So this movie is a little bit better than you might think (which matches up with my expectations of it as being in the middle ground for summer movies, not too bad, not extremely good). And in that way, it’s a minor miracle that a film that really says nothing and was made solely to cash in on a franchise isn’t worse than it is. If people today solely go to the movies to be entertained, then they could do a lot worse than this. [See, Battleship…]
What Works: In two words: Josh Brolin. He shows up as the 1960’s version of Tommy Lee Jones’s Agent Kay and just nails the part. He accurately portrays Tommy Lee’s mannerisms without ever doing a mere imitation of him, it’s as if he’s really channeling him but showing a more open, fun-loving Kay than the shutdown man we’re used to. This works so much better than it has any right since Kay is, essentially, a boring robototron bureaucrat that I have no real attachment to as a character. This movie made me care more than I thought I did. Plus, there’s a great new alien who can see into the immediate future that I found truly clever. And, of course, time travel is always fun to play around with and makeup master Rick Baker’s alien creations impress as always. The bottom-line is that this movie gets the spirit of fun and play a lot better than the second installment in the franchise.
What Doesn’t Work: The villain (Boris the Animal, played by the talented Jermaine Clement) is the least memorable of the entire series. In a movie climate where every third villain is an alien (all the better to safeguard that international box office), they need to pop now more than ever. And it’s now obvious that Will Smith has no interest in challenging himself or his star power, as he’s given the exact same performance with almost no variation from summer to summer.
What I Would Have Done Differently: ehhh…