Men in Black 3 (2012)

Genre

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Director

Barry Sonnenfeld

Country

USA

Cast

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Alice Eve, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mike Colter, Nicole Scherzinger, Michael Chernus, David Rasche, Will Arnett, Keone Young, Bill Hader, Lady Gaga, Tim Burton, Anthony J. Gallo, Lenny Venito, Rick Baker, David Pittu, Lanny Flaherty, Cayen Martin

Storyline

When Agent K's life (Tommy Lee Jones) and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J (Will Smith) will have to travel back in time to put things right.

Opinion

Fifthteen years later, with the help of Josh Brolin, they've finally managed to make a proper sequel to Men in Black. 

Funny and entertaining, Men in Black 3 is a great improvement over the disappointing and poor second installment.

Once again we'll find ourselves spending some time with Agent J and Agent K - and their younger selves -, but this time the story is more intelligent and well-designed. The writing is very good overall. 

The film deals with the spatiotemporal theme in a clean, and cheerful way, without becoming too heavy. The dialogue is mostly funny with sparks of deepness. The villain, Boris the Animal, is by far better than Serleena, the previous film's villain. And the introduction of Giffin, the clairvoyant alien, is just brilliant.

The acting is good. Will Smith does his job pretty good, he makes us laugh, and has a great chemistry both with Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. Jones has a more marginal role this time but still does a good job. What can I say about Brolin, let me see... He does a perfect Tommy Lee Jones. If time travelling was an actual thing, I would think Jones and Brolin were the same person. Jemaine Clement does a really good job as Boris the Animal. Alice Even does not bear comparison with Emma Thompson, and Nicole Scherzinger does nothing more than looking like a cheap hooker. 

Quotes

Agent K: Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.

Men in Black II (2002)

Genre

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Director

Barry Sonnenfeld

Country

USA

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Tony Shalhoub, Patrick Warburton, Jack Kehler, David Cross, Colombe Jacobsen, John Alexander, Michael Jackson, Peter Graves, Tim Blaney, Nick Cannon

Storyline

Agent Jay (Will Smith) has become a high-ranking member of the Men in Black, while his former cohort, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), had his memory wiped clean and now lives a simple but contented life as a mailman. However, they must reunite to protect the world from the scum of the universe.

Opinion

Something everyone knows is that originality and sequels don't get along. However, if smartly played, a sequel can live up to its predecessor, and be fresh. Unfortunately this is not the case. In fact, Men in Black II is another boring, bland sequel, with few moments and nothing more.

The story changes but nothing really changes. Aliens come to Earth threaten to destroy it, MIB pull out big guns and make aliens explode with abovementioned guns. End of the story. 

The authors, probably aware of unfreshness of the film, have focused on the villain, an evil alien who disguises herself as a sexy lingerie model in a leather outfit. They probably thought the audience would have been so caught up by her to never notice the flaws of the fim. The alien in brand-new Edgar suit was a better villain, by the way. 

Main focus of the film are still the special effects and the gags. While the special effects are quite good, the gags are a disaster. Seriously, watching an alien growing its head back after having it shot off might be funny the first time, but you gotta know when to stop it. Enough is enough.

Will Smith's Men In Black has been replaced by Smith's Black Suits Comin' which is not nearly as good as the first song. Also the acting got worse. 

Men in Black (1997)

Genre

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Director

Barry Sonnenfeld

Country

USA

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Mike Nussbaum, Jon Gries, Sergio Calderón, Carel Struycken, Fredric Lehne, Richard Hamilton, Kent Faulcon, John Alexander, Keith Campbell, Patrick Breen, Becky Ann Baker, Sean Whalen, David Cross, Tim Blaney

Storyline

In present-day America, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is a member of an organization that has been keeping track of extra-terrestrial aliens on Earth for over 40 years. When K finds himself in need of a new partner, a brash NYPD detective, James Edwards (Will Smith) fills the position, becoming Agent J. Armed with space-age technology and their razor-sharp wits, J and K investigate a newcomer who is bad news for Earth.

Opinion

Although Will Smith and Aliens gives the already-seen movie feeling, Barry Sonnenfeld's science fiction comedy feels fresh.

Based on Lowell Cunningham's comic book, Men in Black might not be deep, but is a blaze of entertainment, fun, and mashed colorful aliens.

Even though the script isn't that brilliant and not entirely coherent, and some scenes are needlessly too long, there are several elements that makes the film very enjoyable. First of all, the extremely likeable Agents. Confident, and efficient one, exuberant and irreverent the other one. The contrast between the two of them is great.

The gags are great. Many of them are connected to legal aliens living on Earth in disguise as anything or anyone. Seriously, who knew that Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg, and Elvis are aliens. The jokes are good as well. The film is aware of how silly it is, and that's probably the reason why the jokes work here.

Another element that deserves to be mentioned is special effects: they are fantastic. There are loads of aliens/monsters, they all are amazingly done, and some some of them are very funny. Very well done.

The acting is another pretty strong element. Both giving great performances respectively as Agent K and Agent J, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith have a wonderful, and hilarious chemistry together. Linda Fiorentino, and Rip Torn are also good. Vincent D'Onofrio gives an outstanding performance and makes the villain look even more creepier.

Quotes

K: Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.