Men in Black 3: A Time-Traveling Adventure with Mixed Results
After escaping from a maximum-security prison, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) vows revenge on Agent K, the Man in Black who put him away. By traveling back in time, he erases K from history. In pursuit of the villain, K’s partner, Agent J, must also journey into the past, where he encounters a young Agent K (Josh Brolin).
While summer might seem dominated by caped crusaders, let’s not forget the Men in Black. Despite the presence of Will Smith, arguably one of the biggest stars in cinema (in his first major role since 2008), “Men in Black 3” had to work hard to capture the public’s attention. Perhaps it’s because it had been a decade since we last saw Agents J (Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones), or maybe because, aside from a few clever gags, “Men in Black 2” was largely forgettable. Whatever the reason, the third installment in the franchise didn’t generate overwhelming excitement. The most buzz came from the massive trailer Will Smith parked on set in New York.
The troubled production didn’t help matters. Despite being in development for ten years, “Men in Black 3” began filming without a finished script. Production was halted midway so director Barry Sonnenfeld, along with Smith (who conceived the time travel idea) and a team of writers, could untangle the plot, which threatened to become incoherent.
The Good, the Bad, and the Alien
They might have been better off reworking the film’s awful opening, where Boris the Animal, growling and shooting victims with sharp bone fragments, escapes from a lunar prison with the help of Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend! While the trademark witty banter from the first two films is present, it’s clear Sonnenfeld needed a credible threat to J, K, and the rest of the alphabet. The truly menacing Boris fits the bill, but casting Jemaine Clement (of “Flight of the Conchords”), unrecognizable under heavy makeup, seems odd since Boris isn’t meant to be funny. It immediately evokes nostalgia for Vincent D’Onofrio’s sinister, shuffling Edgar the Bug from the first film, and Clement’s improvised spat with two tourists doesn’t improve things.
However, after enduring the first fifteen minutes, you start to miss more than just D’Onofrio. The chemistry between Smith and Jones is noticeably absent. When the plot of the third film was revealed, splitting up the “Men in Black” seemed like madness. But it turns out to be a major plus. Jones, whose screen time is limited to about fifteen minutes, looks tired, but it works for the character. Smith’s sleepiness, however, is inexcusable, and their banter feels forced and lifeless.
Saving Grace: Time Travel and a Young Agent K
K vanishes, and only J remembers his existence (the first plot point that feels unnecessary). Pursuing Boris, Smith travels to the past, and the film finally picks up steam. This is partly due to the arrival of Josh Brolin, the film’s best discovery, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jones. But it’s also because Will Smith rediscovers his mojo. The dreary bore from the first act disappears, replaced by the witty motormouth who relentlessly mocks the clunky technology used by the Men in Black in the 1960s (the neuralyzer the size of a bus is a highlight!). The scene with J and a couple of clueless cops is the best in the film.
Too Many Cooks?
Still, the film suffers from too many cooks in the kitchen. Sonnenfeld insists on keeping his films under 90 minutes, which is admirable but results in some characters being shortchanged. Alice Eve, playing a young Emma Thompson, is reduced to an impressive hairstyle that occasionally speaks. And the abrupt shift in the third act, from the epic cosmic jokes that established our insignificance in the universe to a clumsy attempt at heartfelt emotion, simply doesn’t work in a franchise built on cynicism. The overall level of wit is disappointing, but thankfully, there are scenes (the Andy Warhol’s Factory sequence is delightful) that make the prospect of “Men in Black 4” (perhaps with Brolin traveling to the future to meet Smith and Jones) bearable.
Of course, that’s probably twenty years away.