This part of the review will give away nothing, but I will label the second part “Spoilers” only because it mentions what is in the coming attractions.
I saw Men in Black III in IMAX and 3-D. If you saw the first movie and enjoyed it, I suspect you’ll like this one also. The second movie of this serious was just not interesting.
The movie was often a lot of fun and funny, but nothing as good as the first one. The first movie introduced us to worlds with worlds, races of creatures we could not have imaged before computer generated graphics. Not so much here, there is little originality or awe. The chemistry between stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (Agents J and K) is always wonderful and this leads to a few laughs, but not too many. And while it takes some interesting turns here, it is not something we haven’t seen before. Emma Thompson replaces Rip Torn and hints at character development, but there is none. She, as Agent O, is wasted in this movie. I give the movie a B-. Not at all a great movie, but it does have entertainment value.
There is no need for IMAX or 3D for this movie, in fact, if you wait and see it on DVD on home video it will not be compromised.
For those of you who live in New York, I went to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria last week, with my friend Nick. They had several displays of the gadgets, weapons, and vehicles from the movie. It was a great fun!
Spoiler Alert
But only if you have not seen the coming attractions!
If you have seen the coming attractions, you know that Will Smith goes back in time to save the Earth and meets a young Agent K. Josh Brolin plays the younger Tommy Lee Jones and his performance is the highlight of the movie. His impersonation is so on target that his is eerie. He brings not just humor but drama to the screen. Alice Eve plays a young Agent O, but, at no time, did she even remotely remind me of Emma Thompson. The villain, Boris, played by Jemaine Clement did not scare me and he needed to.
It seems that so many sci fi movies are about time travel: The Time Machine, Time After Time, and Planet of the Apes. Of course, all sci-fi series seem to wind up there, Star Trek IV, VII, VIII, XI, all of the Back to the Future movies and even Stars Wars goes backwards with the final three movies. So I didn’t think I was seeing anything new here.
There is an action adventure climax, but I guessed, way in advance, that the good guys would win. But there are a few clever plot points at the end that I didn’t guess. They were the best part of the movie and were such fun to watch. I just wish the plot was not so formulaic.
