Men in Black 3

Josh Brolin is an inspired choice as the young Tommy Lee Jones. But the one-liners, the mainstay of the franchise, are too far apart

The crucial date in MiB 3 is 16 July 1969. This was when Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Canaveral for the first moon landing and the date to which ‘Boris the Animal’ dragged Agent K back in time to kill him.

Boris, who insists he is just Boris and not an  animal, has escaped from ‘LunarMax’ prison on the moon and wants revenge because K shot off his arm 43 years ago. So time travel comes into the equation, we go back to 1969, and the third part of this genre spoof series is in motion.

The good thing is that MiB 3 took a 10-year break. This allows the film to balance on the narrow ledge of its USP—using data from the special effects science fiction movies about aliens that have appeared since then and spoofing  them, while at the same time, taking itself semi-seriously as a suited and booted team of specialised agents taking on said aliens.

The chemistry between Agents J (Will Smith) and K ( Tommy Lee Jones) still  works and, in this edition, we have a special treat—K as a young man in 1969 played by Josh Brolin. This is a master stroke of casting and it is uncanny how believable Brolin is as a young Tommy Lee Jones.

The entertainment value of the MiB franchise is never in its absurdly concocted plots, but in its delightfully droll humour. So we wait for the dry one-liners and wacky situations and though a few appear, they are isolated and spaced too far apart. You laugh, but intermittently, the funniest being when Will Smith, a black man in a black suit, is stopped by two white traffic cops in 1969 because, of course, he stole the car and the suit.

MiB 3 is worth a look, but can’t match the 1997 original.

About The Author

Ajit Duara