MEN IN BLACK III

Tommy's not around for long here

title: MEN IN BLACK III
year: 2012
cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
rating: ** 

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return as Agents J and K… sort of. Before you know it, K’s wisped off as if he never existed – at least in his partner’s lifetime. The main villain is an imprisoned alien named Boris the Animal. The angry goon, resembling a mutant biker, has one arm thanks to Agent K years earlier.

After breaking out of the moon’s prison, Boris goes back in time and kills K for revenge. To resurrect his partner, J leaps into the 1960’s where young K works for The Agency. For a little while the film becomes a 48 HRS replica: the hard-nosed "cop" doesn’t trust the energetic "convict" who keeps begging for a gun. Although it takes some talking into, K’s soon convinced of their basic mission: kill the bad guy to save himself and the earth won’t be taken over.

Sound confusing? Well some parts are – but it doesn’t matter. There’s a few good action scenes that occur much too quickly and the counter-culture shock (including a run-in with Andy Warhol) seems a mere distraction. Josh Brolin as the young K imitates his NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN co-star dependably and has decent chemistry with Smith. But they’re joined by an annoying alien who, resembling a dimwitted college student wearing a snow cap, provides so much exposition about the “time continuum” our heroes have little to figure out on their own while the climax, set at the Apollo 11 takeoff, lacks the bombastic punch of the original. And the lesser aliens along the way are too bright and flashy and…'90’s-looking, most likely an intentional homage to the fifteen-year-old predecessors – but a better script (and villain) would have helped.