This week the heat team grabbed their popcorn and Minstrels and headed to the pictures to watch the three biggest releases in Moviesville this week - Men In Black 3; starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, Moonrise Kingdom; starring Edward Norton and What To Expect When You're Expecting; starring Cameron Diaz.
Here's what we thought:
Men In Black 3
STARRING: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Alice Eve
DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfeld (CERT PG, 105 minutes)
The plot: Ten years after we last saw them in Men In Black 2, the team of top-secret alien hunters reunites for a mission which involves time travel and saving the world from a heinous beast called Boris (Clement), who wants revenge on Agent K (Jones) after he shot his arm off over 40 years previously. The increasingly frustrated Agent J (Smith) is mainly concerned
with working out why his partner K is being secretive about what happened all those years ago.
What’s right with it? To start with, this belated new entry in the comedy fantasy series feels fresh and dynamic, helped by a funny, action-packed opening introducing the amusing villain, played to fine effect by Flight Of The Conchords dude Clement, and the agents’ new boss O (Emma Thompson), who’s witty and likeable. It also builds to a satisfying and rather clever climax, which isn’t just a special- effects fest but has proper emotional resonance.
What’s wrong with it? The bit in the middle, where the storytelling gets bogged down in one complicated time-travel sub-plot after another and the young version of Agent K (Brolin) turns out to be a lot less interesting than the grizzled, grumpy old one. It also makes less sense as time goes on, and is rather too contrived and smug for its own good.
Verdict: If Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is an object lesson in how to make a franchise movie seem truly vital and inventive, Men In Black 3 feels more like an attempt to cash in on past blockbuster glories. There’s some amusing, enjoyable stuff here, just not enough of it. HHH @boydhilton
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