Film threequel packs star power but fails to impress
It's difficult to believe that over a decade has passed since "Men in Black" hit theaters and delightfully played off our conspiracy theories and beliefs that our fourth grade teachers are from Jupiter. Five years later, a sequel came out and sucked all of the wit and charm out of the franchise and relied mostly on explosions and big effects, leaving audiences abhorring the idea of another installment.
So why did producers feel the need to create a third movie ten years down the road? Well, as a character in the movie said, "Don't ask questions that you never want to know the answer to." We don't want to know because the equally meaningless "Men in Black III" actually exceeds expectations and is a surprising improvement from the sequel.
But while this is indeed better, it is by no means excellent, due to some flaws in the screenplay and a couple of flat jokes. The film lacks conflict and fails to answer some questions, but it's still worth sitting through thanks to the great chemistry between the lead protagonists and the addition of Josh Brolin.
The wise-cracking Agent J (Will Smith) and the stone-faced Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) are still partners, and J continues to demand an explanation of how K became the sour-pout that he is today. K abruptly disappears from existence after dangerous alien Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement) escapes from a moon-based prison, travels back in time and kills a younger K as an act of vengeance. J is the only one who remembers K so he has to travel back in time and save younger K because if he doesn't, an alien invasion will wipe Earth out.
The storyline here is basically pro forma with the whole time travel story, an excuse for director Barry Sonnenfeld to have fun with sending J back to the '60s and set up the movie's biggest payoff: Brolin embodying a young Tommy Lee Jones. This younger K is a bit more good-natured than his older self, and Brolin actually channels Jones into his role to the point where the chemistry Jones had with Smith is revived.
So why does K become such a grouch? Well, that's partially explained through a surprising, emotional twist at the end that feels sort of contrived and out-of-place with the story. But this is just one of the unexplained aspects of the story.
Smith is just being Smith. He's charismatic as always and deals with the nuanced dialogue to the point where he's still entertaining. There's also the addition of Michael Stuhlbarg as the alien Griffin, whose gift of seeing all possible futures is used to great comedic effect.
Clement, however, isn't quite right as Boris the Animal, who looks and sounds like an awkward mix of Tim Curry and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. He's got the mirthless laugh and the sinister smile with jagged teeth but he's dull and humorless, which isn't a good fit for Clement. His character is menacing with a spider-looking thing coming out of his hand but he's undefined, just a bad guy for the good guys to fight.
Like its predecessors, "Men in Black III" has some humor that falls flat while the moments that do work come from the excellent chemistry between Smith and Brolin. Some comedy plays out as if it were meant for kids while older audiences should get a crack out of the pop culture references, such as Andy Warhol as an MIB agent in secret and Lady Gaga as an alien under the agency's watch.
With the screenplay focusing mainly on the J and K relationship, "Men in Black III" doesn't put as much as effort into anything else, giving up on explanations that the audience wants to know. For example, the obvious romantic connection between Agent K and Agent O (the older played by Emma Thompson and the younger by the gorgeous Alice Eve) is under-explored.
In fact, everything about the story is vague, from the exact reason behind the alien invasion to the whole space-time continuum. Entertainment is sufficient with the special effects, character chemistry and Brolin, but substance is lacking.