Men In Black III (2012) *Caution* May contain spoilers!

[Dave]

No one has commented yet on this? The third of a great series. They waited quite a while to make this second sequel and I was a little disappointed. The original film was great, but the second was better in many ways - it built on the original jokes but had many more of it's own; it had a tighter, more exciting story; and it gave back-story.

This outing had a time travel element to the 1960's. I won't spoil it at this point, but I think you can agree that there is so much scope in that for jokes - Austin Powers, Back to the Future. In my view they just threw that all away - only some Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger jokes - for a kind of Indiana Jones and the Apollo Moonshot-like adventure.

Great casting of Josh Brolin as a younger K, but a weak villain in Boris the Animal, and no Frank!!!! (He was a talking pup at Coney Island.)

And Emma Thompson as O as a replacement for Z didn't do it for me.

The revelation about J was a little meh and there was too much seen of Griff. Griff just wasn't funny any more after the first five minutes.

Of the three films this is the weakest, which is unfortunately another addition to our Chronicles rule that the third in a series is never any good.

[alchemist]

I seem to be the only person in the world who thought MIB 1 was over-rated. I'll wait for the DVD.

[biodroid]

I thought this was the best of the 3

[Dave]

Originally Posted by alchemist

I... thought MIB 1 was over-rated. I'll wait for the DVD.

Originally Posted by biodroid

I thought this was the best of the 3

Is this a quintessential 'Marmite' film then: You either love it or you hate it?

I'd still be interested to know the reasons why you love it or hate it though.

[ctg]

I was glad that it wasn't a repeat of the old ones. The overall feeling was quite different and I really liked it. Although not as much as I did like the first one, but in different level this was far more entertaining than the second one. I still would have loved them to expand the idea and really push more authentic feeling of the sixties and the historical references to the UFO tales.

[biodroid]

Dave - i thought i could get away with what i just said i liked the baddy first of all, he was way more BAD than the other villians in the previous movies. The time travelling aspect worked for me, dont ask me about plot holes, i couldnt identify them as i dont bother looking for them. They kept the quirkiness about the characters the same and Brolin played his part perfectly. The SFX was exceptional as well, not mind blowing but the realism showed. The only thing i did miss was the replacement of Jeebs by writing in a normal portly fellow that runs an electronics store. I think they could have done better there.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by biodroid

i liked the baddy first of all, he was way more BAD than the other villians in the previous movies.

Well, I quite liked Serleena in MIB II.

The SFX is always going to be better; that is taken for granted. It was missing Jeebs. It was missing Zed. But most of all it was missing Frank.

I enjoyed it (though there was the usual issue with people talking, eating, etc. See: Audience Behaviour at the Cinema ) but if this hadn't been a sequel then I would probably rate it higher.

[alchemist]

Originally Posted by Dave

Is this a quintessential 'Marmite' film then: You either love it or you hate it?

I'd still be interested to know the reasons why you love it or hate it though.

Alas, it's been so long.....

I wouldn't say I hate it. More that the praise heaped upon it (no. 1, that is) doesn't seem warranted in my view. I just didn't think it was as funny or clever as everyone thought.

Then again, I'm probably just being cranky.

[clovis-man]

I enjoyed it. Yes, I missed Frank (although the portrait, etc. in the film let us know that his dog years were up) and Zed. Fortunately Emma Thompson didn't have much of a role anyway. The chase back to the sixties got the plot somewhat convoluted and the doppelganger stuff was a little too cute. A straightforward bug chase might have been better, but, as you know, it's already been done.

Josh Brolin was good, but boy, the close-ups of Tommy Lee Jones were not kind.

[biodroid]

Dave did you see Frank made a cameo as a huge photograph framed by Agent Js bed? What happened to Zed anyway? I missed that part.

[pyan]

Frank's also on a poster on a background wall in one of the street scenes.

Zed apparently died just before the opening of the film. But I don't think we were given any details.

[clovis-man]

I suspect Rip Torn (Zed) is persona non grata on the movie set due to his numerous recent brushes with the law related to alcoholism. Too bad. I've always enjoyed him.