Alright, let’s be honest here. “Men In Black 3″ is a sequel to a film that, honestly, wasn’t game-changing, wasn’t spectacular, and didn’t have the highest budget ever recorded. With that, I can’t say my hopes were particularly high for a sequel, much less a SECOND sequel fourteen years after the original. But that’s not to say I wouldn’t go. I was, more or less, a fan of the first movie and I even liked the second a bit (although, largely due to my likely misplaced fandom of/for Johnny Knoxville). What shocked me, is that for the first time in probably six years, Kyle and I actually AGREED on an out-of-five ranking for Men In Black 3. Readers of this column will likely be aware, though, that AnotherLetDown does not use a conventional out-of-five system for ranking films because a system like that results in critics comparing apples and oranges so frequently. With that, I think it’s time we break down some of the good and bad points that led to an ultimately enjoyable, if not particularly good in the conventional sense, film.

One of the things that I felt the first Men In Black sequel lacked was a consistent pace. The first movie was a bit slow to ramp up considering that it was an action-comedy but it maintained a certain rhythm throughout. MIIB on the other hand felt like it would speed up dramatically and then fall back into sort of a mundane, slower pace when the action reached sort of an anticlimax. The only thing I can equivocate it to is trying to drive while you’re falling asleep. You get going to an appropriate pace and then your mind drifts and you either slip OFF the accelerator or your foot becomes lead and you can’t slow down. “Men In Black 3″ established a pace very similar to the first and kept it up for the entire film. This, as a fan of the series, felt comfortable and allowed for easy attention maintenance and unlike some films I’ve seen recently (*cough* “The Avengers”) you don’t find yourself laughing through the jokes. There’s enough mock-technical mumbo-jumbo to keep the audience guessing and thoroughly confused (but amused to be so).

They really did go back to the well on this one. The villain is much like that from the first film in that “love to hate him” kind of way. He doesn’t seem as dastardly as the villain from the second film while still being sufficiently over-the-top. The comedy styles for all characters feel comfortable too and with Will Smith in particular, the style feels refreshing. Recently, while watching a clip from The Graham Norton Show I saw Smith, at the request of a fan, perform the theme song for his show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” for no reason other than to be funny. Clean, simple, back-to-basics funny is the only way I can describe Smith’s particular brand of comedy. And it feels good. After films like “American Reunion,” “The Dictator,” and the upcoming “Ted,” all relying on being offensive to be funny, it’s comforting to know that family comedy still exists. We here at AnotherLetDown applaud Smith for this effort and commend co-star, Josh Brolin, for the same. I’ve never seen Mr. Brolin in a comedy until now and he proves that he can do it and well. He is a perfect analogue for Tommy Lee Jones and a great foil for the character of J who remains dumber-than-dirt in some cases.

“Men In Black 3″ is not the best film ever but certainly has its moments. It’s much better than the second film but not as good as the first, especially as far as originality goes. The callbacks to the first film such as the “Ford POS” and the in-passing mentions of Frank the Pug coupled with a few new gags (the Iron Chef painting in the Chinese restaurant for example) make the film enjoyable and worth whatever you were planning on spending on it. But I would say go with your gut on this one. If you didn’t enjoy the first film at least, I’d say you’d prolly want to skip this one as it really is just more of the same.