Has it really been 15 years since Will Smith’s Agent J first donned the last suit he’d ever wear?! The first “Men In Black” was released back in 1997 and worked wonders, but then it was followed up with 2002’s lackluster “Men In Black 2”.
Following the letdown that was “MIB2”, the franchise was wisely put on hold and the suits were put away in mothballs. Now that we’ve all had a chance to wash the bad taste out of our mouths the Men In Black are back for another adventure.
This time around we find Agent J (Will Smith), still working with his surely partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), as they continue to keep the world safe from the scum of the universe. When an enemy from K’s past, Boris the Animal (Jemain Clement), escapes custody and travels back in time, altering the future, it’s up to Agent J to save the day. The new head of the MIB, Agent O (Emma Thompson) orders Agent J to travel back in time and “put right what once went wrong” and just like that we are off to 1969. Once he’s safe but not sound back in good old 1969, we are introduced to a scene-stealing Josh Brolin as the young version of Agent K and the two agents are off on an adventure that sees the likes of Andy Warhol, the “Amazin’ Mets” and Apollo 11.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld has managed to make a movie that not only gets the series back on track, makes us remember what made the first film so enjoyable, and simultaneously making us forget how lame the second film was. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones don’t miss a beat in their roles but the real star of this movie is Josh Brolin. He does a fantastic impression of Tommy Lee Jones and manages to bring new life to what has been a fairly boring and humorless character. Brolin and Will Smith have good chemistry together and their scenes together make for some good laughs.
“Men In Black 3” proves that there’s still life in the franchise. Sure, the movie may have cost $215 million dollars to make and yes, it did get delayed quite a few times, but as it turns out a little extra time to fine tune the script wasn’t such a bad thing.
Is this the best movie you’ll see this summer at the movies? Doubtful, but if you’re looking to sit back, relax, and have a good time at the movies then this flick will do the job.
Score: 3.5/5
"See this little blue light, it'll make you forget Men In Black 2"