Whilst not as witty as both predecessors, Men in Black 3 still manages to find much more weight to its storyline than the second came close to finding and the first even attempted to find. It's a much more clever storyline, one which sees Will Smith's J having to go back to 1969 to stop the villainous Boris the Animal from eliminating Tommy Lee Jones' K.
Taking a leaf from Back to the Future, director Barry Sonnenfeld finds plenty of entertainment in this concept, putting J in a new partnership with a younger K played expertly and pitch perfect by Josh Brolin. Adapting Tommy Lee Jones' mannerisms to a tee, and mixing in some of his own charisma and youth, Brolin makes you forget that the original K isn't in much of the films running time so perfect is his performance.
The film also finds an emotional and out of the blue ending, one which fans of the franchise should enjoy, and one which fans of both characters should connect with. It may have been ten years since the duo were last on our screens, but there is no denying the impact they had on the alien/comic book genre and Men in Black serves as a worthy conclusion to that story. Assuming this is the ending, of course.
That's not to say that Men in Black 3 has no problems. It suffers heavily from its lack of humour. Will Smith undeniably shows signs of his age, and struggles early on to hit the level of charisma he used to show. It leads to a few flat gags, but thankfully when Brolin enters the fray the jokes work better.
Also villain Boris the Animal suffers from little to no character development. Played by Flight of the Conchords Jermaine Clement, you would expect a comically dark and interesting portrayal but Boris is reduced to nothing more than a roaring alien with anger issues. Whatever you do don't call him Boris the Animal...
When all is said and done, Men in Black is a much stronger entry than its most recent predecessor, but still wains behind the all round package of the original. It's admittedly great to see Will Smith back on the big screen, but hopefully next time he will find a bit more of the charm and personality that define his early career.
In a summer of mediocre adaptions, sequels and remakes, Men in Black pushes above the rest as strong enough to be considered a success. As such, it deserves a chance. At least if you don't enjoy it you won't have to go back in time to watch the original.
It should be sitting on your DVD shelf when you get back home. If it isn't, then shake your head at yourself.
7/10
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