Men In Black 3: A Review
May 28, 2012
By Oliver Layco
This is the beginning of my first summer away from home, and I can say it has been quite an enjoyable time. I went with some of my fellow summer workers to see Men in Black 3; and the best part is we were able to see it for free! My expectations for this movie weren’t too high because it’s been so long since the last Men in Black. When the trailers started, the big names like Prometheus and The Amazing Spider-Man showed. The one that was new and caught my eye was the new James Bond movie. It was only a teaser, so not much can really be made of it in terms of story but it still got me excited.
It’s been 15 years since Will Smith debuted as Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in the original Men in Black. The first one was a classic that is still enjoyable to this day. The second one was over 10 years ago, and it wasn’t quite as good as the first, yet it was still able to hold its own. Men in Black 3 catches up with Agents J and K when they’ve been partners for 14 years. While it doesn’t nearly holdup as well as the original, it still is an enjoyable movie.
The formula is still mostly the same where there’s a giant alien threat that pushes human existence to the brink. Then J and K have to figure out how to save the day. The way they change it up in 3 is that K starts off with the feeling that his age is catching up to him. He realizes that the mission they are working on could very well be his last. He leaves J out of the loop which drives him crazy. K disappears the next day and it seems like the entire MIB organization didn’t know who he was and J is the only one that remembered him. J is then instructed to travel back in time to try and save K from being killed.
When J goes back to 1969, he meets a younger Agent K; who is played by Josh Brolin. Josh’s performance as a young K is what really steals the show. He is able to copy Tommy Lee’s mannerisms down to a T. Even his voice sounds pretty damn close to Lee’s. 1969 Agent K is a lighter and more down to Earth version of present-day Agent K. Basically he is more human. Throughout J’s whole interaction with young K, he keeps wondering what makes K change to what he knows him as. It isn’t until the climax of the film where the audience, and Agent J, sees how it happened. The way they close it was a great way to bring all three films full circle. At least, that’s the way I felt. They were able to provide closure to the relationship between K and J. Throughout the movie there were the new gadgets, aliens, and even special appearances. One notable person that appeared was Andy Warhol; who was played by Bill Hader. Granted most of his scenes were in the trailer, the moments that weren’t included were a nice touch. For everything it is, I hope they don’t try to make a fourth movie.
Yes there were flaws and moments that were just out there. Like the jellyfish aliens that were destroying the Earth; or the cheesy jokes. Yet at the same time, they seemed fitting for how Will Smith is. He is the consummate kid actor who will always be the Fresh Prince and I can’t see him doing movies any other way. He’s matured along the way a great deal, yet he is still able to keep true to what made him successful.
~