Men in Black 3 (3D) (PG)

HHH

Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld

With: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin

Running time: 105 minutes

NEVER let it be said that whimsy does not pay. Take the Flight of the Conchords duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The former recently won an Oscar for his majestic song, Man or Muppet, while the latter is one of the best things in the big-on-gadgets but short-on-gags Men in Black 3.

It has been a long time between MIBs, with the first film being 1997 and the last in 2002. It's been so long, indeed, one suspects the managers behind the Edinburgh trams project became involved at some point. Ten years is a long time in franchise land, especially when the market is now so crowded and newcomers arrive every week.

MIB is showing its age in as much as it has become infected with the Transformers bug, symptoms of which include trying too hard to dazzle the audience with hardware and special effects rather than make 'em laugh with lo-fi jokes. That sequels should seem lesser than the original is the law to which every franchise succumbs. Maybe that is why it has taken so long to do a third; the producers were either waiting for the original fans to grow up and breed a new audience, or they were hoping nebulizer-assisted memory loss had set in.

There are nods to the franchise's past in Sonnenfeld's comedy, and America's past too. The latter comes courtesy of a time travel plot so complex it's best not to even try to make sense of it. Enough to say that there's a Back to the Future vibe going on in MIB3. If that means nothing to younger readers, ask mum or dad to clarify. While you're at it, just for a laugh, ask them to explain quantitative easing.

As MIB3 opens, alien hunters Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) are going through the same old depressive cop/jaunty cop routine. This largely involves Lee Jones reprising his Texan Victor Meldrew act and scowling at Smith's joshing. This time round there's serious business afoot. An intergalactic serial killer by the name of Boris the Animal (Clement), an old sparring partner of Agent K, is out for revenge. For the Men in Black to avert disaster, Agent J has to go back in time and try to change history.

From HG Wells to Doctor Who, has there ever been a plot involving time travel that wasn't worth a look? Think of the fun to be had as people from now go back to then. Think of the wisecracks to be had after the events. Think of the cultural misunderstandings, the scope for silly jokes. If only the writers of MIB3 had taken all these opportunities.

At first, the signs are promising. Agent J, just as he is about to be sent back to 1969, is warned by a geek from 2012 that things weren't too great back then for "your people". What's this, a peppering of politics in our time travel caper? There are other instances, too, such as when Agent J is stopped by police because he's a black man driving a fancy car, when one thinks for a minute that this is a franchise on a promising track. But while Smith gets in a couple of good gags, the writers could have made far more of the situation. What, no jokes about Obama?

Instead, perhaps fearing the older audience wanted a slice of nostalgia pie while the youngsters hankered after shiny metal things that go whizz-bang across the sky, Sonnenfeld piles on the special effects and gadgets. Agent J's journey from contemporary New York to the Mad Men era is slickly done, but the rest of the gadgets, such as the monster superbikes, will probably strike youngsters as being so dreadfully Dark Knight, circa 2008.

There is one fresh twist to the formula, and that's the introduction of a new character, agency boss Agent O, in place of Rip Torn. You may know this lady better as Emma Thompson, she of Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter and all. Ms Thompson is here all Hollywood glam with killer heels, a demonically well-cut business suit and a very complicated hairdo.

The other new face is James Brolin, playing Tommy Lee Jones in his younger days. It's a neat match, and Brolin nearly takes the picture from Smith, so much so that if the franchise should consider coming back again, they might want to forget about TLJ all together and give Brolin his head, possibly with a new partner. A prequel to the sequel.

But then, what would MIB be without Smith? He can still take a dog of a line and make it purr, and he still has that innate star quality that makes you want to have a good time, even if the film he stars in is lacking in lustre.