Men in Black 3 (Review Part 2 of 2)

MIB 3

Some of the stronger elements from MIB3 are the concepts of time travel and alt-timelines.  I am really surprised the movie actually digs into these concepts given that it is a summer movie.  Michael Stuhlbarg plays an alien that can witness various and different timelines and calculates the varying factors that can change the timeline.  I found this character very interesting to watch because he’s unstable, because he views all the different versions of history.  So, his character is a little…off.

There is a great moment in the movie where Griffin shows J and K a baseball game using his timeline viewing powers. It is a very cool moment.  He also discusses how the game could change given certain small elements in the past were changed.  It is an interesting part of the movie that you don’t see much of in summer movies.  This goes back to the theme of smaller elements having impacts into larger in the first movie.  Somewhere, all of this got lost in the translation of the second movie with all its still plots and product-placements. 

Speaking of product-placements, I smiled when I saw that they removed all the stores plastered in the MIB HQ in the second movie.  I got tired of seeing the Burger King store in the HQ.  I also found it amusing that the movie goes out of its way that to shove the goofy aliens like the Worms.  And, there is no Frank the Pug in this one.  I always got the feeling that the studio gave them the note “More Worms and Pug, please” for the second the movie.

Will Smith hasn’t really aged it seems since the last movie.  Actually, he’s in better shape in this movie than in the last one.  Smith really has to carry this film this time around.  Tommy Lee Jones on the other hand looks a bit more haggard.  He’s one of the weaker aspects of the movie, because he looks tired in all his scenes, if limited.  When Josh Brolin does a better Tommy Lee Jones than Tommy Lee Jones, you know something is wrong. 

Overall, I am really surprised that I like MIB 3 as much as I do.  It is certainly back to form from the train wreck that was MIB 2.  There are some major plot holes that surface because they play around with time, but I am willing to look past them for the enjoyment of seeing another MIB movie.  It isn’t prefect, but it reminds me of the first film. 

Grade:  B-