Men in Black 3

"Back in time."

2012 1h 46m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 11,251

ActionComedyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Agents J and K are back...in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him - secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

“Back in time.”

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Cast

Will Smith
Agent J
Tommy Lee Jones
Agent K
Josh Brolin
Young Agent K
Jemaine Clement
Boris The Animal
Emma Thompson
Agent O
Michael Stuhlbarg
Griffin
Mike Colter
Colonel
Nicole Scherzinger
Boris's Girlfriend

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Etan Cohen, Patrick Campbell, Brick Mason
Languages: English
Countries: United Arab Emirates, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Budget of $225M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 14 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Arab Emirates, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Men in Black Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

806+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Bill Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barry Sonnenfeld directs. Bill Pope behind the camera. Danny Elfman scores. Don Zimmerman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Arab Emirates, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Budget of $225M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.
2Released 14 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United Arab Emirates, United States of America.
4Part of the "Men in Black Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5806+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Bill Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Back in time.".
11IMDB entry: tt1409024 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1211,251 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 9 themes, including "time travel", "time machine", "based on comic", "sequel".
14Released under 26 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bill Pope
Original score: Danny Elfman
Editing: Don Zimmerman
Production design: Bo Welch
Costume design: Mary E. Vogt
Makeup / hair: Erika Abberton
VFX supervisor: Jon Cowley
Sound: Paul N.J. Ottosson
Stunt coordinator: Simon Crane
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $225,000,000
Box office: $654,213,485
Return: 291% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Men in Black 3 (2012)

Part of

Men in Black Collection

A series of American science fiction action comedy films based on Malibu / Marvel comic book series The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham. Stylized MIB and spawned 2 numbered sequels as well as a spin-off.

Also by

Barry Sonnenfeld

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2019-07-17
★ 4/10
Personal low point in the series to me. Brolin does do a commendable job of playing a young Tommy Lee Jones, but the script doesn't deliver. Not only is it not a very good one, it just offers the same story. Again. This is three Men in Black movies in a row where the A-plot is totally encapsulated by one sentence: "Stop the creepy-crawly in a human suit from getting the jewelery." There's a supporting role alien that was pretty endearing though. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
Filipe Manuel Neto2022-08-29
★ 6/10
This film knew how to honor and equal the first film. Despite their popularity, the first two MIB films, from the turn of the century, are films I don't really like to watch. The first movie, from 1997, is still worth it, but the second one was so bad that they had to wait more than ten years for this movie to come out, and even then, we still remember it. Good news: this movie is virtually as good as the first one and knows how to meet the public's expectations. The plot is reasonably simple, but it guarantees entertainment: over the years, the boss of the MIB organization became a woman. Meanwhile, the escape of a dangerous alien from the lunar prison will force J to travel back in time, to the beginning of K's career, to try to prevent planet Earth from being invaded by a destructive galactic force. The script does a reasonably effective job and there is a lot of movement and action. Will Smith shows that he has matured as an actor, and he knew how to imprint that maturity on the MIB agent he played: J is no longer a rookie or someone who accepts lessons, he is a senior agent with experience, who knows what he is doing and is sufficiently trained to deal with what you have in hand. Of course, K remains a veteran, and Tommy Lee Jones won't let that go by the wayside: sullen and seemingly unflappable, Jones' character will take particular pleasure in lecturing and lecturing Smith whenever appropriate. And, ultimately, it's the way the two actors interact that makes the movie funnier. The villain is worthy of our dislike and has some good jokes and tongue-in-cheek lines, but Jemaine Clement seems to have sometimes exaggerated things a bit. Michael Stuhlbarg and Josh Brolin do a very honest and committed job, and they help substantially to increase the quality of the film. Technically, there is a serious and substantial bet on CGI, computerization and computer-made effects. It's something almost predictable, nowadays it's a very widespread resource and sci-fi or action movies have learned to master it. However, the authenticity of real scenes always tastes good. So the ending seems to be a bit out of step with the rest of the movie, but that turns out to be a minor problem. The cinematography is quite well executed, the sound and soundtrack are effective, the visuals as well. The sets and wardrobe, as well as the props, are in line with what you would expect to find in a MIB film.
CinemaSerf2023-06-04
★ 6/10
Well it took ten years to try and recalibrate this franchise after the disappointing sequel, and to be fair - they have at least had a think about the story before rehashing the theme of the detective agency charged with policing the earth of our visiting friends from planets far away. Clearly, "J" (Will Smith) has become much more experienced since the days of the talking dog, but suddenly he finds himself ill-equipped for this latest trauma that is gong to need him to engage with his partner "K" (Tommy Lee Jones) and even travel through time to work with his younger version (an uncannily similar Josh Brolin). All of this is now under the leadership of new chief "O" (Emma Thompson). The plot is all a bit old hat - they have to save mankind from imminent annihilation, but at least this time around there is a bit more humour - usually more effective from Thompson - and a bit less of the constant diatribe from the over-powering Smith. At times it's a bit "Dr. Who" and the action scenes recycle themselves as they pursue the eminently un-menacing "Boris the Animal" (Jermaine Clement) towards a predicable, but colourful, denouement. Could Andy Warhol have been in on the whole ET-thing? It's better than the second but nowhere hear as much fun as the first one. Maybe we should stop now.