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Men in Black 3: movie review

( PG-13 ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Men in Black 3' is reasonably entertaining and features a great turn by actor Josh Brolin as a young Tommy Lee Jones.

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Saeed Adyani/Sony Pictures – Columbia/AP
'Men in Black 3' doesn't need a follow-up, but it's reasonably entertaining for a movie with '3' in its title.
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

After the dismal “Men in Black 2,” I was not in the mood for “Men in Black 3,” also directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. It turns out to be reasonably entertaining, though not enough to make me crave “Men in Black 4.”

Will Smith’s Agent J goes back in time, to 1969, to eradicate Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) and thereby save the life of his partner, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), in the present day. Or something like that. Agent K is played in the 1969 scenes by Josh Brolin, who does a bang-up impression of Jones’s Texas deadpan delivery.

In the new role of Agent O, Emma Thompson, with her much crisper delivery, makes a decorous appearance, and Michael Stuhlbarg, as a goony visionary, has some endearing antic moments. The aliens are as gloppy and gross as ever. I especially liked the joke about Andy Warhol being an alien – except didn’t we know that already? Grade: B (Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content.)

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