"Forget that Roswell crap"

When protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe, it usually helps if you have the best publicity available and after being lacerated by the X-Files, secretive extra-governmental agencies received an ally in Men in Black to tackle extraterrestrials.  They might have said ‘no thanks’ to MIIB (Men in Black 2) but I’ll think they’ll be cautiously pleased with the latest, much delayed, outing, Men in Black 3.

With an alien theme and the most effective use of limited, insistent chords in a film since Jaws, it is no surprise who would want to be attached to this project and as Amblin Entertainment appears in the opening credits, we know Steven Spielberg has an investment here.  Maybe it is a shame that Spielberg wasn’t more actively behind the lens.  For me, Barry Sonnenfeld is a director of first-rate mediocrity, exerting a reverse Midas Touch.  Sure, he’s been in charge of some very good pictures but just think how great they could have been from someone with more accomplishment and flair, someone who doesn’t apply the directorial equivalent of painting-by-numbers.

As it is, Men in Black 3 (or cubed as the posters have it) is more than moderately diverting.  The 3D is still gimmicky and it will take a few more years before it can be deployed effectively (if it lasts that long).  The glasses alone are troublesome if you are already wearing spectacles to get the detail from the silver screen. 

It is Will Smith’s first flick in four years but his quick-draw smart patter as Agent J shows no sign of ring-rustiness.  Tommy Lee Jones is partially relegated in his role as the elder Agent K though is his usual gruff, reliable self.  Yet John Brolin is a revelation as the younger K – he deserves an Oscar for how downpat he gets his character, as if 40 years had been wiped from Jones.  Unfortunately, Rip Torn’s Agent Z is only mentioned in memory (obviously Torn has committed one to many misdemeanours for I can’t think of any other reason he wouldn’t appear in person); however, a host of other acting talent get in on the show – Emma Thompson, Alice Eve and Jermaine Clement, the New Zealand actor from Flight of the Conchords, playing another big screen villain (cf. Rio) with a – ho-hum – English accent (at least Thompson and Eve bat back on that front).

The script does the business with plenty of poignancy, the wit being incidental – Nicole Scherzinger playing one of those women attracted to criminal masterminds (her acting ability isn’t pushed too far as she doesn’t last long); as Agent J falls through time from the Chrysler building (an underused landmark in Hollywood), he is briefly in line with a jumper in the wake of the Wall Street Crash; and an encounter with Andy Warhol, to name a few.  Two things aren’t squared, however – if the there is this planetary shield in place since 1969, why was it so useless in the first instalment of Men in Black; and also, contrary to popular belief, the Moon does have an atmosphere.  English stereotypes of warm beer and bad food are rolled out but as they are referencing the 1960s, it could have been true so I’ll let it slide.  And, in this kind of flick, you do need a truly impressive death for the villain and on one front it does not disappoint.

A buddy-buddy-buddy movie with a twist, it’s not out of this world (though Lady Gaga maybe, as the film suggests) but it’s worth the ride.  Three out of five.