Whether or not the third instalment of the Men in Black (MIB) series was highly anticipated or not depends on who you talk to. Most critics agreed that Men in Black II was a ‘wash-out’ and was mediocre at best.
Box office receipts tell a different story. MIB II grossed twice it’s production costs. Somebody must have liked it. And enough somebodies liked it enough (do you see what I did there?) for the studios to even consider making a MIB 3.
Will Smith (Photo credit: Alan Light)
Amblin Entertainment wouldn’t back a lame horse in the money stakes. They must have felt that the winning combination of Smith and Jones was a solid one. With a string of ‘hit’ films under their belts. Who wouldn’t pay to see Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith on the big screen together again.
Add into the mix an intricate time travel plot (and hey! We haven’t seen that before have we) and casting ‘hot-as-a-rocket-blast’ Josh Brolin as the young Tommy Lee Jones and British actress extraordinaire Emma Thompson and Men in Black 3 could just make up for the dull-as-dishwater second act in the series.
Rip Torn on the red carpet at the Emmys 9/11/94 – Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post but please credit “photo by Alan Light” if you can (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Of course the curious side of me wonders why Rip Torn was replaced by Ms Thompson. Was he not allowed to participate because that would have violated his parole? In spite of the man’s personal problems, surely the film would have benefited from his presence. I always felt that his role of Zed was sort of sacrosanct. Obviously not.
Word on the street is that Josh Brolin steals the show with his portrayal of the young Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and that he has Jone’s mannerisms and voice down pat. Not surprising really when you consider his portrayal of ex-President George W Bush Jr in W. The man is a chameleon of an actor, just look at his films, not least of which was True Grit. He was almost unrecognisable as Tom Chaney.
Still despite the good box office returns of MIB 3 so far I will not be queuing up to see the film in the cinema. I have spent my monthly allowable expenditure of seeing Red Lights with it’s talented cast. So as much as I adore seeing Tommy Lee Jones doing what he does so well and Will Smith is watch-able no matter what he does, I’ll have to give it a pass.
I will, though, be renting the blu-ray as soon as it is released and I’ll then be writing what I think of the film. Until then look into the light and remember nothing…
Related articles
- MIB 3 dethrones Avengers (nation.com.pk)
- Will Smith and Josh Brolin Take MIB3 on a Mission to Mexico (popsugar.com)
- Men in Black 3 Singes The Avengers (entertainment.time.com)
- Men In Black 3 in 3D – Blazing Minds Film Review (blazingminds.co.uk)
- Men in Black 3D – review (thisislondon.co.uk)
