Men in Black 3 (2012)

Agent J travels in time to M.I.B.'s early days in 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers:

Etan Cohen, Lowell Cunningham (based on the Malibu comic by)

Stars:

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin

1 win & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Smith	...	Agent J
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Agent K
Josh Brolin	...	Young Agent K
Jemaine Clement	...	Boris The Animal
Emma Thompson	...	Agent O
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Griffin
Mike Colter	...	Colonel
Nicole Scherzinger	...	Boris' Girlfriend
Michael Chernus	...	Jeffrey Price
Alice Eve	...	Young Agent O
David Rasche	...	Agent X
Keone Young	...	Mr. Wu
Bill Hader	...	Andy Warhol
Cayen Martin	...	Colonel's Son
Clarke Thorell	...	Prison Guard #1

Storyline

After breaking out of LunarMax, a moon-based maximum security prison, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) decides to go back in time and eliminate the person who arrested him - Agent K (Josh Brolin). When he does so, Agent J (Will Smith) realizes that the timeline has been changed and he too travels back to July 15, 1969, the day before Agent K is killed. After overcoming some disbelief, J manages to convince young K and others of just who he is and why he's there. With the help of Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), a being who can see all timelines, they track Boris down. J also learns a secret, something old Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) had never told him.

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Plot Keywords:

escape from prison | neil armstrong character | alien | time travel | cape canaveral florida | 

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Taglines:

They are back... in time.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the World Trade Center Twin towers are already standing (but still under construction) in 1969, they cannot be found anywhere in the 1969 parts of the movie, but the Freedom Tower (or One World Trade Center) can be seen under construction in 2012 near the ending of the movie.

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Goofs

After K is falling with J from the rooftop, big chunks of concrete start to fall, yet disappear in some shots. When they land, the ground is clean, yet in one of the close-ups of K a chunk magically reappears next to his head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Prison Guard #1: Well, well, Boris the Animal has a visitor. I guess one every 40 years is okay.

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Crazy Credits

The opening title appears in a pan from the Moon to the Earth (something usually done at the end of the MiB films).

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Alternate Versions

The Chinese restaurant scene has been censored for the mainland China release. The sequence with J and K in the back room has been edited to remove all shots of Wu, thus eliminating the revelation that Wu is actually an alien. A subsequent moment with J neuralyzing a group of ethnically Asian bystanders has also been deleted.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic Real Thoughts: Ghostbusters 2 (2018)

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Soundtracks

2000 Light Years from Home
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Performed by The Rolling Stones
Courtesy of ABKCO Music and Records Inc.

User Reviews

A playful return to form....well, almost.

A decade away from the movie scene has given the Men In Black series a chance at a fresher, newer perspective. Taking its cue from Shrek Forever After, MIB 3 takes on a tired concept (time travel in this case) if only to acknowledge the failure of its dull sequel and take us back to a different era allowing us to view the franchise from an unsullied angle. The result is a film that returns to its roots and gives audiences the chance to relive much of what they first enjoyed – a smart, sci-fi, buddy comedy that embraces everything weird and wonderful about the unknown universe.

In his first cinematic role in nearly 4 years, Will Smith's Agent J is the usual charming, witty wiseass we expect him to be. Still teamed up with the laconic Agent K (wrinkly Tommy Lee Jones) he is no closer to cracking his older partners deadpan demeanour but their relationship issues take a back seat when a nemesis from Kay's past, Boris the animal, turns up to exact revenge for having been imprisoned on the moon 40 years ago. His elaborate plan takes him back in the past, to the day he was caught, and sets ripples in the present, where K no longer exists and a different reality results. J has to then literally time jump (off the Empire State building no less) and fix the past for normalcy to return in the present.

Directly Barry Sonnenfeld seems to find his groove once again with the zany and icky shenanigans that put him on the map with the original. Using plenty of the wide angle camera work that gave him fame as the Coen's favourite lenser, the resulting imagery should work wonders for those who decide to pay extra and catch the film on 3D (converted). Boris the animal is also a return to series villains being screwball and menacing in equal measure (remember Vincent D'Onofrio?) and Rick Baker's excellent makeup effects are both incredible and revolting. The big surprise is how well Josh Brolin impersonates Jones in the role of a younger K – which should not be a surprise considering Brolin's recent, impressive body of work as a bonafide actor, most notably in W. So chameleon-like is his performance that you forget it's him and actually completely believe it's just a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones that you're seeing.

The films primary achievement and a true signal of its return to form though are the scenes set in the past. Not only is Josh Brolin a deadringer for Tommy Lee's K during his youth, but the hip musical vibes of the late 60's/early 70's allow for plenty of playfulness to ensue with a particularly hilarious segment devoted to Andy Warhol. If that isn't enough, everything very neatly ties into another epochal scientific moment from that time period and ends on a moment of curiously satisfying emotionality that provides not only closure to the film but the series as a whole. If that doesn't make you forgive all the wrongs that the sequel did and embrace this film as one of the years better movie franchise offerings the only thing that might work on you is a neuralizer.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Sony [United States]

Country:

USA United Arab Emirates

Language:

English Ukrainian

Release Date:

25 May 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Men in Black 3D

Filming Locations:

Robert Moses State Park, Field 2, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$225,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$54,592,779, 27 May 2012

Gross USA:

$179,020,854

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$624,026,776

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Hemisphere Media Capital, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Sonics-DDP Auro 11.1 Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1