I finally saw a movie this summer other than The Avengers. I enjoyed the first Men in Black, didn’t see Men in Black 2 and wasn’t sure I was going to see Men in Black 3. Alycia is a big fan of the series, though, so I was more than happy to go see MIB3 with her. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen but I was more than entertained. Will Smith does what Will Smith does and Josh Brolin does a great job as a young Agent K.
Below are some reflections I had while watching Men in Back 3.
Partners
Even though there are all sorts of aliens and advanced weaponry, at its core Men in Black is about the relationship between K and J. In the first Men in Black K and J had to learn how to work together and their relationship provides the foundation for Men in Black 3. It’s because of his relationship with K, that J goes back in time. J is willing to go to great lengths for his partner because of the strength of their relationship. We all need a partner like J or K. God didn’t create us to live life alone; he created us to live it with others. We need to find those people on whom we can depend no matter what we face.
Regret
One of the running threads throughout Men in Black 3 is how the affable, young K turned into the gruff, old K. The answer is revealed near the end of the movie and that answer leads to some regret on K’s part. Regret is a difficult companion on life’s path. God doesn’t want us to live with regret. He wants us to forgive and seek forgiveness. He wants us to repent and learn from our mistakes. God wants us to live without regret as we depend on his grace.
Boris the Animal
The main villain in Men in Black 3 is Boris the Animal; the wonderful Jemaine Clement plays him. Clement is one half of the folk duo Flight of the Conchords. If you’ve never watched the show Flight of the Conchords then fire up a torrent and get going. There’s a lack of great nerdy music in the world and Flight of the Conchords manages to be cool and nerdy at the same time. One of their songs includes the lyrics:
Binary solo:
0000001, 00000011
000000111, 00001111
0000001, 00000011
000000111, 00001111
How awesome is that? Flight of the Conchords doesn’t have a lot to do with Men in Black 3 or Christianity, but I’m a fan and you should be as well.
Men in Black 3 wasn’t as good as The Avengers but it also wasn’t as bad as Ultraviolet, easily one of the worst movies I’ve seen. As I said before, I was entertained and it was about time I saw a movie other than The Avengers. Though, given how awesome the Hulk is, I wouldn’t mind seeing The Avengers a fourth time before seeing Mein in Black 3 a second time.
What did you think about Men in Black 3?
I appreciate the closure to some lingering loose ends from the previous movies. Had the pace been slower or the dialogue been much cheesier I would have rolled my eyes a bit more. Instead I teared up a little more at the references to Frank the pug than anything else as I have a pug named Frank.