Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for sci-fi action violence and some disgustingly unpleasant monsters
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 5.25.12
Ten years may have passed, but nothing has changed: same gonzo hardware; same outrageous — and dangerous — aliens; same giddy Danny Elfman score; same stoic, sourpuss expression on Tommy Lee Jones’ face.
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| Having time-jumped back to 1969, Agent J (Will Smith, right) finds it hard enough to persuade his partner Agent K's younger self (James Brolin, left) of the severity of their mission. Things get even more complicated with the arrival of Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), a hyper-dimensional alien with the ability to see all outcomes — good and bad — of every possible reality. |
Come to think of it, Jones hasn’t
changed a jot in a decade. Perhaps he’s actually an alien in disguise?
Men in Black III is a hoot ’n’
a holler, and a welcome return to form after this series’ somewhat
disappointing sophomore installment, back in 2002. And while it’s still not
possible to recapture the 1997 original’s gleefully warped freshness, this
third entry’s writers — Etan Cohen, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson and Michael
Soccio — have done a nifty job with an ingenious premise that stimulates plenty
of snarky one-liners.
On top of which, Will Smith’s
comic timing remains every bit as reliably droll as Jones’ slow, impassive
takes.
The narrative kicks off with a
slick jailbreak engineered by Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement), a truly nasty
baddie with a morphology that gets ickier as the film proceeds. Boris — a
Boglodite who gets enraged when people add “The Animal” to his name — has been
incarcerated on the Moon for the past 40-plus years, where Agent K (Jones) put
him after a particularly nasty skirmish at Cape Canaveral, back on July 16,
1969.
If you don’t immediately register
the significance of that date, surrender your geek cred card at the door.
With Boris seeking vengeance,
Agent J (Smith) tries to pull the file on that old MIB case. Unfortunately, he
finds the information restricted: rather mysterious, given his usual security
clearance. Attempts to gain access get him nowhere; the new head of MIB, Agent
O (Emma Thompson), leaves him with an enigmatic warning: “Don’t ask questions
you don’t want the answers to.”
Funny thing, J reflects; that’s
precisely what K has said, on numerous occasions.
(Thompson’s Agent O has taken
over for Rip Torn’s Agent Zed, from the previous two films. For some reason,
Torn opted out of this installment.)
