By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
It's been 10 years since "Will Smith donned those famous Ray-Bans and his impeccably tailored black suit for the movie "Men in Black II."
Now, Smith is back--cooler and funnier than ever—battling aliens again alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin in the 3D sci-fi comedy,
"Men in Black III" which
opens nationwide May 25.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld ("MIB" and MIB2"), "Men in Black III," is the big-budget, fun summer movie that fans of the series have been waiting for.
For Agent J (Smith) and Agent K (Jones) battling rogue aliens has never been more dangerous. That's because they've been informed by their boss, Agent O (Emma Thompson) that the sinister and despicable Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement) has escaped from a maximum security prison on the moon. Now he's seeking revenge on Agent K (Jones) because he put him there and shot his arm off in the process.
Thanks to the clever invention of time travel, Boris is thrust back to 1969 to change the past and ultimately kill Agent K. That leaves Agent J living in the future without his partner in crime.
Agent J figures out what's really going on and he too must travel back in time in order to save a young Agent K (a terrific Josh Brolin) and the world from being destroyed by Boris and his evil empire. Agent J gets help from a friendly alien named Griffin (a funny Michael Stuhlbarg, "Hugo") who can see and predict the future.
The trip back in time is a real eye-opener for Agent J who winds up at a party with Andy Warhol (Bill Hader), who is actually a former undercover MIB agent "relegated to painting portraits of soup cans and bananas."
It's the silly dialogue which comes courtesy of screenwriters Etan Cohen and Lowell Cunningham-- along with the dazzling 3D and clever sight gags like Tim Burton and Yao Ming popping up as aliens on TV monitors--that makes "Men In Black III" so entertaining.
And Smith proves that he still has a commanding screen presence and can pour on the charm and physical humor to generate big laughs. In years past, Smith has ruled the box office with his summer movie releases.
In fact, he is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million domestically and the only person to have eight consecutive films in which he starred in open at number one at the box office.
With "Men in Black III," Smith may have another hit on his hands.
Editor's Note: You can also catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment by tuning in to the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:40 p.m. on radio station KFBK 1530 AM and 92.5 FM. Or you can log on to www.kfbk.com.
Men In Black III.
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