Men in Black III — PG-13

By David AdamsThe story“Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to,” says O (Emma Thompson) to Agent J (Will Smith). Agent J's long-time partner, K (Tommy Lee Jones), has vanished. No one knows where he is or, even, who he is. “Where is K?” says J. And where is Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), now that he's escaped from Lunar Max, top-secret maximum-security prison for dangerous aliens? “Let's rewrite history, shall we?” says Boris. Has he traveled back in time to July 1969? What happened at Cape Canaveral back then between Boris and K? Can J prevent a rewrite?That's the setup for “Men in Black III,” time-travel comedy with clever script, smart acting and non-stop visual pleasures.The actorsWill Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are Agents J and K, odd couple roles they introduced in the original “Men in Black” (1997). Smith is charming, Jones is grumpy, and both are fun to watch. But it's Josh Brolin as K's more affable, younger self who's brilliant, nailing Jones's accent, delivery, stare, and looks, convincing us that he could grow into K's older, seen-it-all-and-not-impressed self. Jemaine Clement is great as Bogladyte alien, murderous Boris the Animal (“It's just Boris,” he says in a running gag.) He's the best comic bad guy I've seen in a while.Others in the cast include Michael Stulbarg as Griffin, sweetly smiling alien who lives simultaneously in multiple versions of reality. “A miracle,” he says in a Hallmark moment, “is what seems impossible but happens anyway.” Then, shifting to rueful, he says, “The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie.” Emma Thompson is no-nonsense O. Alice Eve is O's younger self in the 60s. Bill Hader plays Andy Warhol. What's Andy doing in this movie? I won't tell.Other comments“Men in Black III” is a laugh-out-loud comedy about aliens, time travel and friendship. Time travel is dangerous, so when J agrees to jump (literally), his instructor says, “You must really love this guy to do this.” He does, so he jumps. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, with a script by Lowell Cunningham (and others), based on the comic by Etan Cohen, MIBIII is full of pleasures — visual, especially in 3-D, plot, with nice surprises, script (“Sorry I'm late,” says a character, “I lost track of time”), and actors, all of whom seem to be having a good time. You will, too, despite inevitable time-travel plot complexities and paradoxes: Can two Borises be in the same frame? Talk about the plot on your way home.Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, violence and suggestive content, MIBIII runs 105 minutes. Watch for references to “Dr. Strangelove” in the credits and decide if O's hair-do makes her look like Hillary Clinton. I like this one a lot. Final wordsAdvice to you from me:See “Men in Black III,”Aliens plus comedy,Will, Josh and Tommy Lee.