Men in Black III or MIB 3

I have found that film franchises are either good or not so good. Ever since the original "Men in Black" came out in 1997, it was a fresh, new, original of that particular genre. Well, two more films in the can and "Men in Black III" or "MIB 3" is still funny enough to hold your attention once again. Most franchises I cannot say this, but this installment keeps you moving right along.

An alien criminal, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes from a maximum-security prison on the moon with assistance of his girlfriend (Nicole Scherzinger) in order to 1) find a guy named Jeffrey Price (Michael Chernus) who has the device for time travel and 2) go back in time to 1969 to kill the younger Agent K (Josh Brolin), who was instrumental capturing Boris before Agent K shoots his arm off. Boris, unfortunately, succeeds, ergo Agent K has now been dead for 40 years., much to the chagrin of veteran Agent J (Will Smith).
Since Boris altered the timeline, that changed the Agency, which now places the Earth in danger, Agent J must travel back in time to 1969 before the murder and work with the young Agent K to save him, the Agency and ultimately Earth.

Others to round out the cast are Emma Thompson as Agent O, Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin, Mike Colter as Colonel, Alice Eve as young Agent O, Bill Hader as Andy Warhol, David Rashe as Agent X, and Keone Young as Mr. Wu.

This was slickly and colorfully directed by Barry Sonnenfeld ("The Addams Family" '91, "For Love or Money" '93, "Addams Family Values" '93, "Get Shorty" '95, "Men in Black" '97, "Wild Wild West" '99, "Big Trouble" '02, "Men in Black II" '02, "RV" '06, "Hackett" (TV movie) '08, "The Bridget Show" (TV movie) '09). It was cleverly written by Etan Cohen based on the Malibu Comic by Lowell Cunningham. There were a few inconsistencies which is easy to happen when dealing with time and the paradoxes that can happen, but all in all, this was very entertaining. The one sad thing is the omission of Frank, the pug dog. He was funny.

And as usual with summer flicks, the visual effects which were predominantly designed by SPI (Sony Pictures Imageworks) and Prime Focus VFX were absolutely seamless.

As your typical Hollywood summer fare, this was one that you must see on the big screen. I only saw it in 2D and still the in-your-face effect was great, so save yourself 3 bucks. It was also presented in IMAX format. This had a clever script, great visuals, and entertaining all in one and aren't these the ingredients one only hopes for during the summer season?

Out of 4 stars: 3.5                       Rated: PG-13                         104min.