The first one was unexpected, the second one was unwanted, and this third film is just unnecessary. Not that we don’t love wacky science fiction comedies à la Mars Attacks, but where does the desire come from (other than sweet, sweet cash) to perpetuate a series and adulterate the impact of the original?

In this installment of the J and K story (Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones), a monster alien from Agent K’s past named Boris the Animal escapes from his moon prison to travel through time and kill the young Agent K before Boris can be thwarted.

You see, in 1969 the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) made a rookie mistake seen in a number of detective movies. He arrested the bastard when he should have put a laser between his eyes. As a result, J must follow Boris to 1969 and do what K “shoulda done a long time ago.”

MIB3 is draining to watch, so contrived and ham-handed that it serves not even as a Saturday afternoon couch viewing. Director Barry Sonenfeld has shot and directed a number of big Hollywood films for 25 years, but this little picture has no flair.

The first film was so exciting and was instrumental in breaking from the tradition of action comedies laid out in the ’80s and ’90s. This film’s only salt is an amusing Tommy Lee impression, which Josh Brolin likely picked up on the set of No Country for Old Men.