MIB3 Rocks Your Mind

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2013)

I've seen the first two MIB movies; they're both excellent movies merging both action and science fiction genres with some absurdist comedy, and this third installment not only follows then with the same formula, it pole-vaults with it. First off, it's lacking Rip Torn as Zed and Frank the Pug, but their presence and legacy is still inherent in the film. A villain named Boris the Animal escapes prison on the moon with the sole purpose of taking out the man who put him there, namely Kay, but instead of the traditional vengeance plot, Boris goes back in time to stop Kay from putting him in prison in the first place. Here's where it gets sticky, somehow, Jay is the only one who knows time has been altered. In a true time travel story, Boris should have vanished into the past never to be seen again. After all, time is immutable; it can't be changed. Just as there should have been two aliens named Boris in the diverging time line, there would be another Jay in the alternate time line that Boris creates instead of Jay just experiencing a time-rip. (Can you say "plot device," boys and girls? I knew you could.) While a bit of accuracy would be nice, it's a small blooper in what is actually a top-notch plot. Will Smith is in top form, picking up Jay's character with ease, as does sardonic Tommy Lee Jones. Josh Brolin really pulls off an excellent temporal version of Kay in the 60s, and Emma Thompson shines as their new boss. Alice Eve is stunning as usual, but she really doesn't get much to do, and Jemaine Clement gives something to the villain that the first two movie villains didn't have, a presence and a character. Will Arnett also manages a rather brief comic cameo in one of the best gags in the movie. Definitely the best film in the series, probably because the film manages to link both Jay and Kay's pasts in a way even I didn't see coming, this is the one we've been waiting for.