Movie Review: Men In Black 3

Men In Black 3

TSI Five-O : Funny, kitschy, definitely watchable!

It’s been a while. 10 years ago was the last time we saw Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as secret agents kicking some alien ass. And boy, they haven’t lost touch.

Men in Black 3, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Get Shorty, The Addams Family and the first two in the MIB series), has finally made it to the big screen after its budget blew to $215 million, and had numerous script revisions. In this second sequel, Agent J goes back in time – to 1969 – to stop Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) from assassinating Jones' Agent K Imagine!

While most other alien films have either the intense action of a Michael Bay movie or the dramatic, patriotic feel of Independence Day, Men in Black has its own charm. That charm includes some of the most unappetizing scenes such as spiders crawling inside the hands of Boris the Animal. Even though those are slimy scenes, they have a funny, almost arty feel to it. Think of it as Dadaism meeting Street Art.

There are some other characters such as Griffin, who can see every possible parallel future and hence most of his dialogues begin with, “This is the one where …” He seems the most human of the lot even though he bores the hell out of K and J.

Will Smith is his usual self: suave and smart, and adorably – though only slightly – clumsy. Tommy Lee Jones’ face appears to be shot with enough botox to make Queen Elizabeth look like Britney Spears. But I’ll be damned if I were to suggest he and Smith create anything but crackling comedy together.

What works like comedy on steroids, however, is the casting of Josh Brolin as the younger Agent K Brolin delivers as the expressionless Jones (they had worked together in No Country for Old Men) and how! Howlarious, more like. Better yet, Brolin brings in a true actor's refinement, adding humour and emotion that help explain the origins of Agent K's morose moods.

The special effects are cheesy-fun but seeing Andy Warhol as an agent and Lady Gaga as an alien-in-disguise is hilarious. Also, the aforementioned budget has been used pretty wisely, with the moon and the Apollo 11 mission launch scenes crafted to immaculate perfection.

If I have any complaints, it is why plot lines refuse to grow up even fifteen years after the original. All the other super heroes are growing up; shouldn’t the Men in Black series be updated too? Ah, what the heck. There are aliens and we are watching them being atomized to pulp. Yummy! Bring out the popcorns.

Ishan Raychaudhuri