Review of "Men In Black 3" - Worth the wait

Can you believe it's been 15 years since we were introduced to Agent K, his new recruit, Agent J & the world of MIB? And 10 years since the horrible sequel, MIB 2? Yea, you forgot about that one, didn't you? No worries, I think most of us either forgot about it or wish we could forget about it.

As a huge fan of the first movie, I was very disappointed with MIB 2. So, I was a little skeptic when I heard the news of a third MIB. My first thought was "They can't do any worse". And they didn't. In fact, the great cast & overflowing humor made the movie worth the wait.

Forget that MIB 2 ever happened. All you need to know before going to see this movie is that Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is back at MIB headquarters with his wise-cracking partner, Agent J (played by Will Smith). The movie starts off like its just another day at the office for our favorite agents. Some rogue alien is terrorizing the neighborhood & MIB show up with their cool guns & neuralizers. The film takes a somber note as we are informed that Agent Zed (previously played by Rip Torn) is no longer around. One has to wondered if Torn's recent legal problems made him too much of a liablity issue for the production. Nonetheless, the humor picks up and the audience says "Zed who?" when we are introduced to Agent O, (played by the delightful Emma Thompson).

Without giving too much away, Agent J goes back to 1969 to save a young Agent K, (played by Josh Brolin), from Boris, the last member of an alien race that Agent K helped destroyed. And he has to help save Earth from imminent attack in his present time, 2012.

If the time travel story line seems confusing, don't worry. The script's explanation of time travel is successfully presented by a new character addition. Griffin (Michael Stuhlbard) is an alien who is capable of viewing multiple iterations of reality. It may not be the best way to explain time travel but it's the shortest and humorous version audiences can understand.

Like the first movie, the dynamic between J and K, coupled with tried-and-true alien gags, aren’t stale. The late 1960s setting offers a lot of fresh ideas. Especially for Agent J. Being a black man in 1969 was tough but it was communicated humorously, which made the encounters less awkward and more eye opening. Also, the script uses a lot of the 1960s 'dated' technology as gags for our heroes.

As seen in the previews, Josh Brolin plays an excellent young Agent K. He completely subsumes himself into the style and sound of another. The performance works like an optical illusion - we see Brolin but we are fooled into seeing Agent K, making Jones youthful again. In short, it's a bait-and-switch but because it is so well-crafted, it works!

The one thing different about this movie is that it feels more intense and grown-up than the first two. There is more violence & death than the first two movies put together. The film is rated PG-13 but I feel it barely stays within that rating.

Overall, I like it. It was a fun ride. Not as good as the first one but then again, they never are. It has an ingenious plot, bizarre aliens, a cliff-hanger and a ending that I think all MIB fans will appreciate. The only thing I believe it was lacking was a catchy Will Smith song that you can sing all the way to the parking lot. Rating: B+