Running Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Quick Impressions:
Back in high school (or actually, the summer just after it), I loved Men in Black because it was the kind of thing my parents liked to see, and I loved anything that got me into a movie theater. I remember hearing after the fact that Will Smith’s role had originally been intended for Chris O’Donnell and thinking, Wow! Crisis averted! That would have been so…bland. No offense meant to O’Donnell, but I think what makes the original Men in Black work is the chemistry between Smith and Jones, who have incredibly distinctive (and entirely different) screen personas. (Perhaps I should say personae, but that just doesn’t look right in a Men in Black review.) (Full disclosure, though—my very favorite thing about the original Men in Black is the way Siobhan Fallon Hogan pronounces the name Edgar.)
To be honest, I didn’t go into Men in Black III with high expectations. I went because it’s still the kind of movie my family likes, and I like to review as many movies as possible (and eat popcorn in the dark). Experience has taught me to be wary of additions to a franchise that come along a decade or more after the previous installment. Such long delayed sequels tend to feature phoned in lead performances, ridiculous plots, and Shia LaBeouf. (Again, no offense meant. LaBeouf is easily my third favorite part of the Transformers series.)
Sure enough, at the beginning of Men in Black III, I was less than impressed. I kept thinking, You know, Will Smith’s character doesn’t feel as authentic as it once did. He seems too old now. I’m not sure this is working. The humor feels forced. But then, Agent J time-jumped back to 1969. Suddenly, the movie got good—in fact, it got better than I expected. I genuinely laughed at several scenes, found myself intrigued at moments, and definitely felt more satisfied by the time the credits rolled than I’d ever imagined that I would.
The Good:
While I’m not sure the story would hold up under extreme scrutiny (as is often the case with plots involving time travel), it had a number of captivating elements. Two things in particular wowed me: Josh Brolin’s performance as the young Agent K, and the character of Griffin, the last of his race.
When we saw the earliest teasers for Men in Black III, both my husband and I assumed Brolin was merely lip-synching to Tommy Lee Jones’s voice. Not so. Since then, I’ve read multiple articles about how difficult getting Jones’s peculiar cadence down proved for Brolin.
Josh Brolin is a very good actor. Surely he’ll win an Oscar one day. He was fantastic in the rather strange movie W. and also quite brilliant in Milk. (And, of course, he was adorable trying to catch up with his brother on that tiny bike in The Goonies.) He was good in Planet Terror, too, and American Gangster. The longer I think about him, the more excellent performances I suddenly remember. And how did I forget about No Country for Old Men until just now? The casting of Brolin as a younger version of his No Country for Old Men co-star is inspired, and he really nails it. In fact, my enthusiasm for his performance is almost embarrassing in retrospect. I spent most of the 1969 parts on the edge of my seat, watching Brolin’s face, thinking, I hope he talks again soon. (It’s like finding out a friend does a brilliant impression of someone famous and begging to hear it again and again.)
Another awesome character showed up in 1969, Griffin the Arcanian. (I think that’s right. I keep wanting to call him the Arcadian, but I just remembered that’s the name of that old hotel in How I Met Your Mother.) I loved that character and didn’t expect him. Now, I’m not sure that the script really utilizes him in the best way that it could given his compelling and pretty awesome nature. But he was just cool and really made me think. Also Michael Stuhlbarg plays him in such a sweet, funny, likable way. The Arcanian has intriguing abilities, and he’s also a big sweetie pie who sets up lots of jokes. What’s not to love? I liked him a lot. In many ways, he made the movie for me.
Will Smith is also better in the 1969 sequences. While his humor early in the movie felt forced to me, what he said and did in 1969 consistently cracked me up. I think that’s because Agent J’s character works better when he’s slightly off balance and out of his element.
Best Scene:
The scene at The Factory was probably my favorite overall, mainly because of the introduction of Griffin, the Arcanian.
Best Scene Visually:
The Time-Jump definitely had its cool aspects and probably looked killer in 3D (but my daughter won’t wear the glasses). I also liked the look of the evil alien villain, Boris the Animal, played with snarling malice by Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords.
Best Action Sequence:
Now that I think about it, this movie didn’t really have that much action, probably why I enjoyed watching it. My daughter loved the early action scene involving the hungry alien fish creature. That was probably the only part of the whole movie that she actually enjoyed because she thought it was so funny. My stepson now tells me that he also enjoyed that scene, particularly Agent J’s “explanation” of what happened to the crowd that had gathered on the street. Since I thought the bikes were a little over-the-top, I suppose that I liked the stuff that happened at the launch the best.
Funniest Scene:
It’s hard not to laugh at J’s bizarre lies as he tries to explain himself so Young K. At first they seem so off-the-wall that they’re not even funny, but eventually, the movie wins you over by bombarding you with silly humor so relentlessly that you can’t help laughing. (At least, that’s what happened to me.) Will Smith’s charisma makes the goofy humor work, and it doesn’t hurt that Brolin makes a great straight man. Some of his reactions are priceless.
The Other Performances:
All kinds of talented actors have small roles (or long cameos) in this movie. In 1969, Will Arnett and Bill Hader briefly brighten the story with their presence, and Mike Colter makes a little seen but rather important character both strong and memorable. Supposedly, Lady Gaga is in this movie, but I never saw her. (Of course, having a restless three-year-old travelling from lap to lap tends to pull focus from time to time.)
The Negatives:
So what happened (or didn’t happen) with Agent O? I feel like there should have been more of a story there. Actually, what I’m really wondering is what happened to Rip Torn? I swear in an early scene, I remember thinking, Oh that’s right, Rip Torn died, so he couldn’t be in this movie. However, checking imdb a few minutes ago, I discovered that he is, in fact, very much alive. So who died? I asked myself. I know it was someone. At that point, I realized that I’m an idiot and gave up.
Honestly, though, why make a point of having Emma Thompson in the movie and then not give her character a bigger part in what happened in the past? Making the big “love story” of the film the bond between J and K worked pretty well. (I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember if anything in the original film set us up for the ending of this sequel. I’ll need to watch Men in Black again before I can answer that with any surety.) Any romantic subplots would have cluttered the story which was remarkably neat and efficient for a delayed third installment.
But the O thing bugs me. Is Rip Torn difficult to work with? Was he busy? Did they just want to get rid of him? Is Emma Thompson actually an alien trying to show her allegiance to her home planet by appearing in this film? I guess O is there as someone who knows K’s secrets, but Z could have served that purpose. You expect the time travel to reveal more about the relationship than it does. All I can say is, there had better be a Men in Black IV to clear up the mystery of K and O.
Overall:
Men in Black III starts off feeling a little stale, but there’s plenty of hijinks to keep kids engaged, and by the time the movie hits its stride in 1969, it actually becomes pretty engrossing and fun. Definitely this movie is far better than Men in Black II (which I’m positive I’ve seen but must have successfully tried to repress). It exceeded my expectations and entertained almost all of us. (Except for the fish scene, my three-year-old daughter was not impressed, but I’d hardly call that a failure of the movie).