Men In Black 3 in 3D (aka MIB 3/2012/Sony
Blu-ray 3D w/Blu-ray 2D and DVD)
3D
Picture: B 2D Picture: B/C+ Sound: B/C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
After a
big debut with the original 1997 film, it seemed we would see many Men In Black films, but the sequel five
years later was thrown off as the biggest production facing disruption (for
lack of a better term) when the 9/11/01 attacks happened in New York City and
the result was a very uneven sequel that was not in its element. Now ten more years later and we have Men In Black 3, issued in 3D and here
in the Blu-ray 3D format for its big home video release. The film did very good business, but not the giant
numbers expected domestically, so more people will be catching up with it now
and the good news is that it is the best of the three films.
Not that
I was a big fan of the first two. Here
is my coverage of the first film on Blu-ray:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7114/Men+In+Black+(1997/Sony+Blu-ray)
With that
said, Director Barry Sonnenfeld, Steven Spielberg, Columbia/Sony and all
involved had to come up with a new approach and though it retains the flavor of
the previous films, the team has come up with a novel idea with a time travel
angle that actually works, even as it pushes believability a bit.
Agent J
(Will Smith) suddenly discovers that Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) has disappeared
and only he can seem to remember him, until he jars the memory and
possibilities of Agent O (Emma Thompson) who knew him better than either of
them would admit. When a vengeful killer
escapes a moon-based prison, he intends to go back in time to kill K, unless J
can stop him. It is good plotting that
holds up for the whole film (even when a bright character who can see the
future in several possibilities shows up) and then we get the ace of the whole
film: Josh Brolin pitch perfect and dead on as a young Agent K that makes you
forget he is Brolin and almost makes you believe it is Jones!
One of
the great coups of commercial filmmaking this year, it makes this more fun than
expected, even when it is predictable, goes on a little longer than needed and
does not always work. Versus many other
big budget films in 2012, MIB 3 is a
fully professional effort worth a look and manages to be fun, something most
such films of late have not been. Whether
they’ll be a fourth film is hard to tell, but they had better not wait another
decade.
The 1.85
X 1, 1080p full HD MVC-encoded 3-D – Full Resolution digital High Definition
image on the Blu-ray 3D version has some good moments for a 2D conversion job,
but I was only so impressed, so 3D is not a big necessity, but it can be fun at
times. That leaves the 1080p 2D digital
High Definition image transfer on the regular 2D Blu-ray looking good, but
neither are quite as good as the 2D on the first film, which was an all-film
shoot that was more consistent than this combo of HD and Kodak Vision 500 speed
film to match the HD. The anamorphically
enhanced DVD is even softer, but watchable, though no match for either Blu-ray.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on the Blu-rays are top rate and
when the sound kicks in, state-of-the-art, but the reserved parts are just that
and I still like the sound design more on the first film more. Still, you get some sonic demo moments just
the same. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on
the DVD is good for that format, but no match for the DTS-MA on either Blu-ray.
Extras
include Digital Copy for PC, PC Portable and iTunes capable devices, while a
Gag Reel, Pitbull Music Video and Partners
In Time making of featurette are
available in all formats. The 2D Blu-ray
adds a Spot The Alien game, Progression Reels, Scene Investigations and two more
featurettes: The Evolution Of Cool: MIB
1960s vs. Today and Keeping It
Surreal: The Visual FX of MIB 3. The
Blu-ray 3D further adds two more featurettes: Converting To 3D and The Case
Of Boris The Animal: The 3D Models Of MIB 3.
All in
all, that is a big collection to keep viewers entertained for hours. Not bad at all.
- Nicholas Sheffo
