Is it worth the Time?

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2012)

It's been a few years since I saw a Will Smith movie that didn't involve him being bitter or depressed. However, this weekend Mr. Smith stepped back into his role as Agent J, the Man In Black with an attitude. Now although I love the first Men In Black and I was okay with it's sequel, I had my doubts about this third movie. After all not many sequels have proved their worth. Does Men In Black fall into the same category, or is it one of the few sequels that actually worth seeing in the theaters? Read on to find out.
What could the world's best alien busting team possibly have left to do? Time travel of course, and Men In Black is full of time jumping goodness. In case you haven't seen the trailer, MIB 3 has J (Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) once again teaming up to investigate the extraterrestrial crime ring, while also ironing out their own personal issues. However, K gets taken for a little time trip and disappears from the world with only J having any recollection. J refuses to let his partner fade into the abyss, and instead decides to do a little time jumping himself eventually meeting the younger version of his partner (Josh Brolin).
Call me a sucker for science fiction, but MIB 3 was perhaps one of the better sequels I have seen in a long time. Smith and Brolin did a fantastic job in this movie, both still recapturing the classic teamwork of the original MIB. When they aren't working together though both actors play their characters well. Smith still has the same sarcasm and one-liners to make you laugh, while Brolin captures that stonewall dry humor that is both funny and driving at the same time. Jones on the other hand has a more limited role in the film than I anticipated. Although he plays a key part in the story, Jones actually doesn't get that much screen time in the film, which is quite a shame as I really enjoy his role as the monotone agent who shows little emotion.
Regardless of the acting though, the story was much better than the one we saw in MIB 2. Amidst the constant comedy of J's clumsiness and spunk, lies a tale that is heartwarming, sentimental, and quite fun. Now don't get me wrong this movie didn't have the most original plot, and it was fairly predictable with only the slightest twist here and there. Still this movie had a little bit of something for everyone. A few exciting fight scenes, some fast paced chases, and some witty use of technology are all in this movie, and should be quite entertaining to the audience. The team did a nice job bringing the extraterrestrial world to life, with all the gadgets, lasers, and alien goo looking fairly real. Yet one can definitely tell they designed their camera work to bring out the most with 3-D technology. However, another thing that helped keep this film interesting was the villain Boris (Jemaine Clement). Unlike MIB2's main villain, Boris had an edge that made him feel more of a threat. His personal vendetta with MIB was also a tad more exciting and better integrated that made a more exciting story. Boris though had a voice that was more humorous than threatening, which was probably exactly what they were going for. Though for this reviewer there will be no villain that can replace Edgar the bug from the first MIB.
There are some things I was missing in this installment of the series though. For one thing some of the classic characters were missing in this film, or only had a few seconds in the movie. Although new characters like Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Agent O (Emma Thompson) are welcome additions, there are some characters that shouldn't have been removed. A second weakness is the 3-D shots, which were a little over-dramatic at some points. I really don't like this new 3-D obsession as too many movie focus on shooting in that style and sacrifice other areas of the movie. I guess those are really the only two weaknesses I could pick up in the movie.
MIB 3 is definitely a fun adventure that many veteran fans will enjoy. The directing team went back to the roots of the original to correct the mistakes of the second installment. I definitely give this movie a recommendation for a trip to the theater, but I haven't figured out if it is worth the 3-D showing. For this sequel, I give the following scores:
Action/Comedy/Sci Fi: 8.0 Movie overall: 7.0-7.5
Until my next review my friends, this is Robbie K signing off.