Much better than expected.

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2012)

I was watching various site ratings on this film since the beginning of the week wondering how it would be received by the critical movie base, and was surprised when it jumped from 40 to 140 reviews that were positive. I did not read them, but it did change my mind about going to see it, and I must admit it certainly helped the franchise dig out of the rut it was in when MIB 2 came out. What a flop that was! That one is NOT in my movie collection.
I have to preface this with the usual movie experience. I have stated previously that I am not a huge fan of 3D... most of them remind me of those halo-postcards and knee deep in lackluster. So I bought tickets to the 2D showing. Entering the theater, the sound was that of previews but there was nothing on the screen. Sat down and munched some popcorn and waited. Every now and then there was a flash of light but eventually, one by one, people left the audience to complain. I would normally do this, but seeing the amount of people who left I felt my complaint would have been useless. At last I heard someone down the hall say "The projector has a burnt out bulb and will take about 10 minutes to replace. For those that would like not to wait, we will let you into the viewing of the 3D showing and give you all the glasses at no charge". Looks like I would be seeing this in 3D anyways, and as I suspected... putting on the glasses really made things less clear and darker.
To start off, there was a real familiarity for the movie. It was all comfortable. Characters we knew; aliens we were familiar with; even the look and feel of the camera and music was all Men In Black (which Bill Pope, from Matrix trilogy, Spiderman fame, Steven Spielberg and Danny Elfman from the original movie), the story started out with new character development that made this sequel at home. Yes, the characters have aged... almost to the point where you want to say "ENOUGH! PLEASE RETIRE OR DO SOMETHING MORE YOUR AGE". It is OK though, the movie was crafted around the character ages... cept maybe Will Smith needs to move on from action films. The movie makes it plain that it was already many years since their last screen presentation. It is believable in the fiction it is portrayed in. The wit was there. The characters where there. And the plot was there, so lets continue with the fun.
Yes, K and J have gone on in their years. Yes, they keep aliens in their place but it is obvious that there is (as with all convicted criminals, galactic or native) some criminals can not just let things go by without payback. If I say "time travel", I would be giving away a lot, but we have seen time travel before and it is not new. Star Trek, Time Machine, yadda yadda have all played with this and most times messing around with timelines and parallel dimensions is never a safe thing unless you have really nothing to loose. Right? I mean, what does a criminal have to loose that will never have parole? Specially if that alien lives for enormous lifespans? It gets messy, needless to say, and life as we know it once again becomes a key pin the the events that follow in this movie.
Josh Brolin play a young Kay, and he sure did a good study on Tommy Lee's character even down to the inflections of the voice. It was entertaining. Young Kay was more human, sociable and open than his elder counterpart. What happens to make the older Kay and the younger Kay is really what this movie is about. I didn't find the FX all that new. Actually, I felt the 3D portage was lacking and not necessary. I wish I could have seen it in 2D to be honest. With all the banter, action and blocking, this sequel plays more along its original roots as the first movie than the second, plus you will be smiling when you come to the ending scenes. It makes all the difference in the world.
I'm glad there were no kids in the audience, but it is tamer than most scifi flicks. You really should plan this viewing as an adult tho, it leaves you free to enjoy it as it should. B