Men in Black 3, Blu-ray 3D (2012)

Men in Black 3, Blu-ray 3D (2012)
Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Studio: Sony Pictures 40287 [11/30/12] 3 Discs: 3D, Blu-ray, DVD
Video: 1.85:1 for 16:9 1080p HD 3D
Audio: English or French DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, English 2.0 audio descriptive track
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: “Partners in Time: The Making of MIB 3,” Gag reel, “Back in Time” music video, Spot the Alien game, “The Evolution of Cool: MIB 1960s vs. Today,” “Keeping It Surreal: The Visual FX of MIB 3,” Scene investigations, Progression reels, (In 3D) = “The Case of Boris the Animal: The 3D Models of MIB 3,” & “Converting to 3D” featurette, Ultraviolet
Length: 106 minutes
Rating: ****½
It wasn’t until I was preparing this review that I noticed there was an extra on these discs about its conversion to 3D. I had thought it was shot in 3D, but perhaps that explains some of the scenes looking a bit washed out. However, in general the 3D effects were very good, as was the 3D conversion of Titanic. Also, it’s nice to have two of the extras in 3D; often all the extras to 3D films are just in 2D.
If you saw the first two Men in Black you will have a good idea of what happens in these masterful spoofs of the sci-fi field. Sonnenfeld threw in some time travel for his third effort on this franchise, which is better than the second. It reunites the duo of agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones); the first having had two Oscar nominations and the latter an Oscar winner. Will’s character has to travel back in time to save K from an alien assassination, and the younger K (in 1969, when the moon shot occurred) is played by Josh Brolin. Brolin has the major part of the screen time and I don’t know whether his voice was dubbed or it is really him, but he sounds exactly like Tommy Lee Jones. His portrayal of the youthful personality of K and his relationship with J is just perfect. Emma Thompson also has a role as their boss at the MIB Center.
The super-evil alien villain of the movie is Boris the Animal, whose arm K had shot off in 1969 and later put him in a special prison on the moon. The plot starts with his escape and use of time travel to go back to 1969 and kill K, setting in motion the destruction of the Earth in present time by his fellow aliens. J must time jump—quite literally—off the Chrysler Building—back to 1969 to save K and the world. Lots of new alien weapons abound, and there is a scary giant neutralizer that J almost gets neutralized in since the youthful K doesn’t believe him. The huge variety of large and small unbelievable aliens that populate the MIB Center are amazing costuming and CGI efforts. One wants to hit pause every so often and let them pop out in 3D, since they flit by so rapidly. Altogether a fun movie that doesn’t suffer the usual sequel affliction at all.
The extras are also fun. The differences between the 1960’s MIB headquarters and the current one are explored in one bonus featurette, and another looks behind the special effects in the film. Sonnenfeld is said to have planned some of the shots for special 3D effects in post production, even though he shot it originally in 2D, and some of them really do look like that.
—John Sunier