After 10 years without them the Men in Black are back. It’s the first time Will Smith (Agent J) has been in front of the camera since 2008. The Fresh Prince reunites with Agent K, both young (Josh Brolin) and old (Tommy Lee Jones). J & K are needed to prevent another threat to Earth and the universe, just in time.

For this outing the evil threat comes from a galactic prison escapee called Boris the Animal (Flight of the Concords’ Jermaine Clement). This fearful outlaw is of a race of world eaters, and naturally has an axe to grind with K, who imprisoned him and blew his arm off. His plan of revenge revolves around going back in time and killing K and launching a fatal attack on Earth.

As J wakes up in a K-less world he struggles with the mind-bending path to save K and the universe, mainly by drinking chocolate milk. The adventure chugs along with the familiar faces, funny gags and ugly aliens, not least Clement who puts in a surprisingly grizzly performance. Barry Sonnenfeld’s presence at the helm of the MIB franchise provides a continued feel to the films and it’s humour.

Verdict:

Men in Black III is a funny film. There are jokes for all ages, some for the kids and others as dark as the suits. The story is suitably adventurous and action-packed. Smith and Lee Jones put in good performances and are ably supported by Brolin (who you can very easily image as a younger Lee Jones) and Emma Thompson. The admission fee is worth it just for the Andy Warhol exposé. MIB3 is good enough to open the question of whether Tommy Lee Jones can handle a 4.

Movie Trivia:

Michael Bay expressed interest in directing.

Screenwriter David Koepp, who was originally involved with Men in Black II but left to write Spider-Man, signed on permanently for this film.

Sacha Baron Cohen was considered for the role of Boris.

Betty White was originally rumoured to have a role.

This is Will Smith's first film in 3.5 years, since the release of Seven Pounds in December 2008. This is the longest he has gone without appearing in a movie since his film career started in 1993.

Gemma Arterton was originally cast as young Agent O, but scheduling conflicts prevented Arterton from taking the role.

Josh Brolin plays a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones's character Agent K. Brolin's wife Diane Lane appeared with Jones in Lonesome Dove. In the sequel Streets of Laredo, Lane's role was taken over by Sissy Spacek, who played Tommy Lee Jones's wife in Coal Miner's Daughter and is the cousin of MIB co-star Rip Torn.

The previous film Men in Black II released the same year as Spider-Man. This film, the sequel, releases ten years later; the same year as the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.

This is the second threequel Steven Spielberg produced that involves Apollo 11 in its storyline. The first was Transformers: Dark of the Moon which focused on a Transformer ship discovered by Apollo.

According to the trailer Agent J travels from 2012 to 1969, 43 years into the past. He wakes up and sees a young Agent K, played by Josh Brolin. Brolin is only 21 years and 5 months younger than Tommy Lee Jones, who plays the older Agent K.

Yuri Lowenthal, who voices Knuckles the graffiti alien, had voiced Ben Tennyson in the Ben 10 cartoons; the Tennyson family is connected to the Plumbers, an organization similar to the Men in Black.

Special makeup effects artist Rick Baker makes a cameo in the film as an alien with an exposed cranium.

Will Smith's personal makeup artist Judy Murdock appears as a blue-skinned alien.

Nicole Scherzinger listened to Led Zeppelin to get her in the mood for the role of Lily Poison

Back to Film Reviews