Men In Black 3 - Review

Generally the only films I get to see these days are ones aimed mostly at children. I guess that's part of being a parent, and I don't have a problem with that. I'm finding more and more that often the kids films are so much better than those for the adults. So when my two oldest monsters begged to see Men in Black 3, I wasn't too unhappy about it. At least it's scifi, even if very silly scifi.

For me, the Men in Black films are very much 'leave your brain at home' comedy - entertaining and quirky, but not generally enthralling. This one took me by surprise. There was some very serious stuff in it - heart-rendingly so. Be prepared to take a few tissues with you. Frankly I was disappointed with Tommy Lee's performance in this film. Admittedly, he isn't in it very much but his sole contribution seemed to be to look and act more grumpy than ever without really doing much else. I was far more impressed with Josh Brolin's portrayal of the younger Agent K, and I hope he'll return should there ever be a fourth. Tommy Lee very much gave me the impression that he'd done this film under serious duress only. I also wasn't blown away by the villain in this piece - Boris the Animal - although his method of assasination was definitely intriguing and gruesome!

Highlights for me? Well, with Agent J going back to the 60's it was great to see the Men in Black headquarters populated by aliens very much from the B scifi movies of the era - a fabulous touch! There's also a fantastic bike chase with cycles very much on the lines of those from the Clone Wars Attack Cycle (new trilogy) while Boris had a very organic-looking Harley-Davidson-type bike that I half expected to be another alien - sadly not. That opportunity must have bypassed the screen-writer's muse. For top characters - Griffin was adorable! The last of his kind after Boris's species wiped out his planet, this 5th dimensional being was constantly caught in a stream of alternate possibilities and a key character to the main plot. As usual, Will Smith pretty much carried the whole film. While I enjoyed it, even Agent J seemed a little tired of the whole thing.

The ending is heart-breaking. The usual comic finish is there, but it just didn't have the impact of the previous two films. Too much tragedy had gone before. And while it might have tied up all the loose threads, and there was a good twist, it left me sad rather than smiling. The kids loved it though.

Overall I'm going to rate this as a C+. It was good, but not all that I expect of the MIB franchise. It felt as tired as its main characters looked.