# Men in black 3 - it's better than 2 (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113 "2012-05-25T21:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/1 "2012-05-25T21:26:27Z")
Of course, saying it’s better than 2 doesn’t really mean all that much, but I think they did a worthwhile job. Josh Brolin is an excellent K, and the whole movie was plenty entertaining. I’m wondering about a single plot hole, though: They need to get the arc net out of earth’s atmosphere, and strap it to the Apollo rocket. But at MIB HQ it’s shown that there are plenty of other aliens around. Even if humanity has only just figured out how to go to space, why not ask one of the resident aliens to take the arc net up? Also: I love how Griffin freaks out when somebody releases all the butterflies ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/2 "2012-05-26T00:05:39Z")
I haven’t seen it, but I _loved_ the first movie and was very disappointed in the second movie. I’ll tell you what I didn’t like about the second movie and, thus, my concern about the third- could you give me a spoiler-free evaluation of my concerns? I don’t know what everyone else disliked about 2, but what bothered me was that it took too long for Tommy Lee Jones to _become_ Tommy Lee Jones. I loved his character so much in the first movie. A plot device at the end of the first movie makes him not-reall-that-guy-anymore. So, the second movie had the problem of having to make him that guy again- and they took _way_ too long to do it. Without Tommy Lee Jones really being able to do his thing, the movie suffered. (BTW, I thought 2 was going to be _awesome_ because they took their time to make it, rather than rushing a sequel into production. So, anticipating greatness, my disappointment was compounded.) So, from the previews for the third movie, I can see that Tommy Lee Jones gets taken out of the movie _again_ and that through a time-travel plot his character appears played by Josh Brolin. Damn it! I want my Tommy Lee Jones!!! Granted, from the trailers I’d say it looks like Brolin gives an amazingly uncanny performance- it has piqued my curiosity. Still, I’m disappointed at being deprived of TLJ. The first movie was near-perfection for the Comedy-Action/Sci-Fi genre. I’ll always have the original even if I am again disappointed in another sequel. Thoughts (spoiler-free) from someone who has seen it? ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/3 "2012-05-26T00:41:13Z")
I saw MIB3 a few hours ago and really enjoyed it. Josh Brolin, indeed does a great job portraying K as a younger, less (not much) taciturn agent. I disliked the 2nd MIB because it suffered the same fate as many sequels do: the first movie establishes the characters and the special effects serve the story. In most sequels, characterization takes a back seat to special effects, often serving as a brief link to the next explosion. Lara Flynn Boyle as an alien supermodel? Please, not even I can suspend disbelief for that. Incidentally, I thought the villain played by Jemaine Clement, reminded me a lot of Tim Curry. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/4 "2012-05-26T05:31:18Z")
Bienville; K is K from the start. And I don’t know how Brolin pulls it off, but I completely forgot he wasn’t Tommy Lee Jones. The character is all here; slightly grumpy, completely in charge, capable and badass without being a showoff. As for what bugged me about 2 is that it was a near carbon copy of 1 (running around for some mysterious artifact that isn’t what it looks like). Sure, 3 is still about artifacts and bad guys that need stopping, but it feels a lot less like a blatant copy. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/5 "2012-05-26T06:35:47Z")
Terrible first 20-minutes (didn’t laugh once), but things got better once they went back in time, though it never rose above mediocre, though there were a few flashes of intelligence here and there. Better than two, but has nothing on the first. Also, unless I’ve mis-construed things somehow, they fucked up K’s story in the original regarding his lost love. J: “It’s better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all” K: “Try it sometime.” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/6 "2012-05-26T14:55:50Z")
We were bored last night so we went to see Men in Black 3. The spouse wanted to see it and I was kind of lukewarm (I liked the first one and barely remember the second one). And… . . . . . . . . . . . It was…mediocre. When it was over, the two of us looked at each other with a kind of “that was _it?_” kind of look. I mean, we were both completely spoiled by “The Avengers” (which we’ve seen three times already), but this was just a mess. The CGI was terrible–it looked like something that would have been good around 10 years ago–the plot was weird and disjointed, the ending was just bad, and the actors mostly looked like they were phoning in their performances. Will Smith was funny but not up to his usual standards, Josh Brolin as a young K was pretty good, and I liked the guy playing the alien who could see all possible timelines. But other than that…unless you’re really a MIB fan, I’d say save your money, or at least don’t pay full price. We saw it in 2D–I’ve read reviews that say the 3D is badly done, but I can’t vouch for that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/7 "2012-05-26T14:59:57Z")
Reported. (j/k. Lots of MiB3 spam today. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/8 "2012-05-26T17:38:16Z")
Existing thread: [Men in black 3 - it's better than 2 (spoilers) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653059) But yes, the CGI was indeed terrible. The original’s was much more impressive…and that’s 15 years old! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/9 "2012-05-26T17:52:41Z")
Gaming friend had seen it. Said the first part of the movie was so slow and boring that he kept looking at his watch. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/10 "2012-05-26T18:15:08Z")
Please? Can anyone tell me what “boxed spoilers” means? Does it mean that you can include spoilers but you must put them a kind of “box” like as follows? Is t his the kind of “box” the OP means? FWIW, I have not seen the movie, but judging from the fact that it is the third movie in the franchise \*\*and \*\* since it’s taken so very long (approx 20 years) to follow the second one, it just seemed obvious to me that it would be a terrible film. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/11 "2012-05-26T18:25:06Z")
Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/12 "2012-05-26T18:26:40Z")
Doggone it! However long you are permitted to edit posts after you make them, just sure don’t seem long enough to me. I also wanted to say that given it is supposedly an “action move” and both of the leads are about 20 years older, it just seemed inevitable to me that it was bound to be a real “stinker”! Was I correct? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/13 "2012-05-26T18:35:01Z")
Tommy Lee is not aging well. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/14 "2012-05-26T18:47:26Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > FWIW, > I have not seen the movie, but judging from the fact that it is the third movie in the franchise \*\*and \*\* > since it’s taken so very long (approx 20 years) to follow the second one, it just seemed obvious to me that it would be a terrible film. Only 10 years. MIB2 came out in 2002. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/15 "2012-05-26T19:00:12Z")
OMG! I just can’t win for losing today. Please excuse me! I’m a gonna go have a good long cry now! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/16 "2012-05-26T21:42:26Z")
Merged duplicate threads. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/17 "2012-05-29T01:56:41Z")
Just saw it this afternoon and really enjoyed it. Yes, it dragged a bit at times, but overall it was fun, clever, and definitely an improvement over MIB2. I’d give it a B+. Josh Brolin TOTALLY nailed the role as a young Tommy Lee Jones, er, Agent K. The look, the voice, the manner, the body language… just great. Nice Andy Warhol and Apollo 11 (“I didn’t see anything!”) gags. Did you notice Lady Gaga was shown as an alien on the MIB HQ screen? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/18 "2012-06-02T18:45:36Z")
I’ve seen it and I have to say, it was quite good. What a pleasant surprise. After they stopped filming to finish the script, I thought this movie was doomed. I liked pretty much the whole thing, but do agree that the opening was weak. Loved the entire time in the past. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/19 "2012-06-02T20:29:09Z")
I really liked it too, and I thought Boris the Animal was a pretty righteous bad guy. I think they could have mined for more comedy gold with the whole Will Smith going back in time during the civil rights movement as a black man ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113/20 "2012-06-03T04:37:01Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Better than two, but has nothing on the first. Also, unless I’ve mis-construed things somehow, they fucked up K’s story in the original regarding his lost love. > > J: “It’s better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all” > K: “Try it sometime.” That really bothered me too. in MiB I, it was a massive part of K’s character. He even sits there and uses a satellite to spy on his lost love. Suddenly in three he’s getting all hot and bothered by O? > [@Pai325](#): > > Tommy Lee is not aging well. I said that in the cinema, TLJ is not looking good. For me, I enjoyed it, without thinking it was fantastic. I personally didn’t notice the CGI as being noticeably bad? The storyline does raise some of the usual time travel paradox stuff. But I was there for a popcorn movie so I didn’t let myself dwell on that too much. I loved Josh Brolin’s portrayal of K. Absolutely spot on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-3-its-better-than-2-spoilers/623113.md?page=2)