Without a doubt an improvement over the second installment, which was kind of seen as the 'GHOST BUSTERS II' of the series!

Rating: 7/10 (30 May 2012)

'MEN IN BLACK 3': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their popular roles from the hit franchise based on the comic book of the same name. The film comes ten years after the last installment (which was a disappointment to fans and kind of seen as the 'GHOST BUSTERS II' of the series) and fifteen years after the original. Barry Sonnenfeld once again directs and Etan Cohen wrote the screenplay this time around (based on an idea by Will Smith, while filming the last film). The premise revolves around Smith's character Agent J traveling back in time to save his partner, Agent K (Jones), from an alien assassination that changes history and sets in motion catastrophic events which doom the present. Josh Brolin was geniusly added to the cast this time around as a young Agent K. The film is a little hit and miss but for the most part it works and should generally please most fans of the series.
The film also casts Jemaine Clement (of 'THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS' fame) as it's main villain 'Boris the Animal', who is out for revenge on the man who took his arm and had him imprisoned for forty years: Agent K. After escaping his prison, on the Moon, Boris steals a time travel device that allows him to jump back in time to the day Agent K caught him (in 1969). With K now out of the way Boris is able to invade Earth with his alien race, the Boglodites, and no one is aware of K's former existence (over the last 4 decades) except Agent J. So Agent J travels back in time to stop Boris from killing K and invading Earth in the present. He teams with a young Agent K in order to do so.
If you're a fan of Will Smith you'll love him here and he dominates the movie but Brolin does manage to steal his thunder with his spot-on impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones. Jones is great like always but his time is pretty limited in the film. Clement is great as the movie's villain as well and Michael Stuhlbarg (of 'A SERIOUS MAN' fame) is a scene stealer as well in a supporting role. The special effects are great and Sonnenfeld manages to keep the energy and fun going most of the time. It does get a little bogged down here and there and the script could have used multiple more rewrites but for the most part it's enjoyable. Of course it's not as memorable as the blockbuster original but it is without a doubt an improvement over the second installment. It delivers about what I expected from it.
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