Fresh Blast From The Past

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2012)

Agent J travels in time to MIB's early years in the 1960s, to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.
I saw the first trailer of this movie and I thought,"here we go again, another boring sequel" and then the second trailer came out and was good so I thought it was worth a shot. I went to the Cinema with an open mind as I also really wanted to see Will Smith on the big screen after such a long absence. Also having enjoyed the first movie a great deal, I just wanted this movie to exceed the second and that was all I asked for so my expectations were relatively low.
My, was I surprised. It is no secret that the second movie is a disaster but MiB3, though not quite the first due to plot holes, still strongly holds its own. The Cinematography is beautiful and quite exceptional too as the depiction of the 1960s setting was breathtaking; and even the celebrity Cameos are a delight to see. I still wonder how they consented to appear in this picture (I won't spoil the fun and mention their names). The sequence of agent Jay falling through time is beautiful as well. Perhaps as any in Hollywood Cinema.
The movie still isn't perfect due to plot holes like some references Jay makes in the past that do not coincide with the time line. In all, what makes this movie fresh and is also its heart is its well written script and its cast. Of course Will Smith returns as Agent Jay and is allowed to just be his enthusiastic, spontaneous and charismatic self that has endeared us to him over the years delivering a lot of comic wits. Tommy Lee Jones could do no wrong also as the stern and serene Agent Kay. The Jay and Kay dynamic didn't quite work well in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the movie and it still seemed like they were first time partners even though the movie time frame in the present coincides with ours which is a decade after their first meeting. All this boredom were put to rest as soon as we jump to the past to meet with the younger Agent Kay as portrayed by Josh Brolin and he is quite easily the superstar of this show. This performance is as close to perfection as any can get with his accurate impersonation of the serene but quick wit expression of Tommy Lee Jones that we have grown accustomed to over the years. His performance was so great that it made the character of a young Emma Thompson/Agent O seem a lot out of place. He made his character work so well that you could see how this 29 year old agent Kay could well transform into the present Agent we well know. And even with this impersonation, he did well to make the character his own in a lot of ways.
The dynamic between Agent Jay and the younger Agent Kay really carries the movie and this could be the one out of the three with the most heart in the MiB franchise. It seemed to focus a lot on character development and this is a huge plus for the movie. Some of the humor did fall flat but a lot of it works. The supporting cast were not left out as their performances were impeccable both for drama and comedy and did I fail to mention Jermaine Clement as the Evil Boris the animal.
If you were a fan of the first MiB movie, you should go and see this. If you hated or weren't quite fond of the second, you should really go and see this.