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Watashi
05-25-2012, 05:53 PM
MEN IN BLACK 3

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

IMDb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409024/)

http://www.bsckids.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Men-In-Black-III-New-Movie-Poster-1.jpg

Watashi
05-25-2012, 05:53 PM
So yeah, I decided to spontaneously see this last night due to friends who had nothing else better to do.

I want to talk more about the first Men in Black film. I haven't seen it at least a decade. I remember seeing MiB in theaters over and over when I was a wee lad and I absolutely loved it. This was in a time where Will Smith owned the summer. No one was tired of him yet, because he was still fresh off his success of being the Fresh Prince. Men in Black was an audience and critical success. It's one of those universally accepted movies because it was exciting and brought a great concept to the table. It was basically The X-Files, but shinier and more family-friendly. Now it's been a while since I've seen the film, and I remember small details (a talking dog, Rip Torn, noisy cricket), but most of it is a blur. I can't really explain WHY I like it now.

So I'm here watching the new film and wondering if this film is going to give that warm nostalgic feeling from the first film or that bad icky feeling of the second film. Well.... neither actually. The first 20 or so minutes of MiB3 is awful. Reestablishing the universe, setting up the villain, and a lot of jokes that miss by a mile. Then the film got the plot moving and went to the 60's. If I have only one sole reason to recommend this movie, it's Josh Brolin. His performance of Tommy Lee Jones is uncanny. It's not just an impression. Brolin actually channels Jones's nuances where it's so eerie that you are not looking at Tommy Lee Jones. I was surprised when I read Scott Tobias's review that Brolin should get serious Oscar consideration (I don't necessarily agree or care). The film runs its course into expected area for this franchise. Some cameos pop up. Will Smith does he usual "aw hell nahs" for the camera, and there's some weird Rick Baker designed aliens. The film's tone felt a lot in aligned with the first film, and I'm not sure if that's a compliment. I didn't laugh that much at this film nor did I really get excited during the climatic set pieces. It makes me wonder that everyone loved the first film so much because it was so original and was released in a time where every summer wasn't stuffed with sequels, comic book movies, and reboots. Now we're used to Hollywood taking franchises and straining any juices left. If MiB3 was released in the summer of 1997 and sold as the first one, it probably would have gotten the same reaction.

What I'm saying is: has anyone seen the first film recently (whether it be the first time viewing it or not)? Does it hold up? After seeing MiB3, I'm not sure if I want to revisit it because I remember it as being THE film during my preteen years that I watched over and over.

Winston*
05-26-2012, 12:50 AM
Tempted to see this just because I'm curious about Jemaine Clement's performance.

TGM
05-26-2012, 02:18 AM
Yeah, this was much better than I expected. Brolin was great, and Smith killed it with a few lines that, really, only he could have pulled off. Really nice surprise.

Sxottlan
05-26-2012, 06:35 AM
Better than the second film, but that's not saying much. MIB2 used the exact same plot as the first film. It was the same problem as Ghostbusters 2. So at least this was a "new-ish" plot for the franchise, but traveling back in time to stop this or do that is nothing new.

Unfortunately as with MIB2, this film continues to display Sonnenfeld's bizarre comedic timing. As in he has none. We sense that a scene is supposed to have that drawn out uncomfortable feeling for laughs, but instead many scenes are just drawn out and humorless. J and K still talk like they're new partners working out issues when they've been together 15 years.

Individual moments and performances are good. Josh Brolin is great as is Michael Stuhlbarg. The visual effects are pretty good.

I don't consider it a spoiler.. but it seemed obvious from the outset that Boris could take on some different form just like the last two films, but then it doesn't really pan out. I kind of liked the idea of Boris being some kind of symbiont with other creatures or be comprised of multiple creatures, but we're never really sure.

And Jemaine Clement was kind of wasted in the roll. You don't see the actor's eyes and he just kind of snarls most of the time. Nothing will top Vincent Dinofrio from the first film. He really sold the idea of a massive bug uncomfortably trying to wear a suit of human flesh.

Henry Gale
05-26-2012, 08:29 AM
Tempted to see this just because I'm curious about Jemaine Clement's performance.

Yeah, I keep on thinking how much I'd want to see Josh Brolin, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jemaine in this, but then I remember how unexciting the rest of it looks and I'm back to little to no anticipation for it.

I mean, I like the first one a lot, and 12-year-old me didn't mind MIB II either, but I just look at the trailers for it, remember the haphazard production stories, and then skim through all the potentially great things being released in the coming weeks, and I feel just fine saving this as a high-profile home viewing down the line.

Saya
05-26-2012, 06:13 PM
This was ok. Josh Brolin was the highlight of the film for me. I don't know why, but I felt that Boris did not feel dangerous or threatening to me. I wish they had expanded his part a bit more.

[ETM]
05-27-2012, 10:05 AM
I saw this with my brother because he won two free tickets. I went in having only briefly seen the trailer and it was a decent enough film. Some parts drag on a bit, but there are seriously funny and/or cool moments. I really, really liked Brolin and Stuhlbarg's entire performances, everything in the 60s was well done, and I'm glad Jemaine is getting decent work, even though he is a bit wasted in the role. 3D conversion was not too intrusive, and the effects looked good for the most part... I liked the time jump sequences a lot. Mike Colter has a really striking face, and looks like Donald Glover's older brother or dad (even though he's only 36, I think). The baby in 5K and agent W have the funniest lines in the film. I'd say a firm, yet not enthusiastic, "yay" on MIB3.

Morris Schæffer
05-27-2012, 12:49 PM
I recall a time, circa Hollow Man, when Josh Brolin was simple James Brolin's wooden son. But lo and behold, I want to see this movie solely for him.

Fezzik
05-27-2012, 01:32 PM
;421986']The baby in 5K and agent W have the funniest lines in the film.


The baby one I assume is...

He didn't say please.

But which one was Agent W?

[ETM]
05-27-2012, 02:37 PM
But which one was Agent W?

Andy Warhol?

Wryan
05-28-2012, 02:31 AM
Clement was terrible in this. But personally I blame the writing and direction more. Overall this was okay. Very inoffensive and kind of bland. Some chuckles.

KK2.0
05-28-2012, 09:45 PM
I've rewatched the first MIB recently and I think it still holds on pretty well. This and Addam's Family Values are probably Sonnenfeld's best efforts imo, haven't watched Get Shorty, not sure if i'm missing much.

Dukefrukem
05-28-2012, 11:00 PM
Great synopsis. OK Brolin. Not funny. No redeeming value. Good Ending. Will Smith has grown up and has lost his ability to charm me. This all equates to a NAY.

Dukefrukem
05-28-2012, 11:17 PM
After the movie, I had to take a double take when I saw it was written by "Etan Cohen"

Sven
05-29-2012, 07:19 AM
After the movie, I had to take a double take when I saw it was written by "Etan Cohen"

Welcome to 2007.

Dukefrukem
05-29-2012, 11:47 AM
Welcome to 2007.

Did he write a movie in 2007 or something?

number8
05-29-2012, 05:33 PM
Ugh. This is the movie that finally took down The Avengers.

number8
05-29-2012, 05:34 PM
Did he write a movie in 2007 or something?

Tropic Thunder. There were a lot of similarly confused reactions.

Dukefrukem
05-29-2012, 05:43 PM
Tropic Thunder. There were a lot of similarly confused reactions.

I should probably see that.

Kiusagi
05-29-2012, 05:54 PM
Is this worth seeing in 3D? More specifically, is the film based around the format? I'm not a fan of 3D, but I'll force myself to check it out if it makes full use of it.

Dukefrukem
05-29-2012, 05:58 PM
I chose not to see it in 3D.

[ETM]
05-29-2012, 07:13 PM
It's a decent conversion but nothing is really gained by seeing it in 3D.

transmogrifier
05-31-2012, 10:53 AM
;422471']It's a decent conversion but nothing is really gained by seeing it in 3D.

This is pretty much true for all 3D. I saw Titanic in 3D and it actually seemed to put me at more of a distance from the movie. It weirdly made everything a little more artificial and staged.

[ETM]
05-31-2012, 12:52 PM
This is pretty much true for all 3D.

Well, conversions anyway. I saw Avatar both in 3D and 2D and it made an enormous difference visually.

Pop Trash
06-01-2012, 01:00 AM
;423102']Well, conversions anyway. I saw Avatar both in 3D and 2D and it made an enormous difference visually.

I think it has to do with the purpose or form/function thing. Avatar/Hugo/Cave of Forgotten Dreams all make sense in 3D (although I will say Hugo still works really well in 2D for me while Avatar does not).

Kiusagi
06-01-2012, 05:53 AM
Mildly entertaining. It bothered me that a few potentially important topics were brought up and then never mentioned again. I'm sure that can be attributed to the lack of a complete script. I'm somewhat impressed they churned out something coherent despite that, but it shows.

Brolin is great, but you all already know that. Michael Stuhlbarg is a real joy to watch. He nearly steals the show. I felt the same way about his performance in Hugo.

Good ending, but is that supposed to explain why Agent K became the way he did? Because that makes no sense. Either that or it was not explained at all, which wouldn't bother me if it wasn't constantly brought up.

Henry Gale
06-03-2012, 10:36 PM
I mean, before seeing this, I had already heard a lot of people's spoiler-filled thoughts on it and their problems with the ending, that maybe my expectations had just been lowered to such a point that I somehow managed to actually enjoy it.

Not all of it works, not by a mile (I'm still not sure exactly how the movie's time travel logic operates), but the main crux of it, as well as anything involving Stuhlbarg and Brolin, just has enough palpable fun and marvelously executed scale to it. Even just the way the movie illustrates something like the time transitions is pretty spectacular, and something that I can't say I've ever seen anything like before, though that might be because it took a $250 million+ budgeted movie to execute something like it. But at the same time, even just simpler techniques like the one used in baseball sequence impressed me quite a bit.

So it might just be those two actors and the whole time travel angle representing the new blood here that really is the stuff that makes it feel as worthwhile and fresh as it does (which is just enough, not extremely so), because those early scenes with just Smith and Jones are fairly sluggish. Otherwise, Bill Hader does a lot of great stuff in his small role, less so with Jemaine, who just doesn't have much to work with, has awkward voice altering the whole time and just ends up feeling miscast, and Emma Thompson's / Alice Eve's character ends up being completely pointless, likely a casualty from the ever-changing script.

Maybe if I saw it another day my opinion would've been different and my criticisms could've been stronger and more detrimental to it, but as I watched it for the big summer entertainment it was, I was sufficiently entertained, though not much more.

Henry Gale
06-03-2012, 10:37 PM
And I will say that one of the big ending scenes that has a lot of potentially big repercussions for the story of all three movies plays a lot better in context than I assumed when I heard about it. Though, I think the power of Brolin's performance there helps sell it.

transmogrifier
06-09-2012, 12:23 PM
Great premise, lousy script and editing, basically. The (almost) last scene should have been a killer, but instead it reminded you how raggedly put together the whole thing is. Boris COULD have been an awesome villian, but he's sidelined for much of it, showing up just to shoot some spikes.

But that editing! Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Irish
11-25-2012, 12:17 PM
Thought this would out and out suck but was pleasantly surprised & ended up enjoying it a great deal.

Not all the jokes hit home, but some had me laughing out loud (Hader really nailed the 'Factory' scene).

Smith was freaking amazing. Couple of scenes felt like early Eddie Murphy, but cleaned up.

Third act was mostly dull, and felt like a more CGI'd remake of the original's final scenes.

They made such a big deal about K's "change," it felt that, logically

that Jay would die.

But given the franchise & the star involved, I knew that wouldn't happen.

Emma Thompson felt wasted, especially since they kept hinting at this big backstory with her & K, but it never goes anywhere.

Amazing pacing. The story just keeps pushing forward & doesn't stop. Also surprised they had a half decent story to tell, even though most of it seems cribbed from an episode of Star Trek and the villain is a faint copy of Dinofrio in the original.

Gizmo
12-04-2012, 11:45 PM
I gave it a nay, as I feel it was more to the nay side of "meh" than the yay side. Had the potential to be pretty good, but felt flat. Seemed to miss some potential with some storylines that could have been embellished, especially the last couple scenes. The villain wasn't villainy enough, the humor was lacking more than I recall from the previous two (mostly the first). Not unwatchable, but could have been much more.

megladon8
12-05-2012, 01:01 AM
Jen and I watched this last night.

Better than 2, not as good as 1.

I don't understand what it was that transpired in Cape Canaveral that ruined K's life and made him a curmudgeonly old grump. I mean...I know what it was that happened that supposed explains it, but when it happened I was all like "really? That's it?"

Grouchy
09-22-2013, 05:41 PM
Jen and I watched this last night.

Better than 2, not as good as 1.

I don't understand what it was that transpired in Cape Canaveral that ruined K's life and made him a curmudgeonly old grump. I mean...I know what it was that happened that supposed explains it, but when it happened I was all like "really? That's it?"
My reaction is pretty much exactly the same as this.

Although I didn't watch it with Jen, obviously.

Stay Puft
12-24-2013, 01:21 PM
There was an ice storm in Toronto over the weekend so I decided to stay inside in my pajamas (hoping I didn't lose power) and, for some reason, got the idea to watch all of the Men in Black films in a row.

The first film hasn't aged well. Like Wats, I remember enjoying it as a kid when I saw it in theatres, but a lot of the humor fell flat on its face for me this time around and the special effects are pretty poor in spots. It's not a particularly good looking film in general, really. Vincent D'Onofrio is the most enjoyable part. The film as a whole is enjoyable enough I guess but not a strong film by any means.

So I guess I was surprised, then, that I didn't hate Men in Black II like I did back when it was released, thinking it a terrible sequel. I mean, it still is a lousy sequel in some respects, as it commits many typical sequel-itis sins (carbon copy story, referential humor and fan service, etc.) but ultimately I didn't really find it any more or less successful than the first. In fact, I probably laughed harder during a couple scenes here than I did at any point during the first (where I was mostly grinning a bit but never really laughing out loud). I'm thinking mainly of the stuff with David Cross. That being said it is also pretty lazily thought out, a poor assemblage of nonsensical story points and screenplay conveniences that add up to a whiff of nothing. I did like the action setpiece involving Will Smith and the flying clone army, that was the only genuinely creative setpiece in either film (that's another thing about the first film that hasn't aged well, it's got a fairly dull sense of action).

What I couldn't help but notice with these two films is the complete awfulness of the female roles. Linda Fiorentino has it bad enough in the first film but Rosario Dawson is handed some damn garbage, having nothing to do the entire time but make puppy-eyed faces at Will Smith. This continues in the third film with the character of Agent O and her attraction to K.

So anyways, yeah, I guess it's a mild nay for Men in Black 3. As with the second film, it's sloppily assembled, but also not really any more or less successful than the first. It's just more of the same. The second film has aged better than the first in terms of special effects but is still inconsistent on the whole, and this is also true for the third: some special effects look pretty damn good, and others are just blegh. I think the biggest problem again is just that all three films have rather poor visuals. That being said, I thought the shootout in the Chinese restaurant was a good setpiece (which brings the total count of enjoyable setpieces in the franchise to two); in fact, I thought the film started a lot stronger than it ended. The twist at the ending just seems like a dumb retcon to me. I'm also surprised to see a general agreement re: the Andy Warhol scenes. I thought that was easily the worst part of the film, just painfully unfunny. I'm in agreement with Stuhlbarg being pretty wonderful, though. I had no idea he was even in this and was a wonderful surprise. But I'm also in agreement with Irish re: Will Smith. I thought he did a great job in this one, and had some good and funny lines.

All in all I'd say my time with this franchise was mildly enjoyable given the alternative (trekking outside in an ice storm) but on the whole these are fairly mediocre blockbusters, and a lot of this has to be attributed to Sonnenfeld's direction: as another poster said, his comedic timing is just off, and his eye for visuals is lacking, too. Which is a shame, because there's a lot of talent in this franchise otherwise (lots of good and fun performances throughout, some good production design work, Rick Baker's awesome alien creations, etc.). Mild nays for all three, I guess.

Sxottlan
12-27-2013, 08:25 AM
There was an ice storm in Toronto over the weekend so I decided to stay inside in my pajamas.

I'm across the lake in Rochester. Thankfully we were only grazed a little bit by the ice. But the north country got clobbered. I saw the pictures from Brampton. Looked the '91 storm that we had here.