Men in Black 3
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld
2012
****
The first Men in Black film wasn't really my cup of Tea when it first came out but I changed my mind over the years. I think it was the hype, publicity, the Will Smith theme song etc that didn't interest me and ultimately put me off before I even saw the film. The second film was a soulless cash in. So I can't say I was that excited when I heard they were making a third film, I thought that Smith, Jones and Sonnenfeld probably needed the money. I'm glad to say I was not just pleasantly surprised but shocked at how good the film turned out. It seems that it takes three films for people to really sort themselves out these days, the third film is supposed to be the rotten one but not so of recent years. Everyone was on good form but Josh Brolin as a young Tommy Lee-Jones was an inspired choice and I didn't even realise it was Jemaine Clement as Boris until right at the end, what a fantastic character. Michael Stuhlbarg was also a really good inclusion to the cast. It's the strong characters and little details that the previous film was lacking that this film has in spades that make MIBIII not just the best of the trilogy but a brilliant film in its own right. I think they should leave it alone now, it was such a great ending and the story has sort of come full circle but if the writing is as strong as it is here, then long may it continue.

Men in Black II
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld
2002
**
Five years after the original film, Barry Sonnenfeld and team seemed to have forgotten what made the idea so appealing and successful in the first place. Any film whereby 'saving the world' was part of the synopsis post 9/11 suffered somewhat, but that wasn't the problem with Men in Black II. The problem was that it was pretty much a re-hash of the highly original first film. The only thing they changed was a slight change of direction in the humour. It went backwards and downhill. There were subtle lines in the first film that related to celebrities being secret Aliens, it worked well then but was exploited and ruined here, specifically with cringeworthy cameos. The jokes were brash, too obvious and not particularly funny. Product placement was everywhere and the whole production looked more like an advert than a film in its own right. None of the actors looked as engaged with the project as they did in the first film and thus the magic was lost. The first film ended so well that the sequel felt like a cheap cash-in from the very beginning and nothing had changed my opinion of this by the end credits.

Men in Black
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld
1997
****
Barry Sonnenfeld's Sci-fi comedy didn't really excite me when it came out in 1997 but I have since become to love it a little. I think maybe at the tender age of 18 I wanted something a little more serious, I loved the idea, I just didn't appreciate the mainstream comedy. It was easy to miss the charm of the film, what with all the hype, merchandise and Will Smith's fairly tedious reworking of Patrice Rushen's Forget Me Nots so that it would sound like 'Here come the Men in Black'. When the lead actor insists on singing the theme tune, I usually count myself out (unless it's a Muppet film, obviously). The humour is actually consistently good throughout, the big laughs hitting their mark and the little subtleties, the interview scene for instance, give the film its unique charm. It came after some big Alien films however and after Mars Attacks and Independence Day, sci-fi fatigue, for me anyway, had definitely set in. In retrospect it is a bit of a sci-fi/comedy classic and a pretty unique one at that. Looking back at the comics it was based on, it is also nice to see an adaption from that medium that gets it pretty much right. The ending bothered me as a teen but now as an adult I appreciate it more than most.

RV
Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld
2006
*
RV is badly written, predictable, miscast and a seen-it-all-before waste of time. I can't remember laughing once. None of the characters had any consistency apart from the fact that they all contradicted themselves at least once during the film. Why cast Robin Williams in a slap-stick role? He is a speaking comedian, not a physical one. I guess he signed on the dotted line during one of his 'Off the Wagon' spells.