Blu-ray

When Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is deleted from existence by a time-travelling alien, Agent J (Will Smith) has to take a trip back to 1969 to save his partner’s life in this overdue third outing in the action-comedy sci-fi franchise.

Given the ten-year gap between this movie and the awful MIB 2 it’s a nice surprise to discover that the studio hasn’t simply opted to reboot the franchise, instead bringing back director Barry Sonnenfeld and actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (even if the latter is replaced by Josh Brolin’s uncannily accurate younger version for a bulk of the film’s running time). It’s only a shame that for all of the temporal shenanigans, the plot doesn’t give them anything new to do. Which means that – although fun while it lasts – MIB 3 is completely forgettable and utterly disposable.

Picture: Sony's two-disc release includes both 3D and 2D presentations of the movie. MIB 3 is frequently a very bright and colourful experience, something that obviously helps the converted 3D footage in terms of clarity and brightness. Thanks to this, the 3D MVC 1.85:1 1080p encode is technically proficient and feels very convincing in its dimensionality. The 2D AVC encode is even more thrilling, thanks to razor sharp delineation, searing primary colours and intergalactic levels of detailing.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: Both the 2D and 3D discs feature an identical DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. As you’d expect, it’s an accomplished affair, as equally adept at handling explosive bass and surround sonics (check out the rocket lift-off in Chapter 15) as it is producing warm vocals and atmospherics (such as the echoing footsteps during the opening prison sequence). In other words, it’s very good.
Audio rating: 4.5/5

Extras: The stereoscopic platter offers up a pair of 3D extras in the form of The Case of Boris the Animal: The 3D Models of MIB 3 and Converting to 3D. The former is an interactive gallery of gadgets from the film, while the latter has 3D Visual Effects Supervisor Corey Turner exploring the 3D conversion process. The disc also includes a 3D trailer for the new Spider-Man film.

The 2D Blu-ray is home to a rubbish shooting gallery game, the 26-min Partners in Time: The Making of MIB 3 documentary, a pair of production featurettes (The Evolution of Cool: MIB 1960s vs Today and Keeping it Surreal: The VFX of MIB 3), four scene breakdowns, six VFX ‘progression reels’, a gag reel, a music video and the 2D version of Spidey trailer.
Extras rating: 2.5/5

We say: Exceptional hi-def video and audio make this 3D three-quel at least worth a rent on Blu-ray

Sony Pictures, Region B/C BD, £27 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 3/5