Friday, July 27, 2012

Men in Black III


It has been ten years since the previous Men in Black film and the third film in the series doesn't really hold itself to any events from its predecessors (then again, with the exception of one plot point, the same can be said of Men in Black II). All you really need to know is that there is a secret organization called the Men in Black that protect Earth from extra-terrestrial life. From there the film takes off into a plot that is welcoming to fans and newcomers alike as Agent J. (Will Smith) has to go back to 1969 to correct the timestream before his partner, Agent K. (Tommy Lee Jones), and the rest of Earth are erased from history.

This film had a highly troubled production shoot. Not World War Z bad, but it underwent several re-writes while filming and forced the release date to be played around with. Even though that factor shouldn't figure into anyone's opinion on the movie, Barry Sonnenfeld's film doesn't have any sign of being worse for wear. It certainly helps that Rick Baker is back once again and coming up with some fantastic designs of creatures to interact with the two highly memorable human characters. Smith (this being his first film in four years) is still able to carry a big-budget action movie with all the wit and charisma necessary and his chemistry with Jones translates very well to 1960's K. played by Josh Brolin. Like with W., Brolin is capable of doing a spot-on impersonation that can still lend itself to the creation of a great character. Michael Stuhlbarg and Bill Hader are also cast in touching and humorous roles respectively while Jermaine Clement melds well with the special effects and make-up that help make him a more menacing character.

My major complaint that I felt really harms the film is its final act. There is a huge plot hole that everyone I've brought it up to either replies humorously or honestly has no answer as to how or why it makes sense and then there is an ending that ties past and present together... for the purpose of just some additional sentiment that the film already has plenty of in its rapport between Smith and Jones/Brolin. Still, the film is a breath of fresh fun in a summer that has so far been dark, but full of some better-than-usual blockbusters.

No comments:

Post a Comment