Men in Black 3 – When Should A Series End?
After a 10 year break, the Men in Black are back for a third movie. Agent J (Will Smith) learns that Agent K’s (Tommy Lee Jones’s) life is in danger from a time-traveling alien criminal. If K dies, the earth’s very existence could be in danger. Agent J must go back in time to 1969 to save Agent K, but he only has 24 hours to do it or he’ll be trapped in the past.
The original 1997 Men in Black was funny and innovative, but as with many series, we have to ask the question–when should it end? Is there a series you felt went on too long? Which series do you think got better with later installments?
May 25, 2012 @ 08:56:31
The answer is: When it doesn’t star Will Smith! Heehee. I love Will and I will see him in just about anything. But I definitely feel that some series go on way too long. And I would say to Hollywood: If you can’t get the original star from the first one, DON’T do the sequel. We all know it’ll be bad.
May 25, 2012 @ 14:44:11
Hehe. I’m a huge Will Smith fan. I think he can make almost any movie work simply by being in it. I liked him in Hitch, and Independence Day, and The Pursuit of Happiness.
May 25, 2012 @ 13:09:26
I have to agree with Emma, I’ll watch anything Will is in! I think the horror movies get a bit out of hand with the series thing. Like Halloween and Saw. How many different ways can you hack somebody up?
And who thought it would be a good idea to make a ToothFairy 2? lol
May 25, 2012 @ 14:42:35
I think back to the Home Alone movies of my childhood. That movie should have never become a series 🙂
May 25, 2012 @ 14:31:47
Would you believe I haven’t seen any of the Men in Black movies? Shhhhhh…. stop screaming at me. 🙂
May 25, 2012 @ 14:41:44
Next time you’re sick or staying in on a rainy day, you definitely should watch at least the first one. The second one wasn’t nearly as good.
May 25, 2012 @ 17:43:08
Both Indiana Jones and the Mummy movies went on one installment too long, IMHO. The Crystal Skull Indiana Jones movie was an atrocity, and when they couldn’t get Rachel Weisz for the third Mummy, I think they should have stopped while they were ahead. I might actually watch MIB3, though. I’ve had a bit of a crush on Josh Brolin since the 1980s. 🙂
May 25, 2012 @ 20:53:11
You know, I haven’t been too keen on this movie, but when I saw the previews, I changed my tune. Looks like Josh Brolin does such a great job as a young Tommy Lee Jones. I’ve got to see it now:)
May 25, 2012 @ 21:18:13
I completely agree with Jenna. I actually think this movie will be fun and look forward to seeing it with my boy. Will Smith is so fun.
May 26, 2012 @ 00:29:40
A series should end on a high note. As long as they can keep putting out interesting stories, a series can continue indefinitely. Of course, often it’s only after the fact that we can say continuing the series was a bad idea, such as with “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” On the other hand, given George Lucas’s track record of late, maybe we should have realized before the fourth Indiana Jones movie that it was going to be a bad idea.
May 26, 2012 @ 01:04:16
I love Will Smith. I also love Bruce Willis…and all of the Die Hard movies improved with each installment. I can’t give an opinion on too many series. I only liked the second Mummy movie.
As for Indian Jones, I’ve only seen three of them. The Temple of Doom, the one with the lady from Star Man (Karen Allen, maybe?) and the last one. I actually loved the scene in the last one where the son handed him a snake to pull him out of the quicksand. Stop calling it a snake…call it a rope. LOL…I’m with Indy on that one. I’d probably have been lost in the quicksand-even if they had called it a rope. 🙂
May 26, 2012 @ 01:06:55
Okay. I just watched the trailer (no, I haven’t seen one before now). I guess I’m going to the theater this weekend. I love Josh Brolin, too. 🙂
May 26, 2012 @ 07:02:48
MIB 3 looks good & Josh Brolin doing a take on Tommy Lee Jones character is the main reason I’m excited but not dying to see it. I love Will Smith too , but I think they should end it here
May 27, 2012 @ 15:42:16
I’m really looking forward to the third MIB movie. Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are also good actors. The long break between the movies speaks good of everyone’s determination to make this film shine.
Personally, I liked the fourth Indiana Jones movie. It felt like part of the chain of good old movies. But the Crystal Skull as the quest item was goofy and breaking genre conventions. UFOs are more sci-fi than Pulp mystical.
I was disappointed with the Star Wars prequels. The visuals were great but the stories weren’t as deep as the originals. But then they have gained the golden nostalgy status in my mind too.
May 29, 2012 @ 00:41:40
Can’t wait to see it. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith? Gotta be good. Full disclosure: I’ve seen the Big Lebowski three times and it still cracks me up.
Another chain saw massacre, or another Star Wars — ho hum. But stupid funny movies? Bring em on.
May 29, 2012 @ 10:38:45
It’s clearly gone on far too long. I watched the first Men In Black recently and it’s still very fresh and enjoyable.
Star Wars springs to mind. It was dragged out with three pretty readful prequels (and Jar Jar Binks), and Lord of the Rings could be headed that way with The Hobbit. The Alien series – the first two are fantastic but that was back in 1986 when we saw Aliens. It needs to be left alone.
Toy Story has been hailed as a successful trilogy, even though I think the 2nd and 3rd outings are quite weak and hardly classics, which the first one definitely is. And Saw, anyone?
It’s best to leave it at 1 or 2, I think. Soon ideas run out and a great name can be tarnished. Oh, I just thought of Jaws! The first is a masterpiece, all the others are terrible!
May 29, 2012 @ 14:43:21
I’m a Will Smith fan too, so I will definitely continue to watch as long as he’s in them! 🙂
May 29, 2012 @ 16:22:25
Now that I’ve watched the movie, I’m pretty sure this is the last one because they brought it full circle. Will Smith really is what makes this one work.
May 30, 2012 @ 21:33:15
I never watched Men in Black II because I wasn’t impressed with the first one,even though I’m a big fan of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. However…I had a HUGE crush on Josh Brolin when he was in The Young Riders, so he was the main draw for this edition.
And I loved it! Josh Brolin WAS the young K. I can’t even imagine the time that Brolin invested to pull it off that well, but it was just amazing! And I LOVED the scenes at the end (on the beach and in the diner). I still can’t imagine being thrilled to see the first two…but I’d watch this one again. 🙂
May 30, 2012 @ 22:19:42
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really enjoyed the first one, but found the second disappointing. This one really redeemed things for me.
Jun 10, 2012 @ 01:48:53
I’m so glad you enjoyed the third one! I haven’t seen it yet, but have every intention. I’m a bit biased where this particular movie is concerned, because I tool my son to see it when he was quite little, & I was a single mom at the time. It’s the first movie we can recall watching in theater together, & we had such a great time. That happened right before I left for the Army, & I didn’t seem him for a very long time after that. When the second one came out, I had to wait till it was available for rent before I’d see it, because it hurt too much. Now my baby is a graduated young man about to enter college, & he is excited to see this with his Mom. I’m all in. I can’t wait!!!
May 18, 2013 @ 21:42:44
Ehh, had the 2nd part been a great follow-up, maybe completing the original in a “duology” of sorts (like X2 or Bill&Ted did), maybe that would’ve been a good time to stop – or at least a safe one.
But after it turned out kinda weird and disappointing, “redeeming” it the way they did with the third one was probably the best thing they could do.
So, now’s a safe point I’d say 😉