MEN IN BLACK III (review)

It’s been some time since we’ve seen this Will Smith. 

Since the release of Men in Black II a decade ago, Smith has focused on producing and acting primarily in dramas rather than popcorn flicks.  His three genre releases, I, Robot, Hancock and I Am Legend are fairly dark and none of them require Smith to be charming. 

Well, the charm is back in Men In Black III, where Smith returns as Agent J.

When a vile alien terrorist, Boris The Animal (Clement) escapes from his 40 year incarceration in a lunar prison, he travels back in time to 1969 to kill his captor Agent K (Jones) and change history.  Suddenly, K is plucked from the timeline and Agent J is the only one who remembers the previous timeline.  From there, he’s headed back into 1969 to save a younger Agent K (Brolin) and prevent the revised timeline from occurring.

You’d be hard pressed to find many enthusiastic fans of the previous sequel, but Men In Black III is a welcome return to the franchise.  Smith and Jones are as good as ever, but it’s Josh Brolin, as the younger K, who’s the film’s secret weapon.  With more than a passing resemblance to Jones, Brolin captures the cadence and tone of the actor without performing an extended impersonation.  Clement is also entertaining playing two versions of the same character.  Unfortunately it’s the other members of the ensemble who get the short shift, with Emma Thompson and Alice Eve, in particular, doing little more than an extended cameo.

Director Sonnenfeld also delivers after a laborious run which has most recently included Big Trouble and RV.  It’s nice to see his visual style and exuberant tone.  Between some legitimate emotional moments and some solid laughs, Men In Black III is a fun and entertaining way to kill a few hours,  Recommended.