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MEN IN BLACK IIIMovie Reviews
Action comedy about Agent J traveling back in time to save his partner, Agent K, as well as the future of humankind. Cast:Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Alice Eve, Tommy Lee Jones, Jemaine Clement, Emma ThompsonDirector:Barry SonnenfeldRelease Date:May 25, 2012DVD Release:November 30, 2012From:Sony PicturesRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 46 minIn 3D
Men in Black III played to good not great reviews. • Shawn Levy wrote in the Portland Oregonian, "...fairly brisk, sometimes funny, periodically inspired... there's a performance in the center that honestly makes it all worthwhile. That would be the work of Josh Brolin..." • And Lou Lumenick wrote in the New York Post, "...reasonably crowd-pleasing and painless..." More Reviews Below...
Men in Black III Positive Reviews (48 Reviews, reviews below)
Mary Pols, Time: WEAK "...so creaky and out of touch it inspires pity... the only reason to see it is Josh Brolin, who plays young K... Posture, body language, Brolin nails it..."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 803 words, 05/25/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "...feels hacky, choppy and -- worst of all -- just not that funny. And of course, it's in 3-D for no discernible artistic or narrative reason.... there's no substance to the script..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 811 words, 05/24/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "...adds up to a big shrug... Only Josh Brolin, who does a spot-on imitation of a young Tommy Lee Jones, brings a pulse to the proceedings."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 121 words, 05/24/12
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the movie reestablishes the old MIB conventions... and then just as gracefully finds something new to do with the boys and their Ray-Bans."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 744 words, 05/25/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Don't panic, I've seen the movie and I still don't get it. What works, like comic hellfire, is the casting of Josh Brolin as the young Agent K."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 254 words, 05/25/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an ingenious plot, bizarre monsters, audacious cliff-hanging, and you know what? A closing scene that adds a new and sort of touching dimension to the characters..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 712 words, 05/25/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: VERY GOOD(cg) "Much of the movie's comic buzz comes from Brolin channeling Tommy Lee Jones as the younger (and inexplicably, at least at first, more emotionally accessible) K."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 729 words, 05/22/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "It manages, in the end, to be touching as well as hectic and whimsical, and to send a few interesting thematic bubbles into the air..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 841 words, 05/25/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...has got the 'MIB' mojo back -- well, most of it anyway... good trippy fun as the fate of Earth, and '60s retro style, hang in the balance... campy fun if not quite a classic."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 849 words, 05/25/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...reasonably crowd-pleasing and painless... keeps things moving agreeably, and Rick Baker contributes some wonderfully squirmy-looking extraterrestrials..."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 05/23/12
Roger Moore, Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Josh Brolin impersonating the young Tommy Lee Jones is worth the price of admission... this is comedy packed with possibilities, many of which pay off."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 05/25/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Sonnenfeld directs with his usual vertiginous flair, even if his attempts at up-to-the-minute humor generally fall flat. Lady Gaga is an alien?"(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 306 words, 05/25/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an ingenious plot, bizarre monsters, audacious cliff-hanging, and you know what? A closing scene that adds a new and sort of touching dimension to the characters..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 712 words, 05/25/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "As for the time-travel culture shock, you get a few hippies with speaking roles and no significant engagement with the zeitgeist of the era."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 742 words, 05/23/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "The good news is, you can afford to upsize a bucket of those oily kernels if you see it in 2D. The 3D is an unneeded frippery that adds nothing to the flick."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 799 words, 05/25/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "Sonnenfeld regains his form from the original, encouraging both the extraterrestrial critters and the tossed-off yuks to creep up quietly from the edges of the frame..."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 736 words, 05/25/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...the jokes haven't changed much.... the script never gives Brolin - or Smith - anything substantial to do, bouncing the pair from one effects scene to the next."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 205 words, 05/24/12
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: WEAK(cg) "...climaxes with a dark and melodramatic twist... adds a layer of nuance and back story, [but] also feels wildly out of sync with its audience's expectations."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 558 words, 05/25/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the patched-together script, haphazard direction and an ending that, given the level of expectations for the series, isn't exciting enough. It's OK."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 655 words, 05/25/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...isn't bad, certainly not as bad as it might have been. But it's not exactly good, either. Mostly, it's something else: unnecessary."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 690 words, 05/25/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Josh Brolin's performance is funny, masterful, confident, and more than a little unsettling. If one human being can sample another, that's what's going on here."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 741 words, 05/25/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE(cg) "...the busy, dizzy story strains belief... There's a lot of too-fast-to-follow exposition, and several things that make no sense at all..."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 523 words, 05/25/12
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "If you're looking for cinema verite, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a fun, fizzy sequel in a franchise left for dead 10 years ago, have at it."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 05/25/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "...seems to suffer from a weird sort of amnesia: Everyone involved seems to have forgotten that it's a comedy... It's a convoluted plot that doesn't make much sense..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 398 words, 05/25/12
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...fairly brisk, sometimes funny, periodically inspired... there's a performance in the center that honestly makes it all worthwhile. That would be the work of Josh Brolin..."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 05/25/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...cool creatures and 1960s set design... the 3-D is the best of the season, but if you try to remember the story or jokes, you'll find that you've been hit by a neuralyzer..."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 364 words, 05/25/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...was reportedly scripted on the fly and it shows, with plot threads left dangling or hastily introduced to wrap things up.... not without fleeting pleasures."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 491 words, 05/24/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "As for the time-travel culture shock, you get a few hippies with speaking roles and no significant engagement with the zeitgeist of the era."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 742 words, 05/23/12
Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend: MODERATE(cg) "...the beginning, middle and end were not really planned together, and it shows in the final product. That said, it's actually impressive that the film is as entertaining as it is."(See all of Eric Eisenberg's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 638 words, 05/22/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a pastiche.... What almost saves the movie is its climactic twist, a nod to Sophocles, and one of the oldest tricks in the book."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 168 words, 05/24/12
Nathan Rabin, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "...benefits from a cast as equipped to handle drama as action-adventure and comedy.... the film finds just enough ways to justify its existence..."(See all of Nathan Rabin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 360 words, 05/24/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: POOR(cg) "J and K are caught up in an overly sentimental and complex explanation for how they've been so fond of one another for so long, despite their stubborn differences."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 917 words, 05/25/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...does have its charms, partly thanks to some first-rate second-banana players: The luminous Emma Thompson and the radiant Alice Eve..."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 694 words, 05/24/12
John Semley, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...flashes of honest-to-goodness delight that distinguish the original are replaced by a gaudy cynicism, never more so than in the film's barely sly condescension..."(See all of John Semley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,149 words, 05/23/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...the jokes haven't changed much.... the script never gives Brolin - or Smith - anything substantial to do, bouncing the pair from one effects scene to the next."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 205 words, 05/24/12
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "...a kind of time machine to the blockbusters of the 1990s... alternates between hyperactive set pieces and sluggish interpersonal scenes..."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 05/23/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the actual sequences of travelling through time are intense and inventive -- and it's even poignant... There's so much magnificent stuff going on here..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 953 words, 05/22/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the script, credited to Etan Cohen, is all over the place, not just temporally but dramatically. Still, the film is packed with gorgeous effects and amusing creatures..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 05/25/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "It manages, in the end, to be touching as well as hectic and whimsical, and to send a few interesting thematic bubbles into the air..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 841 words, 05/25/12
Scott Tobias, NPR: MODERATE "Sonnenfeld turns 'Men in Black 3' into an alternate history that operates somewhere between a Warner Brothers cartoon and the cantina scene in 'Star Wars.' "(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 05/24/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...has got the 'MIB' mojo back -- well, most of it anyway... good trippy fun as the fate of Earth, and '60s retro style, hang in the balance... campy fun if not quite a classic."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 849 words, 05/25/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Andrew Barker, Daily Variety: GOOD "...survives with the original's spirit largely intact.... so openly nonsensical, with its own rules so arbitrarily applied, that scrutiny is a killjoy."(See all of Andrew Barker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 939 words, 05/21/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...has got the 'MIB' mojo back -- well, most of it anyway... good trippy fun as the fate of Earth, and '60s retro style, hang in the balance... campy fun if not quite a classic."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 849 words, 05/25/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "It manages, in the end, to be touching as well as hectic and whimsical, and to send a few interesting thematic bubbles into the air..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 841 words, 05/25/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the script, credited to Etan Cohen, is all over the place, not just temporally but dramatically. Still, the film is packed with gorgeous effects and amusing creatures..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 05/25/12
17.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Men in Black III's reviews are separated by an average 17.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Men in Black III (48 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Men in Black III's reviews cover 93.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 28,539 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 595 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Men in Black III Coverage, Volume & Length (48 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 14.7 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Men in Black III's reviews on average broke 14.7 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Men in Black III's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Men in Black III (48 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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