Men in Black III

Truth be told, I love Will Smith.He is one of the few movie stars that my generation can call its own, and a damn good one at that. He's incredibly charming, he has great politics, and he does his best every time. Smith has made some "eh" movies like Seven Pounds and Wild Wild West, but he is specifically good every time. I love Enemy of the State and Hitch and I Robot, and I even like Independence Day. But my favorite Will Smith films will always be the Men in Black films, even the second one. Well, no changes to report. Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back, and their relationship is on the rocks. Not helping is the fact that Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), an old enemy of K's an an unstoppable assassin, has broken out and wants revenge. When Boris' plan succeeds after he jumps back in time and kills K, J finds himself in a world being attacked by some very big and very bad green men. Seeing no other options, J jumps back to 196, the year Boris was arrested. Teaming up with a young K (Josh Brolin), J has to set the record (and the timeline) straight. While MIB 3 is not a horse, it is fair to say that it stumbles hard out of the gate. Seriously, some of the early jokes and one-liners are so freakin' dumb that I quite literally cringed. One scene with Emma Thompson in particular is just embarrassing. But once Josh Brolin shows up, the story whips into shape and the movie starts kicking ass. The acting, jokes, action and storytelling all get way better. And on a side note, Bill Hader as Andy Warhol is fantastic. Of the three MIB movies, this one definitely has the best characters. Josh Brolin's K brings life to the film, Jemaine Clement is hilarious and menacing as Boris, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin is wonderful to watch. I also liked how this film made the wise decision to focus on J and K's relationship. Because even though the gags and the action are the mind and body of this series, that chemistry between the two main characters is the heart and soul. Just as Tommy Lee Jones wouldn't be cool without Will Smith to bounce humor off him, Will would be kind of cheesy without TLJ's seriousness. The exploration of this theme is actually pretty touching too. It is completely fair to say that Hollywood franchises have taken a downhill tunr. The past generation had Terminator, Indiana Jones, and the Matrix. For every Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter we have, there seems to always be a Transformers or an Underworld around the corner. And then there're the Battleships and the Van Helsings, the failures that prove that studios never learn. So until Avengers 2 comes out, I am happy to sit and watch Men in Black 3. It's fun, nostalgic, exciting, and pretty moving near the end. So hop in, slap on your sunglasses, and take a ride.