloody high school circa 1997! Anyway, origin stories are hard to beat and thus this new adventure felt rather unnecessary and childish except for a few points which I will come to momentarily.
Tommy Lee is looking reasonably old these days and many closeups reveal that even movie magic makeup is no match for his uniquely lined face. He plays his curmudgeon character well and thankfully the movie gives him some real screen time before just shooting off to the past and introducing his younger self. Brolin characterizes a young Lee with verve and provides some quaint comic relief but nothing too surprising or indelible. It was a pleasure to see Will Smith again and I must say he looks absolutely no different than he did 14 years prior. All three actors have numerous interesting movies in the pipeline as well.
Barry Sonnenfeld has directed all three spectacles and has kept the same goofy vibe that many of his films contain. Some are better than others and it's really just a crap shoot with him. I would say that this film rivals the 2nd Men In Black for being about the same quality - both unfortunately fairly forgettable because each film uses many of the same gags from the first one with a few exceptions. The odd little man that can tell any possible future was an agreeable clever touch I thought - in line with many theories of quantum mechanics by the way - the bug-eyed, wicked nemesis on the whack motorcycle was decidedly bad ass and looked groovy but his alien dart throwing hands were a bit weak as a superpower and lastly we have the superb ending. It truly touched me because I guess it was so unexpected. It doesn't make full sense to me unless the zapper thingy was used to erase a memory but regardless it was a wonderful way to wrap up a trilogy of silly films.
Recommended Viewing: MIB - Killer Clowns From Outer Space - Galaxy Quset
Bob Scale: Objective: 6.0 - Subjective: 6.5
MetaCritic: 58
Rotten Tomatoes: 68
IMDB: 7.3
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