Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Sony Pictures – 106 min – 2012 – Rated PG-13 -1080p – 1.85:1 widescreen – DTS-HD 5.1 Audio – UltraViolet Copy

Let’s get this out right up front, Men in Black 3 is a forced sequel. By that I mean it really did not need to be made and no one was saying “hey, are they ever going to make another MIB movie?” There are three reasons it was made; one is because Hollywood loves the word trilogy; two is due to the fact that the second Men in Black movie sucked; and three is the easy one…more money (especially for Mr. Smith). Men in Black 3 was one of the biggest hits of the summer, so the gamble paid off. Sony has released MIB3 on glorious Blu-ray just in time for the Holidays, and while it will never match the level of the original film, it’s not so bad.

THE MOVIE

You all know the story of the mysterious Men In Black. They’re from the super secret organization that keeps track of all the extraterrestrials that live on Earth, and clean up the mess the aliens leave behind by zapping the memory of all witnesses. Will Smith is agent J and Tommy Lee Jones is his gruff older partner, Agent K. They’ve saved the planet twice already, and as long as there are bad guys out there in the cosmos, some other ET is obviously going to try to destroy our world again. This time the enemy is a character named Boris the Animal (played by Jemaine Clement from the awesome Flight of the Conchords) who is a gruesome one-armed last living survivor of an alien life form known as the Boglodites.

Boris the Animal escapes from a maximum-security space prison and flees to Earth to seek revenge on the man who severed his arm many years ago…Agent K. Boris comes up with an elaborate plan to go back in time to hunt down and kill the younger Agent K, and by doing so drastically changing world history that could effect the fate of our future by having the Boglodites invade and conquer the Earth. In hopes of saving the world (again) Agent J is introduced to time travel by the head of the MIB named Agent O (Emma Thompson) and shot back to the 1960’s where he meets up with the young Agent K (played by Josh Brolin). Together they must team up to stop Boris the Animal before time runs out.

The plot is very straightforward, allowing for various comical and action events to play out. The look of the film matches the first two movies, with its chrome looking style where everything is neat and clean. Even the Agent J travels back to the 60’s, the look of the film still looks metallic with a hint of Mad Men meets Back to the Future. As expected there are plenty out of this world aliens running around, including a centipede creature who disguises himself as an owner of a Chinese restaurant, and a nerdy child-like man named Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg) who has the ability to see anyone’s future. They even reveal that the infamous pop artist Andy Warhol was an alien, but that’s easily believable

Director Barry Sonnerfeld returns for this third hit at bat as director, and his stamp is all over the picture. Will Smith does his best…well you know…his Will Smith thing, and Tommy Lee Jones is the king of the deadpan lines, complete with his signature droopy dog face. Josh Brolin does a great job playing the young Tommy Lee Jones, an he must have spent hours in front of a mirror getting that dead faced look down. Overall, Men in Black 3 is a fun and quick movie, but it doesn’t add anything to the series. This is probably the last adventure for the duo of agents K and J, but knowing Hollywood don’t be surprised if you see MIB revisited again with or without Smith and Jones attached.

VIDEO

The visual style of if Director Barry Sonnerfeld was made for high definition Blu-ray. This film looks absolutely fantastic, presented in full 1080p in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Colors are Crayola perfect matching the comic book style that the film originated from. The image quality is so perfect that you see how Tommy Lee Jones looks up close, with enough lines on his face to make a subway map. Also Mr. Smith seems to be getting up there in age and no longer looks like the hip young Fresh Prince. There are no cons in the image quality, making this showroom material and one of the best transfers out there.

SOUND

This one is another audio homerun spitting out a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack that is a must hear. If you don’t have a surround sound system you are really missing out on a lot. The sound effects are plentiful with everything going on from explosions, to screams, lasers, swooping space ships, and every other out-of-world sound that can be imagined. Dialogue is crystal clear even during high volume action sequences such as the film’s finale that features the launch of the Apollo 11 to the moon. Danny Elfman once again returns, providing the film’s score, which is the cherry on top. Crank this one up to 11.

EXTRAS

For some reason the MIB3 features are on the slim side. There’s not even a director’s audio commentary track. Hopefully Sony is not attempting to double-dip this one.

Partners in Time: The Making of MIB3 is barely a half an hour and is your basic behind the scenes mini doc featuring interviews with the cast and filmmaking team.

The Evolution of Cool: MIB 1960’s vs. Today looks at the visual production of the film.

Keeping it Surreal: The Visual FX of MIB3 is a quick ten-minute looks at the film’s special effects. For a film that is 90% visual effects, this should have been longer.

Scene Investigation has key members discuss the set-up and execution of certain scenes. This should have just been added to the Partners in Time making of featurette, because it would have made it seem more filling.

The Progression Reels selection is probably one of the best features, allowing you to see how much detail went into making each of the major visual effects scenes work, particularly the time jump.

Spot the Alien is a silly FPS game that looks like it should have just been released as a iPhone game. Real gamers will be bored in less than a minute.

An unfunny Gag Reel is only good for one viewing.

Fans of rapper Pitbull can access his ‘Back in Time’ music video.

A DVD and a UltraViolet copy are also included in the pack.

BOTTOM LINE

The original Men in Black film was great, the second film was a sleeper (literally) and the third film is acceptable, but fun. The Blu-ray for MIB3 offers one of the best visual and audio presentations out there, but the bonus features are somewhat flat. Fans will definitely want to get this one to complete the set. This one is worth your cash.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 3.0

Video: 5.0

Sound: 5.0

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 4.0