“I had an utterly fantastic trip to NYC yesterday, thus reason for postponing this write up (I wanted to get enough sleep after the movie since we’d had an after-the-fact second cast party for Urinetown the night before). First up was Evita. That’s been my “”favorite show I’ve never seen”” for almost as long as I’ve been doing theater, so I jumped at the chance to see it. Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris were a wonderfully welcome bonus! Then was Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Mostly, I just wanted to see Eric McCormack. So yeah, rousing success.
Right, so Men in Black III. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it going in. I’m past most of the skepticism that comes with these long after the franchise is forgotten about sequels. On one side, there’s a sense of wondering if Hollywood is really out of ideas, but conversely, it gives them time to think thru a new direction without just cranking out the next installment as quickly as possible. I do quite love Men in Black, well the first one at least. I’m kinda ambivalent on the sequel. I think I’d rank this one in between the two.
While I enjoyed it, something just felt off and I’m not sure what. Maybe too much time had passed. Maybe Will Smith was a bit too complacent. Or maybe I just cant buy time travel stories because my mind thinks too hard about the grandfather paradox or the butterfly effect. But while there was something off in the feel, it had plenty of redeeming qualities. There were some great laugh out loud moments, fun inside jokes for the MIB fans, and a beautiful twist.
But the most reedeming of all positive qualities was Josh Brolin as the younger Agent K. His channelling of Tommy Lee Jones was uncanny. He claims his main goal was to make people forget they were watching a different actor. Mission a-\m/-commplished. The mannerisms, the attitude, the speech patterns, it was all there. Just amazing. And because of how the story worked out, he got to add a bit of a softer side to K, which almost felt like a wink at the audience. Loved it.
Will Smith was, well, Will Smith. The boy’s still got the attitude, although at times it felt almost phoned in. I dont think he was giving anything less than his all, but I didnt feel there was much at stake with him. There just wasn’t anything too new and fresh for the Fresh Prince. I still love watching him do his thing, but something was missing to make him amp up to the next level.
There isn’t really much else to say about it. I mean, it was the MIB. If you’re a fan, it’s definitely worth checking out for Josh Brolin.
Men in Black III – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n