Thats a big problem with MIB2 in that it feels so contrived to get things back to the status quo. A good portion of the first film was simply turning the alien conspiracy idea on its head. The surprise element is gone after that and then you need a more interesting story for a sequel rather than just another romp. MIB3 does that---it gives you a bit something more besides the humour. And thats another thing I liked about this time around: the humour is there, but they avoid trying too hard to go for big laughs from sheer stupidity and overdoing it.
For me, MIB 2 isn't actually that bad of a film; it's just not as good as its predecessor (MIB) or its successor (MIB 3). The biggest weakness the film has is its villain(s); the villain(s) in the film aren't as menacing as the villains in the original film or in MIB 3, and consequently the 'end of the world' plot isn't quite as compelling as it is in MIB or MIB 3, which kind of undermines the reverse-MIB vibe of the story because the entire reason J sets out to re-recruit K is due to the threat of the world ending and K's prowess and experience as an MIBI agent and his connections to said end-of-the-world plot. Barry Sonnenfield has said that MIB 3 represents the end of the franchise, but I think there's still room for more stories to be told and would like to see it continue in its current iteration.
I'll probably see it tomorrow. Can anyone confirm how much screen time TLJ has? I've heard everything from 5-45 minutes.
Definitely less than 45 minutes. If he weren't one of the big names in the franchise it would be listed in the credits as "Special Appearance by". Josh Brolin is essentially "K."
I can't give you a hard number, but I doubt TLJ is onscreen for more than twenty minutes at most. He bookends the film with most of his screen time in the beginning.
Grade: B Honestly I feel my grade is a bit high. I likely would've gone C+ but C felt too low also. I rewatched the first film last Sunday night. I own both and almost made time for the second then decided against it since it's so similar. TLJ is kicking around that 20min mark +/- a few minutes. He's nearly in the whole first act. His bookended time at the end is only about 2-3 minutes. There is nothing after the credits or in the middle in case anyone is curious. This really should've been what the second movie was about, maybe not the time travel per se but the showing of how J & K as partners meant something. This of course means K isn't mind wiped at the end of the first also, but I digress. I liked how at headquarters we again had the pop singer on the monitor, this time Lady GaGa. Too bad she wasn't an agent like the late great Mr.Jackson was shown as in pt.2. Wasn't Stallone being monitored as a potential alien in the first one? Josh Brolin did a great job in the film and I liked the new sidekick Griff. While I missed our pug I guess they were wanting to really do new stuff. I did feel it dragged a bit in the second act. But it really picked up steam after Boris shows up at Warhol's event to kill Griff. How did you view the ending pre-jump back to present? Spoiler: Plot point discussed in here... Did you take the death of James(J's) dad to mean that K was going to raise him or just that he looked in on him personally from time to time? Hence why he was pulled into MIB in the first place by K? I think another film that did what this film accomplished in showing growth of them as partners(not unlike Lethal Weapon) would be well received. I mean heck J at one point even says "I may be getting too old for this?". I swear as the line started all I could hear was Murtog. I also wonder why the street graphiti alien was cut from the film. Obviously a first act scene. Wonder if it was axed due to the rewrites?
Men In Black 3 My Grade: A- ------------------------- The Men in Black movies seems to be a series the recurs every decade or so. The first movie from the 1990s was a good movie for its time and helped to make Will Smith more of a rising star, the second movie "missed the mark" with what made the first movie so good and was really forgettable. Now we have Men in Black 3, when I first heard about this movie I wasn't excited for it given the disappointment the second one was but the more I saw about this third installment the more interested in it I became. Upon its release I think it's a pretty darn worthy sequel, and heck, what the second one should have been, Apparently after the events of the second movie Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) decided to stay with the Men in Black (even though the first one ended with his retirement and he was brought back in the second one only because of specialized knowledge he had on the case) but the relationship between him and his partner Agent J (Will Smith) is strained, mostly since J is, well, a slightly toned down Will Smith and K is a stolid slightly toned up Tommy Lee Jones. An alien manages to escape from alien prison on the Moon and swears vengeance on the man who put him there over 40 years ago and cost him his arm. The alien's plan is to travel back to 1969 and to help his younger self kill a younger K (Josh Brolin.) He managed to pull this off causing a change to the present where K's actions of killing off a war-mongering alien race and setting up an protection system around Earth never happen thus allowing this alien race to take over Earth in the present. Due to deus ex time travel J is the only one who remembers how things "should be" in the present and manages to time travel back to 1969 himself in order to hopefully restore the timeline. J's modern-day, hip and urban antics of the 21st century don't mix well in 1969 compounded by some prejudices over J's skin color be he's eventually able to convince younger K they need to work together to save the future along with the help with an alien able to see and experience multiple timelines all at once. The movie starts off pretty poorly and unpromising but once the action moves to 1969 things really pick up and become interesting if only for Josh Brolin's portrayal as a younger K/TLJ. It's my understanding TLJ was disappointed with how the second move turned out and was received and was reluctant to come back for a third movie. Oddly enough this works out because it forced this timetravel/younger K plot on the movie which really makes the movie stand-out. It has some fun with J dealing with 1960s technology and versions of the alien weaponry and equipment he's used to. Overall it's pretty darn enjoyable. And if there's one little thing that impressed me was the "accuracy" shown with the launch of the Apollo space craft in a segment of the movie showing the Launch Escape Tower on the Apollo dome and the emergency escape pods between the launch tower and the ground. It was an entertaining movie pure and simple.
Agreed with many of the above sentiments. Certainly this isn't a deep film, but it has enough depth and heart to get you interested in more than just the humour and antics. It was also neat to see J older and more seasoned which played neatly when he needs to hook up with a younger and less seasoned K. Nice turn there. I also liked Emma Thompson as O. Before the film I got to see the trailers Skyfall as well as The Amazing Spider-Man which I'll say I'm getting a bit interested in.
B+ That was a lot more fun that I was expecting. It's nowhere near as good as the first movie of course-- and the energy level actually felt strangely low at times-- but thankfully there were just enough great, inspired moments to make up for it (my favorite easily being the first time jump through history). And I know most people are singling out Brolin's work in this movie, but to me it was really Will Smith that made the thing work as well as it did. His energy and hilarious reactions did a LOT to keep the movie feeling as fun and engaging as it was. It's just a shame they couldn't let him explore more of the time period, because watching Will Smith be Will Smith in the 1960s is almost inspired and compelling enough to be it's OWN movie.
I wouldn't say Brolin stole the movie. My view is that his performance is much like getting a younger vibrant K in on the action to interact with a more seasoned J. The chemistry works. There's no question Will Smith is the real central figure of this story and he plays it just right. I do wish we could have seen a bit more of the '60's era aliens.
I enjoyed it. It was fun, which is mostly what I was asking for (that, and some humor). It was heads and tails above the second film. At least there was creativity this time around. Unfortunately, I saw the J's father thing from a mile away - despite the fact the colonel did not have a name tag. I missed seeing Jeebs and Frank (although, the latter was referenced multiple times). And it is always good to see the worms. Despite the fact those elements were used before, they were some of elements that I wouldn't mind seeing again. I also wouldn't mind if it Sonnenfeld made some prequel films showing the younger K, O, Zed, et al. from 1969 through 1997. Or using some of the elements from the animated series. Something I missed: Is this supposed to imply it was a predestination paradox (ala Star Trek: First Contact)? Or did these events slightly change the timeline (aside from preventing the erasure of K)?
I thought it was a lot of fun. It's not as good as the first film but it's miles ahead of the second. I give it a "B." Brolin did a fantastic job as young K with a spot-on impression, but Emma Thompson/Alice Eve's O was a pleasant addition (Thompson's eulogy was hilarious and the biggest laugh of the film), as was Griff, who was a lot of fun. Bill Hader's Andy Warhol was great too. I thought Smith did a good job of portraying a more seasoned, more weary J looking for some validation from his partner after all these years. It was good to see an explanation given for K remaining distant and detached and secretive. The Cape Canaveral scenes were cool and pretty authentic looking, right up to the use of the escape baskets. The reveal of who the military guy was could be seen a mile away, but it was still a nice poignant addition to J's backstory. I especially liked all the 60s era giant-sized analogues of the modern MiB technology.
If I interpret this correctly: Spoiler: MIB 3 In the original timeline, K regretted not killing Boris when he had the chance. In the revised timeline, Boris was indeed killed.
I'd say it's a predestiantion paradox since everything of any relevance about the events was kept classified from J, not to mention the various hints he had like "don't ask questions you won't like the answers to" or K getting after J for badmouthing his father.
I dunno, K seemed a bit less rigid and stolid in the final diner scene, I sort-of wonder if maybe something didn't change in him with his encounter with J. Also a "predestination paradox" implies that the past and present are fixed and nothing can be done to change it. You're supposed to go back and do these things. So the fact that the present was changed sort of implies that neither J nor Boris were supposed to go back there, Boris was alone and unsuccessful in the original timeline.
I interpreted that primarily as K finally being able to be more open and relaxed with J now that J has experienced the events of the past, but his lack of regret about not killing Boris might have made him more easygoing as well. Either way, he encountered J in the past in all timelines, so that's not likely the cause of his changing personality.
Eh, I don't think they should push their luck, myself. They managed to get one more good movie out of the franchise, thanks to the time travel gimmick (and the fun of getting to see these characters for the first time in a very long while), but otherwise I think the concept is pretty well played out at this point. Any other sequel would just end up feeling like another routine adventure like the second movie.