English Review : Men in Black 3 (3D) – Enjoyable trip down memory lane

Release date: 25 May 2012
123telugu.com Rating : 3.5/5
Director : Barry Sonnenfeld
Producer : Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
Music Director : Danny Elfman
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones,Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement,

‘Men in Black’ is one movie which most of us remember quite vividly. The 1997 film was a classic in many ways. ‘Men in Black 2’ followed in 2002 but it was not a patch on the original flick. Now 10 years later, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back with ‘Men in Black 3’. They have Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement , Emma Thompson and Alice Eve for company. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, this installment sees the return of the legendary Steven Spielberg as executive producer. Let us see how the movie is.

Story :

Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes from the intergalactic lunar prison and heads to earth to hunt down his nemesis, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). Boris nurses a grudge against Agent K for having imprisoned him in 1969 and also handicapping him. As Agent K and Agent J (Will Smith) try to apprehend Boris, things take an unexpected twist and Agent J realises that the world around him has suddenly changed.

With the help of his boss Agent O (Emma Thompson), Agent J deduces that Boris has traveled back in time to 1969 to change the course of events and prepare the ground for an alien invasion of Earth. Agent J must now travel back in time to team up with a younger Agent K (Josh Brolin) to try and stop Boris.

Will Agent J succeed in his mission and will he be able to convince a younger Agent K that he is an ally? That forms the rest of the story.

Plus Points :

Tommy Lee Jones is good as the surly but highly efficient Agent K. He has a rather small role in the movie as he makes way for a younger version of himself, represented very ably by Josh Brolin. Brolin delivers a very solid and commendable performance and he is a major asset for the movie.

The star of the show however,is Will Smith. This is his movie and he is terrific as Agent J. With a good mix of action, humour and sheer charisma, Will Smith endears himself to the audience. Emma Thompson is good in her brief role. Jemaine Clement is decent as the evil Boris.

Director Sonnenfeld has cleverly woven humour into the story line and that makes for a very entertaining narration. There is hardly a dull moment and the pace is very good. Special effects and 3D effects are excellent. In fact, this is one of the better examples of good 3D work seen in recent times.

The emotional revelations towards the end of the film are cleverly woven into the story.

Minus Points :

As is the case with many popcorn action entertainers, the plot has holes the size of martian craters if you start analyzing seriously. For example, way back in 1969 ,Mankind is shown to possess amazing high end technology to interact with aliens and control them.But at the same time, the Apollo 11 mission is shown and the fact that we are yet to land on the moon is highlighted. Can we have the technology to suppress Aliens but not have the technology for space travel? I was not convinced.

Some of the scenes where Will Smith interacts with Josh Brolin and gets him to believe that he is a MIB agent from the future are lame.Alice Eve’s characterization is bad and cannot hold a candle to Emma Thompson

Technical Aspects :

As I said before, visual effects and 3D effects are excellent and deserve special mention. This is truly a film worth watching in 3D. Makeup is good like it always has been with the MIB franchise. Editing is neat and cinematography is outstanding.

Background score is ok. The action sequences have been conceived well and Will Smith excels in them along with Josh Brolin.

Verdict :

Men in Black 3 is a solidly entertaining popcorn flick. Good pace, solid performances led by Will Smith and enjoyable sequences work in favour of the movie big time.This installment of the ‘Men in Black’ franchise is much better than the previous edition. Go watch ‘Men in Black 3’ and have fun as Will Smith takes you down memory lane.

123telugu.com Rating : 3.5/5

Reviewed by Mahesh K.S.

Legend:

5 – Flawless

4 – Must Watch

3 – One Time Watch

2 – Wait for the DVD

1 – Stay Away