This film should not be as good as it is, but the sheer gusto and bluster with which it embraces itself means, well, IT WORKS.

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2012)

For many people this film had a lot to live up to, as a sequel to two well-beloved family favourites , and in my opinion Sonnenfield played this film perfectly. He doesn't dwell in the past, even if he based his plot round the concept, and try to reignite a story on hiatus for ten years. He takes the well-known, well-liked characters of his first films and plunges them into a new plot line, with a "fresh" antagonist, new allies and a new setting.
Men in Black 3 is, in one word - "absurd". In two, "absurd" and "brilliant". Having conquered space travel and extra terrestrialism, the Men in Black series has turned its attention to new dimensions; time travel in 3D. Hollywood has a long history in time travel, a concept with which many director's have grappled and come off worst. Convoluting plot lines with infinite "butterfly effect" ramifications until the whole film becomes ludicrous - a sheet of holes being desperately bound together with unsatisfactory explanations, leaving all other facets of production to fall by the wayside. MIB's success is in its wholehearted embrace of absurdity; it is conscious of its convolution and ridicules itself for it. Griff (Michael Stahlberg) an alien who sees all possibilities is an ingenious dramatic device. He soars over the usual issue of timeline changes with interjections explaining "Oh it's this one". Griff is the centre of the film's self-awareness and his interludes of wonder at the implications of small events on the wider scale, expertly capsulated in the "Ball park" scene, are a valuable addition to the piece.
Almost the whole film is performed with as much tongue in cheek as a hoarding hamster; even the often delicate subject of race in 1960s America is broached with a light hearted comic approach - resulting in some of the most amusing moments of the entire film.
Will Smith, the heart and soul of this film, blends his more recent, mature, emotionally delicate performances from "Ali", "Seven pounds" and "I am Legend" with his signature boyish quips from "the playground were he spent most of his days". Agent J is the Fresh king. An emotionally intelligent performance loaded with "tch'all know what I'm saying" wit and impeccable comic timing. The relationship, familiar to all those versed in the two preceding films, between agent Jay and agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin) is integral to the film's success. For all the impressive action sequences, laser blasting, one wheeled motor bike chases and general running around in fully rendered 3D, Barry Sonanfield recognises the importance of human story and maintains this focus.
In a moment the adrenaline fuelled, absurd laugh riot, gives way to a truly unguessable twist, a rarity in cinema today, and then a genuinely emotional sequence. Time is expertly utilised in this film, both as a plot device, and as a piece of film craft. Comedy timing was beat perfect, lengthy verbal appeals cut short with snap camera shot changes to our never-out-of-their-depth heroes face down in the dirt, handcuffed. Fight and chase sequences are interspersed with typical 1960s domestic scenes, intensifying the pace and gravity of the situation and simultaneously helping to create the clever self-awareness of ludicrousness. Revelations are revealed at pinpoint moments to spur the action on and prevent too long a lull in the narrative. Soundtrack runs almost throughout this film guiding the audience in their perception of pacing, becoming noticeable by its absence to create comic effect and reassure you that you've pressed the red button and are now driving on the roof in the sleek black movie vehicle.
The Men in Black series has always been light, and quick on its feet and in its heart and this has seemed to most its appeal, however Men In Black 3 gears this enjoyable creamy lightness and intersects it beautifully with a heavier emotional layer. As Jay stands still on the beach, finally fully realising his past, the series stands still for an incredibly rare moment and allows us to gulp it down like "chocolate milk" to cure our "temporal fracture" headache from the mile-a-minute film. It is at this moment that the motif of time, physically embodied in a sentimental stop-watch, comes to realisation.
Although perhaps the drawback of what ultimately is a clever, funny and entertaining family film written by a comic-book writer – characters may be endearing and emotionally delicate but they are not complicatedly layered, despite the clear attempts...