I’d have thought that the Men in Black act was coasting on fumes but MIB3 actually has the best script of the series. It’s a time travel storyline that conjures up an alien character who can experience the same reality but instantaneously across different dimensions. Time travel always resonates with established characters. The best eps and movies from Star Trek involved time travel.

The series helmer Barry Sonnenfeld himself worked his way to director after acting as cinematographer of several notable films including the first three Coen Brothers films. So it’s a bit of a gas to see Sonnenfeld using some recent Coen actors in MIB3, like David Rasche (Burn After Reading) and Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man). Overall the tone is very arch with new characters like Emma Thompson and Alice Eve not replacing so much as upgrading characters like Rip Torn’s Zed or the pugnacious dog from MIIB. Jemaine Clement plays an alien baddie and frankly I didn’t recognize this Flight of the Conchords star due to heavy make-up and a deep voice right out of the Tim Curry playbook.

Men In Black 3 takes us back to a mellow and brightly colored 1969, even while 2024 is in the throes of an alien invasion complete with post 9/11 apocalyptic crumbling buildings. Cape Kennedy nee Canaveral gets a bright spot in the sun and who ever thought the Apollo command module had an escape zip line? The time travel plot works best when characters meet their double or when the overwhelming odds of the past seem to spell no future.

- Michael Bergeron