MIB 3 movie review: Good comedy, great special effects

Critic's Rating: ****
Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Jemaine Clement
Direction: Barry Sonnenfeld
Genre: Sci-fci
Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes
Avg Readers Rating: *** 1/2

Story: Agent J has to stop the alien criminal from assassinating his partner, Agent K... in time. But how?

Movie Review: Let's rewind history. Shall we! It's been a decade since the Men in Black (MIB) put on their suits for the last time ever: first in 1997 and then in 2002. So it won't really be a bad idea to brush up a little on why we liked (and missed) the secret society of protectors. Well, the MIB gave us good comedy, great special effects, inspiring performances, and ample action. Welcome to Circa 2012 and nothing much seems to have changed.

There's Agent J (Will Smith) who still gives us rib-tickling moments with his one liners. In his own words: 'Men for me are 'K'; women for me are 'O'. I refer to couples as 'OK'!' There's the grumpy, agent-of-hardly-any-words, K (Tommy Lee Jones), and tales of his heroic deeds and achievements that have been saving planet Earth. And above all, there are aliens, once again seen as our next-door friendly refugees who are still using New York as their hideout from mean intergalactic creatures. Of course, now we have Boris the animal (Jemaine Clement), who has just escaped from the Lunar prison and is on the lookout for Agent K for settling scores of the last forty years. Agent J, on the other hand, is on a spree to change the course of his buddy and partner's life... and that of mankind. All this, simply to save the future while he travels back in time.

Once the time travel begins (in the movie), it is simply a trip down memory lane. You are actually transported to the USA of the 1960s... in time to witness the launch of Apollo 11 and man's maiden journey to the moon. Don't miss out the setting, the headline makers and the style statement of the Big Brother then. And just incase you thought the Smith-Jones pairing is what kept the MIB series alive, here is more. No doubt, the two have put up a great show in all MIB movies, but taking the partnership forward this time is the Will Smith (Agent J) - Josh Brolin (Agent K, the younger one) bonding. In fact, it's hard to believe that Agent K of the 1960s is not really Agent K of 2012. So convincing is Brolin as the young Tommy Lee Jones. As for Will Smith, he fits the bill (the MIB suit in every sense of the word) as always.

Now, for the special effects. The monster show where Smith fights it out with a huge fish that attacks diners is surely worth every penny. The moment when Smith jumps off the Empire State Building to travel back to the past is worth every cutting-edge moment. Add to that some cool gadgets -- the state-of-the-art MIB workplace and the wheel Hoover-bike, for instance -- and you are left high and dry.

Sadly, it's the 3D that does not really spruce up the drama, but once you know you are in for some real MIB-isms (a hi-tech, buddy sci-fi comedy that features everything weird, creepy, funny and wonderful in and around the universe), you don't really care.