After ten years since the last Men in Black film I could not have been more excited when I discovered the third film was on it’s way. Thankfully, it was worth the wait.
The film sees our favourite Agent J (Will Smith) travelling back in time on a mission to save his partner, the grumpy but lovable Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). Enlisting the help of the younger K (Josh Brolin) the duo must stop an escaped alien prisoner, Boris the Animal (best name ever?) from killing K and thus changing history.
I was impressed at how well the time travel in the film was handled as things were not overcomplicated. I always find rules of time travel ruins the fun a little bit. I prefer to think of time as The Doctor describes it, as “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey…stuff.” The time jump was interesting too, as it was, a literal jump. I particularly enjoyed seeing flashes of the past as Agent J fell through the air.
On the acting front, Josh Brolin is simply outstanding and makes a very convincing Agent K/Tommy Lee Jones. Though I always think it will be hard for me to see him as anyone but Brandon Walsh (from The Goonies) he continuously proves me wrong, and never so much as he did in this movie.
Smith and Jones too are fantastic and the perfect partners as usual. The bromance between their two characters is more poignant than ever in this instalment and is only enhanced by Brolin.
The film is fun, silly and laced with comedy. It also has all the classic components. The Neuralyzer, of course. Cool action sequences, complimented by cool action sequencey music (I believe that is the technical term). Lots of weird and wonderful aliens that never fail to amuse. My favourite being Griffin, an alien who can foresee an infinite number of potential realities at once, all dependent on which actions people take. That little extra ingredient to Men in Black is also there, a dash of emotion. This component in particular is striking in the third film as I found the twist at the end much more powerful and touching than those of the previous films.
If like me, you have enjoyed the Men in Black series from a young age, you’ll love this third movie. Though it would be easy to accuse it of being predictable, I prefer to think of it as familiar. It may not be one of the best films of all time but it is certainly entertaining and does what it says on the tin.
8/10.