Men In Black 3 (2012)

Mr. Beaupepys isn't a huge fan of the Men In Black franchise. I always used to take the piss out of him for it and call him a killjoy, although if I thought about it, I honestly couldn't have told you whether or not I'd ever seen the second instalment. I'd seen the first one, though, shortly after it came out, and I thought it was a slick, smart little action comedy with a neat concept and a cute, sparky chemistry between the two leads.

Then, a couple of years ago, they released Men In Black III. I was basically pleased about it in a quiet sort of way, and made a mental note to keep an eye out for it when they released the DVD. As it happened, though, I found myself unexpectedly entertaining a friend that month, and a cinema trip felt like the fun thing to do.

I wanted to see Rock of Ages, but to my bitter disappointment, the showtimes didn't fit our schedule. No biggy, though, because MiB III was out and there was no way it could be anything less than entertaining, could it?

I emerged from the auditorium spitting self-righteous feathers, and promptly stomped home to tell Mr. B that actually, he'd been right all along and how could I never have noticed that the entire franchise was a poisonous piece of racist tripe? And that, after an hour or two of simmering, was that. 

Fast forward a couple of years to sometime around the middle of last week, and I noticed they were showing it on TV. My inner masochist demanded to know not only whether it was as bad as I remembered, but whether the same applied to the entire trilogy. 

Mr. Beaupepys was singularly unimpressed by this.

To bring everybody up to speed, the Men In Black are elite members of a shadowy organization protecting the earth from the hundreds of alien immigrants who arrive there every year. Our protagonists are J (Will Smith), who goes from being a plucky new recruit to savvy senior agent over the course of the three films, and K (Tommy Lee Jones, and sometimes Josh Brolin), his taciturn, world-weary mentor.

By the start of the third film, J has truly found his feet within the agency, while K is stony-faced despite the death of the Chief of staff, Z. Everything changes, however, when the dangerous criminal Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clements) escapes from a top-security prison located on the moon. Back in the 1960s, K shot off Boris' arm, not to mention setting up a protective shield that wiped out every other member of his species, so it probably isn't that surprising that he's out for blood. When Boris manages to go back in time and kill K before any of this can happen, it's up to J to follow him to ensure the shield gets placed and the safety of the earth is assured.

The Good

I make a fairly frequent habit, when people disagree with me on cinematic matters, of asking myself whether other people actually saw the same film as I did. Sometimes, on particularly belligerent days, I even ask the other people - I put my hands on my hips and glare and everything.

This is the first time I've ever had to ask the question of myself, though, because watching MiB III last night I had an absolute blast. Sins I thought were unforgivable in the cinema seemed merely slightly ill-judged, and damned if it wasn't a pleasure to see an effects movie where the majority of the action took place in broad daylight. The film packs in rather more plot than the first two instalments put together, and succeeds in the tricky feat of remaining coherent despite a storyline centred around shifting timelines and alternate histories.

A film like this will never be about the acting, of course, but Smith and Jones inhabit their roles with the same easy grace they inhabit the titular black suits. As the younger, less jaded 1960s K, Josh Brolin pulls off an impressive impersonation of Jones, while as Boris, Jemaine Clements exudes a genuine menace of which I wouldn't have believed him capable. 

Effects work ranges from serviceable to excellent, with the 60's era MiB tech and Boris' eyeless face particular highlights. There's real imagination at work here, and a genuine sense of joy - I particularly loved J's fall through time where the Chrysler building built itself around him. The whole thing is backed up by one of Danny Elfman's more restrained soundtracks, one which highlights the action rather than drowning it. In general, in fact, this was an exceptionally pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening, especially after the mindless bombast of the first sequel.

The Bad

I'm not going to claim I was justified in the hatred I felt after I first viewed this one, because I patently wasn't. A few areas, however, are undeniably problematic, most especially a scene set within a Chinese restaurant that panders to practically every ill-informed stereotype the 1970s sitcoms could imagine. Watching it in the cinema, I was appalled; sat more comfortably on my sofa at home, I couldn't help but cringe at how badly judged it was, especially in a film that made a point of confronting anti-black prejudice.

A few better female roles wouldn't have gone amiss, either. The original MiB boasted Linda Fiorentino's ballsy female mortuary attendant; here, we have Emma Thompson, who looks to be having a tremendously good time but fades into the background relatively early in proceedings - I would have loved to have seen a proper conclusion to her decades-long romance with K rather than having her vanish from the film's later segments.

The Verdict

A sweet, slick and surprisingly smart piece of entertainment eminently suitable for family viewing over the holidays. It's a shame it occasionally descends into racial cliche, but even this can't really prevent it from being a thoroughly good time.