Back to the future for a third MIB installment

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2012)

The cheeky, irreverent humor blended with the extra-stellar sci-fi, along with the oil-and-water mixture of a bland, laid-back Tommy Lee Jones and a wisecracking, frenetic Will Smith, made 1997's "Men In Black" an original and humorous introduction to the newly-minted genre - the alien invasion comedy.
Like most popular movies, however, a sequel appeared (in 2002) starring an unfunny and over-the-top Johnny Knoxville as a villain, which seemed to knock the franchise out of orbit.
Now, though, a slight re-invention of the plot has given a fresh shot of energy and cleverness to the series. Of course, this is mostly due to the time-travel storyline, as well as the inclusion of Josh Brolin ("W," "No Country For Old Men," an Academy Award nominee for "Milk"). The picture also wisely avoids ANY connection with part two.
And while many of Smith's streetwise jokes fall flat (and he's too old now to pull off a reasonable fast-talking, jive-ass), plus, the 3D technology is completely unnecessary, "Men In Black 3" is nevertheless a welcome addition to the franchise, for the small amount that praise is worth.
Agent J (Smith) is constantly riding his partner, Agent K (a well-worn Tommy Lee Jones, "The Valley Of Elah," "No Country For Old Men"), for being old, crotchety and just plain boring. K explains that this is just the way it is, but J believes there is something deeper going on.
Meanwhile, Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement, "Dinner For Scmucks," a voice in "Rio" and "Despicable Me"), a powerful, brutish alien, is broken out of Lunar Max (a prison on the moon). He seeks the son of a scientist, Jeffrey Price (Michael Chernus, "Love and Other Drugs," "Higher Ground"), to travel back to 1969 and gain vengeance over Agent K for shooting off his arm and locking him up.
Then, one night, after hanging up on K, who was trying to explain some "secrets" to him, J is stunned to wake up in a different reality, a reality in which K has been dead for over 40 years.
Boris' mutant race is also massively invading Earth, which has no protection because it was K who designed a global anti-alien electronic net. With prompting from Agent O (Emma Thompson, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"), J now has to go back to the summer of '69 and try to prevent his partner's murder and save the world.
He steals a Cadillac (and shames a few racist cops and and uses some lame "modern" hip-hop verbiage in the process), but is soon captured by a young K (Brolin) and found to have a slew of advanced alien-killing weapons on his person. Trying not to reveal his real intentions, J is finally forced to admit he is there to keep Boris from pulling off his evil deed.
There is also a strange otherworldly character, Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg, "Hugo"), who tries to avoid Boris while passing along the planet's protection device. These scenes in 1969 are easily the most entertaining, with the wild colorful clothes, engaging pop music and "Austin Power's Spy Who Shagged Me" vibe which makes everyone from that era appear to be either Twiggy-like hipsters or extras from AMC's "Mad Men."
History fans may also appreciate a sequence of the New York Mets World Series triumph, as well as the July 16 Apollo 11 moon launch, while Bill Hader ("SNL," "Adventureland") does a hilarious (but all too short) Andy Warhol impersonation.
Along with Hader and Stuhlbarg earning kudos, Brolin, does a spot-on imitation of Jones and carries the movie to decent comedic heights (since Smith spends most of the motion picture in maudlin self-introspection). His Agent J character, in fact, is the least interesting one in this installment.
The direction (by Barry Sonnenfeld, "Adams Family," "Get Shorty," "RV," Men In Black I and II) is workmanlike and the writing (Lowell Cunningham and David Koepp) fairly competent, but its the makeup and special effects which also adds to the enjoyment of this endeavor.
The movie also gives us an "Empire Strikes Back" moment in an attempt to tie up a few emotional loose ends. Not a bad effort to (hopefully) end the series with, despite the fact that few - except the most ardent fanatics - were clamoring for such an effort.