Somewhere between the second and the first in terms of quality

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2012)

I was cautiously optimistic when I heard that they were going to make another MIB movie. The first movie was extremely good in my opinion and even the lackluster sequel had some good things in it. Plus, it's hard not to like Will Smith in pretty much anything. The man is the definition of likable. Add in the chance to see young Agent K, some jokes about the late 60s and more of those comically weird aliens - it all seemed promising.
And the movie delivered beautifully. I got pretty much what I expected. It wasn't as good as the first one, which had the novelty on its side and could really work all the good jokes in, but it was definitely better than the sequel. The stupid jokes had been dropped, the dog was thankfully kept out and as a whole the tone was kept closer to the original. It's still lighthearted and family-friendly, but it didn't treat its audience like we were mentally handicapped idiots.
And at the same time all the good things were kept in and focused upon. Will Smith's Agent J was still as good as ever, yet he had been given the opportunity to develop as a character. He's a senior agent now and thankfully the movie realized this. Agent K was good as well, and his younger counterpart was played brilliantly by Josh Brolin. Very good role performance in my opinion, he absolutely nailed the character.
Plus, the supporting characters were very strong, the villain, while nothing special, still welt like a genuine threat and had character, the imagery didn't disappoint and the tired time travel plot avoided the most obvious pit falls.
Still, I must admit that the plot was probably the biggest fault in this movie. Nothing was obviously wrong with it, but nothing in it was all that special either. It's your run-down-the-mill time travel plot to stop the bad guy, who has gone back in time to change things. If you're seen one of them, you've seen this movie. The movie manages to keep its viewers from getting bored by focusing on the characters and the somewhat dark, yet goofy atmosphere, but one could still see that the writers hadn't had any new ideas.
Final thoughts: If you liked the previous MIB movies or even just the first one, this one is definitely worth checking out. It's a decent action/adventure film and well worth your time as long as you don't expect it to be as good as the original.