Men in Black 3

**
Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
When you make a sequel fifteen years after the original, my expectations for the film aren't all that high going in. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return for the third installment in the sci-fi/comedy series, Men in Black. While the story itself had potential, director Barry Sonnenfeld failed in presenting it properly.

We open on a prison escape with very poorly executed visual effects that make this one unworthy of being called a film. The last survivor of his species, a Boglodite assassin by the name of Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), seeks revenge on his long time rival Agent K (Jones) for blowing his arm off 40 years earlier. Meanwhile, the MIB agency has just lost their leader Zed, who is replaced by Agent O (Emma Thompson). After the funeral, we see some tension between agents K and J (Smith), resulting from K's hiding information about his past from his partner. The next day, there is a disruption in the time-space continuum. J finds himself in a world where K has been dead for over forty years, and a Boglodite army under Boris' leadership invades Earth. In order to save the human race and his long time partner, J travels back in time to 1969. Hoping to kill Boris and prevent the entire chain of events from happening, his plan fails when he encounters a younger K (Josh Brolin). Fortunately, he is able to convince him of the truth. The two then embark on their mission to stop Boris and save humanity. During their journey, both men discover things about one another, and a key component regarding J's past is revealed to him.

Although the story wasn't bad, this one lacked the essence of the classic 1997 film which made it so compelling. The humor was very dry, the action sequences were poorly done and unexciting, and the cinematography was rather weak. However, I did think Brolin was a very good pick to portray the younger version of K, and he and Smith had very solid chemistry. What stands out about the original was that it provided a fresh and compelling story, had plenty of laughs, and appealed to a wide range of viewers. Sci-fi geeks like me and casual moviegoers were equally captivated. This film however was lacking in nearly each of those elements. It was dull, fairly predictable, and not half as entertaining as the previous two. If you are an MIB fan and itching to see it, I'd recommend you save the money and wait for it to come on Netflix.