Men in Black: Time Travel Defenders

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2012)

I remember back in 1997 when Men in Black came out, it was such a huge hit and Will Smith was on top of the world that year. It was a good movie and a big hit that naturally they wanted to crank out a sequel. The sequel wasn't exactly that good though, so you'd think the series ended with that. After a 4 year hiatus from acting on Will Smith's part, who has gone from fresh prince to box office success to a critical love child, you wondered what would be his comeback. I guess he wanted to go back to his old roots with trying to give life back into Men In Black. When I saw the trailer, I have to admit that in some way I was kind of excited to see this one. To see some good old nostalgia and see the awesome chemistry between Smith and Jones again. But time travel is a tricky plot that needs to be handled with delicacy and Men in Black does stumble quite a bit but is saved by Brolin's excellent performance as the young Agent K.
The intergalactic criminal Boris the Animal has escaped from the LunarMax prison on Earth's moon. He is intent on going back in time and killing Agent K, who shot off his arm and captured him. K regrets not killing Boris and returns to his apartment, where all traces of him disappear. Agent J still remembers K, though no one else at Men in Black headquarters does. Aided by electronic-shop owner, who created the time-travel device, J time-jumps off the Chrysler Building to reach time-travel velocity. With only 24 hours to stop Boris, J arrives a day before Boris kills K. Thus bringing him back to life in the future, but along the way finds out secrets of the universe that were meant to be kept for a reason.
Seriously, you would think that Josh Brolin is Tommy Lee Jones' long lost son, his performance is fantastic. The look, the mannerisms, everything he had down so perfect, it's actually award worthy. He also makes for Agent K to be very likable again and gives him a certain life that was missing from the second film. Will Smith, he does a good job, but he tries too hard at times. He's older now, we know that, but for some reason he's still using the same slang from his fresh prince days. It doesn't even fit in the 1960's era. But still I have to admit that he's got that same charm that makes you laugh and just love him. Jemaine Clement plays a great Boris the Animal, very threatening and scary and his make up is excellent. Though it was weird, my fiancé and I really thought it was Tim Currey because of his voice, he could be the next Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It's the performances that really make this movie because the rest of it needed some major work. The special effects are actually pretty lousy compared to the first film, like the green screen effects. You could totally tell when it was a green screen behind the actors and it's not hidden very well. Also there are a few plot holes with the whole time traveling issue as most movies that handle this subject have. It's a tricky subject of "if someone I know now bumps into me in the past, will it affect the future?". Also, how can you stop something from happening without getting the notice, etc. I did predict the ending with Will Smith's "first time meeting K" which my fiancé looked at me and asked if I wrote the script. It's just if you've seen these type of movies, you know where they're going with certain subjects. However, despite the problems with the film, I really did enjoy it. It's not the first Men in Black, but it was a better follow up than what we were left with in the second film. I would recommend it for a rental, at most a matinée just for fun. One more thing I would've changed was: can we stop using "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z for New York set movies? I mean, I love the song, but for this instead when Will Smith comes back to 2012, they should've cued the always catchy "Men in Black" song, I would've been more hyped for that ending, since it would be kind of weird for 44-year-old Smith to be rapping like Snoop.
6/10