The MIB franchise is fourteen years old. I swore we took Nate to see it one rainy weekend on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk, but Super-Dad reminded me that that was actually MIB:II, which itself was released in 2002.  So yeah, this is newest installment is part of franchise in which the last film came out over 10 years ago. Due to the seemingly endless playing of both films on cable it seems like even kids too young to remember the movies are aware and interested in the franchise, but should you take them?

This installment got back to the feel of the first MIB film.  It does its best to move on from the mostly panned second movie in the series, though the heavy handed “celebrities are aliens” theme plays a major part in this one as well.  Will Smith is at his best playing the mouthy Agent J, and Josh Brolin was absolutely uncanny playing a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent K.

I took 5 year old Kitty this morning, and she had never seen a MIB film.  I was afraid that she’d be bored, that the time-travel storyline would fly over her head, or that she would find the alien special-effects as you can see from her (slightly rambling – she’s five) review below she mostly followed along.

There is a fair amount of mild swearing (and one “shit”).  Jemaine Clemant (channeling Tim Curry) as baddie Boris the Animal  has some parasitic creatures that move in and out of his body, the special effects are convincing and may make more sensitive viewers queasy.  The violence is prevalent but very cartoony.  No human people bleed, though they do get smacked around.

The story line involves time-travel and there are a lot of jokes about the cultural climate of the 60’s will go over the heads of the pre-teen audience.  There is big scene involving race relations, which could be great talking point, though it’s dealt with humorously.  I was worried that the time-travel aspect would be confusing, but I think that Kitty got the gist of it.  I heard a kid leaving the theater declare it “awesome” while their adult companion just kinda nodded in agreement; which about sums it up from an adult point It was entertaining, but mostly forgettable.

So…. “Can I take my 5 year old to see Men in Black 3?”: I’d say this one is fine for ages 8 and up, but that if your child is easily scared by monsters/aliens you may want to wait and watch this one at home in the daylight.