Seems that this movie is a case of you will either like or you completely won't. Surpsingly enough I quite liked it! Surprising, since I'm not even really a big Men in Black fan.

I really do think that the reason why I liked this movie was because it was being less silly and over-the-top than the previous two installments. There still is plenty of fun and comedy present throughout the movie but just not too much of the silly kind. It lets the movie feel less forced, which all made it more enjoyable to watch. At least for me it really did!

But having said that, it still is a true Men in Black movie, with some familiar moments in it, which the fans will surely appreciate. But really not everything is the same this time around and I applaud the movie for actually doing some new stuff, even though not everything works out that well of course.

Even though this movie still has the same style and tone as the previous two Men in Black movies, some things still have really changed in this movie. For one, I feel that this movie is less about the aliens and science-fiction and more about its human characters this time. J and K are the true center of the movie and there aren't that many distractions from their stories. Another clear and big difference is the K character, who this time gets mostly played by Josh Brolin, who plays the younger version of the character that got and gets played by Tommy Lee Jones.

The greatest strength of the Men in Black series to me had always been the chemistry and dynamic between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. It made the movies fun and memorable but let me tell you that Tommy Lee Jones isn't even missed! Tommy Lee Jones still shows up but really for a surprising short amount of time. But the reason why you won't miss him from the rest of the movie is because Josh Brolin simply IS Tommy Lee Jones. He impersonates him perfectly and even looks and sounds like a young Tommy Lee Jones.

But really, like all Men in Black movies, it remains a far from perfect one. The one thing that is mostly keeping this movie down is its story. Not only doesn't it explore its whole time travel concept thoroughly enough but it also suffers from the exact same thing that all of the Men in Black movies suffer from; its villainous plot.

Really not all that much wrong with is main villain but his plot is kind of weak and feels underdeveloped and even somewhat secondary for the movie. You never get a sense of treat or urgency, simply because you don't always exactly know what is going on and you basically already know beforehand what the movie is going to do and heading for with its main plot line. It's all some typical stuff and the movie offers very little surprises, even if you don't exactly understand what its main story is all about.

The movie is nothing too great but it surely is a lot of fun and entertaining to watch, which does compensates a lot!

7/10

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(Review originally written at 11 March 2007)

I absolutely loved this movie when it first came out. It has an amazing cast, a pleasant light way of storytelling and a cleverly written story, featuring some great stereotypical gangster-type of characters.

So, ever wondered what would happen if gangster interfered with producing Hollywood movies? See "Get Shorty" if your curious about the result. It's an unusual original story about tough gangster put in an unnatural environment, who thinks that are making movies is the same as any other criminal activity.

The movie is cleverly written with many different characters, that all follow one and the same plot line. All characters have different motivations but they are all cleverly connected to each other. The many characters often mix and meet each other in the events, which also causes all of their motivations to mix. The movie is really cleverly written and executed. It perhaps sounds like a complicated and hard movie to follow but it really is a light, great written and pleasant one to watch.

The movie also works because of the many fine characters and of course the actors that portray them. Basically every character in the movie is deliciously stereotypical, from the Hollywood-producer to the stunt guy and from the successful acclaimed Hollywood actor to the mobster boss. The movie is well cast with actors that are obviously not cast because of their comical talents but purely because of their acting skills. The cast is one to kill for. John Travolta of course knows how to play a cool and likable gangster. Gene Hackman also plays one of his most fun roles as low-budget Hollywood producer, who thinks that he is going to make it big time. Danny DeVito is great as an Hollywood-actor and Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, Miguel Sandoval provide the good gangster parts of the movie. David Paymer also does what he can do best; playing a guy with a hat. The movie is filled with many more well known actors in small roles, such as Bette Midler and James Gandolfini and even small cameo appearances such as Harvey Keitel makes.

Also mainly due to the movie its professional cast, this is not an hilarious type of movie but more the sort of movie that has a constant pleasant and light atmosphere that will surely put a smile on your face. The comedy is more of the subtle kind, that everybody should be able to appreciate. Nothing in the movie ever feels forced, no matter how crazy and mixed up the movie and its situations ever get.

As far as the '90's go; this movie is about as cool as they could get. This movie was the definition of cool in the '90's, at the time of its release. Of course times have changed now but the movie still has an overall cool atmosphere and pleasant way of storytelling. It's a light fun movie to watch and re-watch over and over again.

8/10

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(Review originally written at 17 May 2006)

Lots of things are going on in this movie but the movie itself provides very few laughs and overall nothing refreshing or memorable.

It's very obvious that the writers and director tried to make a movie in the same style as the successful British movies; "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch.". Of course there is nothing wrong with impersonating a movie its successful and refreshing style- and way of storytelling but in this particular case they took the style and storytelling to an horrible level.

Main problem is that the movie is too obvious. It tries to obvious and desperately to connect every story-line and character in the movie to each other. Everything feels forced and therefor none of the characters and comical situations really work out. Also a very major problem with this movie is that it simply isn't a funny one. Although the movie is somewhat fun and entertaining to watch, the humor in it never works out. Maybe it's because the way and style of American humor, in which everything is over-the-top and everything is highly unlikely, simply don't work out in this typical case of British storytelling. The movie is nowhere as subtle and its characters are nowhere as likable. Everything feel over-the-top and forced.

The story is just so ridicules and totally unbelievable that it becomes terribly uninteresting to follow. It also is probably somewhat due to the story, that most of the characters don't really work out.

Lots of crazy characters (too many) pop up in the movie and problem with them all is that they just aren't funny. They are being played by some good, well known actors in the movie but none of them makes an huge impression, due to the fact that there are simply too many characters are introduced in the movie that are all being tried to be given an own personality, likable level and a level of comedy. It all feels so forced. Every time a new character pops up in the movie, you just know that they are going to try to make him look as crazy and funny as possible. And this is not only the case with its characters but also in every single sequence. Every sequence has to be funny and has to have one or more jokes in it. It all is done way too obvious and forced, with as a result that the movie gets incredibly annoying to watch at times.

All of the good actors are simply wasted in this movie. Tom Sizemore, Stanley Tucci, DJ Qualls etc. they all deserve better than this. And who's bright idea was it to cast Tim Allen as the main lead? He is like the worst possible choice they could had made. He felt totally out of place in a comedy like this one and he certainly wasn't good enough to carry the entire movie. The movie is filled with some more strange casting choices that all feel terribly out of place.

Barry Sonnenfeld comedies are often lacking in good humor, consistency and likable and believable characters. This movie really is no exception. His movies often have an awkward sense of humor that has both its hits and misses. The way his movies are created make it really seem like the creators seriously thought they were making something brilliant but the end result always feels lacking. We as the viewer are the victim of this overconfident way of movie making.

The movie gets even more annoying to watch thanks to the musical score by James Newton Howard. It really is one of the most annoying musical score I have heard, the last couple of years.

I don't know, I guess the movie is still somewhat fun and entertaining but the movie has too many obvious and forced elements in it to call this movie completely a successful one, as pure entertainment. Instead it's a more annoying than funny movie to watch.

4/10

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